Hot Docs

I must by now be looking like a City of Toronto blog site. On Sunday it was the Great Canadian Guitar Ensemble and Luminato, last Friday it was the CityLit and
Doors Open... today I have to make a mention about Hot Docs as it just finished this past weekend. There are just so many things happening here to blog about.

Toronto, in keeping with its reputation for a City of the arts, hosts several film festivals which are international in stature. Of course, the best known is Festival of Festivals, in late summer. We also have a film festival during the winter which features short films and our documentary film festival, Hot Docs just finished its 11 day run on May 10th. Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is in its 16th year and is North America's largest documentary festival, conference and market.

Sadly, I did not manage to make even one, although I duly noted quite a few films of interest on my calendar. There was just no time to take in any of them. *sigh* must make a better effort to find time next year. I love documentary films. I guess that is in keeping with my thirst for knowledge of things around me and all over the world.



Even though I did not get to any of the films, I did follow the reviews and perhaps I will have other opportunities to see some of the better ones.


Best Canadian Film: Invisible City
Invisible City, Hubert Davis's look at three years in the lives of two teenagers, was voted the Best Canadian Documentary by the festival judges. "This award goes to a film that weds form and content with extraordinary grace and intelligence," according to the jury notes. Interesting to note that this film is set in Regent Park, one of Toronto's inner city social housing projects. I would really like to see this film and will have to do some investigation to see where I can find it.


There was 170 films being shown at the festival in locations throughout the city.

You can see all the prize winners here.

Doc Soup Monthly Documentary Series
There is a related event called "Doc Soup", which in its 2009/2010 series, which features a selection of the best of the documentaries from the Hot Docs festival. The Doc Soup series runs one screening per month starting in October of each year. I think I will get myself seasons tickets!