The Hot Docs festival in Toronto, which kicked off April 28th and ran until May 8th, included 232 films from more than 50 countries.
North America’s largest documentary festival, there were 71 Canadian and co-production Canadian films. In excess of 2,700 submissions were sent in this year prior to the event.
Hot Docs mounted a full roster of conference sessions and market events and services for documentary practitioners, including the renowned Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Deal Maker and The Doc Shop.
“With films from a festival-high of 51 countries, this year’s Hot Docs truly does span the globe, bringing Toronto audiences the best in documentaries from at home and abroad,” said Hot Docs director of programming, Shane Smith, in a press release. “With the expansion of our adventurous new program DocX into its own venue, an enhanced focus on short docs and the inclusion of long-form documentary work, Hot Docs continues to recognize and support masterful documentary storytelling in all of its forms. We can’t wait to share this year’s outspoken and outstanding program with Toronto audiences.”
After a busy weekend, the Canadian flick Koneline: our land beautiful won for top Canadian documentary and received a $10,000 prize. Best international feature went to Brothers.
Photo: Hot Docs
