Over 150 filmmakers and guests will attend this year’s Hot Docs as Canada’s largest documentary festival kicks off this week. The 2025 guest list includes Oscar winning actor and actress Marlee Matlin and investigative journalist Christo Grozev. Both were announced previously to will appear in extended conversations as part of the Big Ideas series with their films Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore and Antidote, directed by Shoshanna Stern and James Jones, respectively. Matlin made history as the first Deaf actor to win an Academy Award for her performance in Children of a Lesser God, while Grovez’s career includes co-founding Bellingcat and digging into the story of the assassination attempt on Russian politician and activist Alexei Navalny. His work was chronicled in Daniel Roher’s Oscar winning doc Navalny, which screened at Hot Docs.
Meanwhile, Israeli comedian Noam Shuster-Eliassi will be on hand for what’s sure to be an equally funny and provocative Q&A following Coexistence, My Ass!. The doc directed by Amber Fares follows Shuster-Eliassi as she creates a stand-up performance that addresses the complexity, nuances, and humour of the situation in Palestine and Israel. Other attendees include subject/co-director Rashaad Newsome, who will appear with Assembly co-director Johnny Symons. Assembly chronicles the making of Newsome’s innovative multidisciplinary exhibit celebrating the intersections of race, queerness, and artistic expression.
On the sports front, Olympian Mirza Nikolajev will provide insight into his experience on the luge team for Bosnia and Herzegovina. Nikolajev appears as a participant in Ryan Sidhoo’s The Track. Meanwhile, political animals will provide engaging talks as Dylan P. White, Head of the NATO Liaison Office to the United Nations, will attend for the premiere of Facing War, directed by Tommy Gulliksen, and Manizha Bakhtari will join for The Last Ambassador, directed by Natalie Halla.
Directors coming to the festival include 2025 Sundance winners Ryan White (Come See Me in the Good Light) and Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni (Cutting Through Rocks), along with Canadian talents such as Seth Scriver (Endless Cookie), Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh (The Nest), Julien Elie (Shifting Baselines), Matt Gallagher (Shamed), Sinakson Trevor Solway (Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man), and Noam Gonick, whose Parade opens Hot Docs on Thursday night.
The guest list announced today is as follows:
Christo Grozev from Antidote (D: James Jones | P: James Jones | United Kingdom | 2024 | 90 min) – investigative journalist and co-founder of Bellingcat.
Rashaad Newsome from Assembly (D: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons | P: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons | USA | 2025 | 99 min) – Multidisciplinary artist known for his provocative work exploring representations of race, power, gender, and beauty.
Noam Shuster-Eliassi from Coexistence, My Ass! (D: Amber Fares | P: Rachel Leah Jones, Amber Fares, Valérie Montmartin | USA, France | 2025 | 95 min) – Israeli stand-up comedian and activist, who performs in Hebrew, Arabic, and English.
Dylan P. White from Facing War (D: Tommy Gulliksen | P: Anne Marte Blindheim, Danielle Turkov Wilson | Norway | 2025 | 100 min) – Head of the NATO Liaison Office to the United Nations.
Manizha Bakhtari from The Last Ambassador (D: Natalie Halla | P: Peter Drössler, Arash T. Riahi, Sabine Gruber, Natalie Halla | Austria | 2025 | 80 min) – Afghanistan Ambassador to Austria, leading one of Afghanistan’s most significant diplomatic representations.
Marlee Matlin from Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore (D: Shoshannah Stern | P: Robyn Kopp, Justine Nagan, Bonni Cohen, Shoshannah Stern | USA | 2025 | 97 min) – Pioneering Deaf performer and Academy Award winner (Children of a Lesser God).
Mirza Nikolajev from The Track (D: Ryan Sidhoo | P: Ryan Sidhoo | Canada | 2025 | 90 min) – Olympic athlete in luge for Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Select filmmakers in attendance:
Rashaad Newsome (announced above) and Johnny Symons, directors of Assembly (D: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons | P: Rashaad Newsome, Johnny Symons | USA | 2025 | 99 min)
Amber Fares, director of Coexistence, My Ass! (D: Amber Fares | P: Rachel Leah Jones, Amber Fares, Valérie Montmartin | USA, France | 2025 | 95 min)
Ryan White, director of Come See Me in the Good Light (D: Ryan White | P: Jessica Hargrave, Ryan White, Tig Notaro, Stef Willen | USA | 2025 | 104 min)
Sara Khaki and Mohammadreza Eyni, directors of Cutting Through Rocks (اوزاک یولالر) (D: Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni | P: Mohammadreza Eyni, Sara Khaki | Iran, USA, Netherlands,
Germany, Canada, Qatar, Chile | 2025 | 95 min)
Seth Scriver, director of Endless Cookie (D: Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver | P: Daniel Bekerman, Chris Yurkovich, Alex Ordanis, Jason Ryle, Seth Scriver | Canada | 2024 | 97 min)
Reid Davenport, director of Life After (D: Reid Davenport | P: Colleen Cassingham | USA | 2025 | 99 min)
Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh, directors of The Nest (D: Chase Joynt, Julietta Singh | P: Alicia Smith, Justine Pimlott | Canada, | 2025 | 89 min)
Noam Gonick, director of Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance (D: Noam Gonick | P: Justine Pimlott |Canada | 2025 | 96 min)
Matt Gallagher, directors of Shamed (D: Matt Gallagher | P: Cornelia Principe | Canada | 2025 | 90 min)
Julien Elie, director of Shifting Baselines (D: Julien Elie | P: Andreas Mendritzki, Aonan Yang, Julien Elie | Canada | 2025 | 100 min)
Sinakson Trevor Solway, director of Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man (D: Sinakson Trevor Solway | P: Coty Savard | Canada | 2025 | 77 min)
Najiba Noori, director of Writing Hawa D: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (co-director) | P: Christian Popp, Hasse van Nunen, Renko Douze | France, Netherlands, Qatar, Afghanistan | 2024 | 85 min)
