The Hot Docs Audience Award race get an element of surprise. As per tradition, the festival is masking Canadian contenders that are eligible for the $50,000 Rogers Audience Award heading into the final weekend. Someone Lives Here, Zack Russell’s portrait of Toronto’s housing crisis, held the rankings in yesterday’s update with a near ten-point lead over Without Precedent. Upstream, Alliopha, and Aitamaako’tamisskapi Natosi:Before the Sun previously rounded out the top five Canadian features, but the latter didn’t even crack the top 20 overall favourites.
As far as the overall rankings go, however, the top films remain steady. Ufuoma Essi’s Is My Living in Vain continues to dominate the leaderboard. The 41-minute film considers the role of the church in Black communities and draws upon voices of congregations in Philadelphia and London to reflect upon the church’s future. The race remains relatively static compared to previously years.
This year, Hot Docs changed its voting to electronic ballots. Festival attendees may scan a QR code at a screening and rate the film from 1 to 5. Voting closes thirty minutes after the screening ends.
The Hot Docs Audience Award rankings for May 4 are:
- Is My Living in Vain
- By Water
- Fauna
- Vicky
- Lac-Mégantic – This Is Not an Accident
- Silent House
- This film is eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
- 20 Days in Mariupol
- When Spring Came to Bucha
- Angel Applicant
- The American Gladiators Documentary
- Seven Winters in Tehran
- This film is eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
- Non-Aligned: Scenes from the Labudovic Reels
- Kanaval: A People’s History of Haiti in Six Chapters
- Roberta
- The Deepest Breath
- This film is eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
- This film is eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
- Who’s Afraid of Nathan Law?
