Attiya Khan (A Better Man), Joseph Clement (Integral Man), Ali Weinstein (Mermaids), and Kalina Bertin (Manic) are among the directors making their Hot Docs debuts.
Documentary Culture
The Departure (USA, 87 min.) Dir. Lana Wilson Programme: Special Presentations (International Premiere) After Tiller director Lana Wilson returns with The Departure, a haunting parable about death. The doc profiles Japanese Buddhist priest Ittetsu Nemoto and his mission to help people in despair save themselves from succumbing to their pain. The priest essentially acts
Birth of a Family (Canada, 79 min.) Dir. Tasha Hubbard Programme: Canadian Spectrum (World Premiere) A revelatory documentary, Birth of a Family is a family-reunion doc unlike any you’ve seen before. It follows the first meeting in decades of the four children of Mary Jane Adam, a Dene single mother from Saskatchewan, who were
Becoming Bond (USA, 90 min.) Dir. Josh Greenbaum Programme: Singular Sensations (International Premiere) George Lazenby is the punchline for the biggest and best series the film world has ever seen. He’s the only actor in the 007 franchise to play James Bond once—David Niven’s outing in the spoof Casino Royale doesn’t count—and his performance
Many kids learn that two wrongs do not make a right. Apparently, nobody involved with Kim Dotcom: Caught in the Web received the memo.
Spookers (New Zealand/Australia, 82 min.) Dir. Florian Habicht Programme: Nightvision (World Premiere) Zombies are all the rage these days. The walking dead are more popular than ever before with zombiewalks happening around the world and hit television shows spewing blood, guts and brains. The city of Auckland, New Zealand, ups the ante at the
Like a confident performer, Step struts up to the stage with a cool swagger and throws down the glove before it makes your spirit soar.
Ramen Heads looks at award-winning chef Osamu Tomito as he shares his philosophy and takes us on a journey of ramen fanaticism.
PACmen is an inside look at one of the most powerful forces in American elections: the political action committees
78/52 (USA, 91 min.) Dir. Alexandre O. Philippe Programme: Nightvision (Toronto Premiere) It’s one of the most iconic sequences in cinema history: 78 setups, 52 cuts, two weeks of shooting a protagonist washing herself in a bathroom. Psycho’s shower sequence is the apotheosis of Hitchcock’s craft and imagination, a brilliant glimpse into his genius.