Hot Docs, North America’s leading documentary festival, will open with the world premiere of “Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance,” directed by Canadian filmmaker Noam Gonick. The documentary explores the pivotal moments that sparked Canada’s 2SLGBTQ+ movement.
The festival’s 32nd edition, which runs from April 24 to May 4 in Toronto, has revealed a lineup that includes 35 world premieres, 14 international premieres, and 26 North American premieres. The lineup has 113 films from 47 countries, drawn from 2,662 submissions.
The International Spectrum Competition, all world premieres, includes “Heritage,” a family snapshot in which two siblings alternate shifts caring for their elderly parents; “I Dreamed His Name,” which follows the filmmaker and her sister on a journey of discovery across Colombia’s painful history, 30 years after their Afro-Colombian father’s forced disappearance; “I, Poppy,” which follows a son’s fight against corrupt officials while his mother tends their poppy farm in India; “King Matt the First,” which takes us on a journey into the inner world of young Polish sisters as they grapple with impending adulthood; and “Unwelcomed,” which examines contrasting perspectives around the migrant crisis in Chile following its most violent anti-immigrant protest in late 2021, sparked by an unprecedented influx of migrants from Venezuela.
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The Special Presentations program, showcasing high-profile films, festival circuit heavy hitters, and renowned subjects, includes the world premiere of “The Nest,” a personal exploration of memory, identity and intergenerational storytelling by co-directors Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh. Films receiving an international premiere are “Come See Me in the Good Light,” which follows spoken word artist and poet laureate of Colorado Andrea Gibson after an incurable cancer diagnosis; “Deaf President Now!,” a chronicle of the landmark student protest that transformed accessibility rights in the U.S.; “Life After,” in which filmmaker Reid Davenport investigates the troubling implications of assisted suicide laws for disabled people; and “Selena y Los Dinos,” a look at the life and legacy of the “Queen of Tejano Music” Selena Quintanilla.
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The World Showcase program features the world premieres of “Aisha’s Story,” in which a Palestinian grain miller in a Jordanian refugee camp safeguards her culture and shares her people’s history through food; “Betrayal,” which follows the brother-in-law of Liberian dictator Charles Taylor as he becomes a whistleblower against the dictator’s regime; “The Gardener and the Dictator,” which offers a glimpse into China’s tumultuous last century through memories of the filmmaker’s elderly grandparents and their quirky love story; “Marriage Cops,” in which an all-women police unit in northern India tackles troubled marriages with wisdom and authority; and “Spare My Bones, Coyote!,” the story of a Mexican American couple who, for 12 years, have organized biweekly search and rescue missions along the desert border.
The Made In section will showcase documentaries created by filmmakers and participants who have been driven from their homelands by war, conflict or humanitarian crises. It will include the world premiere of “The Longer You Bleed,” which explores the emotional toll that constant consumption of war imagery takes on a group of Gen Z Ukrainians in Berlin. The program will also include Canadian premieres of “Khartoum,” in which a group of displaced Sudanese filmmakers empower five fellow citizens to re-enact dramatic testimonies of their nation’s descent into civil war; “Writing Hawa,” in which a mother is freed from the constraints of a 40-year arranged marriage, only to see her hopes for a brighter future decimated by the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan; and “Yalla Parkour,” a nostalgia-fuelled journey that reveals the harsh realities facing Palestinians through the forming of a relationship between a filmmaker and a young parkour athlete in Gaza.
The Persister program will feature films that shine a light on the voices of strong, inspirational women, including the world premieres of “MAMA,” in which the filmmaker moves beyond the repair of her broken body to a deeper, more vulnerable soul healing, following a breast cancer diagnosis, and “Widow Champion,” in which a widow rises to help other widows reclaim their rightful property, in rural Kenya where women lose their homes after a husband’s death. The program will feature the international premiere of “Mama Goals,” in which Charlotta abandons a secure full-time healthcare job to pursue her dream of becoming a comedian.
Artscapes features “creative minds, artistic pursuits and inventive filmmaking,” and includes the North American premieres of “Queer as Punk,” following the trans-fronted Muslim punk band Shh…Diam!, whose performances in Kuala Lumpur defy the harsh criminal penalties faced by Malaysia’s LGBTQ community, and “The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés,” shot on 16mm to share an evocative portrait of Spanish guitarist Yerai Cortés as he explores the spiritual power of flamenco. The program will see the Canadian premiere of “Ai Weiwei’s Turandot,” in which the dissident artist reimagines Puccini’s opera as a critique of modern totalitarianism.
The new Tipping Point program features accounts of some of today’s most pressing issues, including the world premiere of “Night Watches Us,” a poetic blend of music, dance and spoken word, chronicling a family’s desire for justice after a 23-year-old Black father—grappling with a mental crisis—was shot and killed by Montreal police. The program also brings the North American premieres of “An American Pastoral,” in which a heated school board election In a conservative Pennsylvania town becomes ground zero for America’s culture wars; “Colossal,” an exploration of the director’s politically polarized family and the role they played during the authoritarian regime of longtime Dominican Republic president Joaquín Balaguer; and “Facing War,” in which NATO’s secretary general Jens Stoltenberg needs to use all of his diplomatic skills to keep the alliance together and committed to standing by Ukraine.
The Nightvision program presents future cult classics, including the North American premiere of “Garanti 100% Kréol,” a journey into the world of “magical insurance policies” on the island of Réunion, as those seeking health and peace of mind head to a “guesser,” hoping to secure a protective talisman proffered by witchcraft and religion, including the director himself, desiring such a guarantee for his own film. Also receiving a North American premiere is “Ultras,” an “immersive mosaic” of soccer’s uber fans.
Canadian Spectrum Competition, a showcase of new works by Canadian directors, includes the world premieres of “#skoden,” in which an iconic Indigenous meme sparks an exploration of the unhoused Albertan man behind the viral phenomenon; “Casas Muertas,” a lyrical meditation on loss, strength and hope that follows the resilience of three generations of Venezuelans; “Shamed,” following an online vigilante and self-described “Creeper Hunter,” who seeks out potential sexual predators and ambushes them in videotaped confrontations; and “Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man,” an exploration of strength and vulnerability that spans generations of Siksika men and boys as they learn to embrace the intricacies of self-discovery amidst a sweeping Prairies backdrop.
Big Ideas features a series of conversations with notable guests, including Maxim Derevianko, director of “Ai Weiwei’s Turandot”; director James Jones and journalist Christo Grozev of “Antidote”; director Shoshannah Stern and actor Marlee Matlin of “Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore”; and director Violet Du Feng of “The Dating Game.”
