Come See Me in the Good Light Holds Top Spot in Hot Docs Audience Award Race

Come See Me in the Good Light holds the top spot in today’s update for the Hot Docs Audience Award rankings. The film directed by Ryan White claimed the lead yesterday following its enthusiastic Canadian premiere. Come See Me in the Good Light is been an audience favourite on the circuit this year for its moving portrait of spoken word poet Andrea Gibson as they face a terminal cancer diagnosis, but vow to embrace the poetry of life with partner Megan Falley. The film has two more screenings during the last weekend of Hot Docs.

New titles that jumping into the race include Mstyslav Chernov’s harrowing 2000 Meters to Andriivka. The film marks a follow-up to his Oscar winner 20 Days in Mariupol and offers a gripping view from the front lines of the Ukrainian war. The film debuts at number three.

Also new today is the redacting of Canadian titles in the running for the Rogers Audience Award. Hot Docs usually has the Canadian titles go dark in the back half of the festival to keep the winner of the $50,000 prize a secret. Only two of the eligible titles have been omitted, though, with trailing contenders Agatha’s Almanac, The Nest, and The Track making the listings at numbers nine, ten, and fourteen.

Yesterday, Seth Scriver and Peter Scriver’s Endless Cookie enjoyed the top spot on the Canadian front. But it faces stiff competition with Jane Hui Wang’s The Gardener and the Dictator, which had its world premiere yesterday and played to a very enthusiastic response—especially so since Wang, a Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema employee, easily marks a hometown favourite.

Big Ideas screening Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore also played very well to a packed house with the Oscar winning actor in attendance, and debuts in the rankings at number 18.

The Hot Docs Audience Award rankings for April 28 are as follows:

1. Come See Me in the Good Light
2. [Canadian feature in competition for Rogers Audience Award]
3. 2000 Meters to Andriivka
4. Antidote
5. Mr. Nobody Against Putin
6. [Canadian feature in competition for Rogers Audience Award]
7. Aisha’s Story
8. The Last Ambassador
9. Agatha’s Almanac – Eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
10. The Nest – Eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
11. Always
12. Spreadsheet Champions
13. Holloway
14. The Track – Eligible for the Rogers Audience Award
15. Widow Champion
16. Yalla Parkour
17. Life After
18. Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
19. Ai Weiwei’s Turandot
20. Ghosts of the Sea – Eligible for the Rogers Audience Award