Hot Docs 2025 is just 10 days away. Our team is busy pre-screening festival selections, drafting reviews, and conducting interviews as Toronto’s big documentary festival readies for a pivotal year. The 2025 edition may be slimmer, but there’s no absence of the riches that audiences have come to expect at Hot Docs.
The festival includes many acclaimed documentaries from the circuit. Hot Docs highlights span award winners like Cutting through Rocks and Yalla Parkour that offer portraits of urgent human rights causes, while big names like Marlee Matlin headline the Big Ideas series in films such as Not Alone Anymore. Meanwhile, Torontonians can catch the film that both POV and the Sundance audience deemed the best film in Park City this year, as Come See Me in the Good Light promises to wipe out the local supply of Kleenex.
Here’s a round-up of films coming to Hot Docs that POV has caught so far on the circuit.
2000 Meters to Andriivka
Screens in: Special Presentations
Mstyslav Chernov follows up his Oscar winner 20 Days in Mariupol with the powerful 2000 Meters to Andriivka. This harrowing snapshot of the war in Ukraine gets images from the frontlines of battle as soldiers make a treacherous two-kilometre trek to reclaim a small village that was captured by Russian invaders. “What’s interesting for a film by a famed photojournalist is how much of the footage is captured not by professionals with cameras from afar, but from the GoPros and other action cameras strapped on the soldiers themselves,” says Jason Gorber in POV’s review from Sundance. “These sequences that are among the most difficult to watch, notwithstanding those like myself subject to motion sickness from the ‘shakicam’ aesthetic. The first moments in particular are a harrowing nightmare, akin to fictional representations like Saving Private Ryan but with far more insular scope. It’s a remarkable piece of journalism captured by eyewitnesses, and throughout, Chernov and his collaborators elevate these seemingly disparate and chaotic moments into brilliantly realized cinema through their astute framing of events.” Read more about the film in our upcoming issue.
At All Kosts
Screens in: Artscapes
The Festival 4 Chemins in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, celebrates the intersection of art and daily life. This invigorating arts doc from Haitian-Canadian director Joseph Hillel follows several players and performers as they ready their shows for the next festival. “At All Kosts observes these rehearsals with a natural rhythm and an eye for daily life,” notes Pat Mullen in our review from RIDM. “A cycle develops as the camera returns to a gathering space at night where various artists unwind, debate their work, and address issues happening outside rehearsals. Although the camera rarely leaves the performance space, the stories don’t exist in a bubble. In part, that’s because the limited theatrical infrastructure in Port-au-Prince means that the artists sometimes rehearse in the middle of the streets. They choreograph their dances and adjust the tempos if cars need to pass. This is art born from the streets and rooted in the daily concerns of creators and audiences alike.”
Coexistence, My Ass!
Screens in: Special Presentations
Here’s an unexpected two birds, one stone scenario at Hot Docs: a comedic delight and a refreshingly nuanced take on the situation in Palestine and Israel. Director Amber Fares’ multiple award winner follows Israeli comedian and activist Noam Shuster Eliassi as she puts her platform to good use. “This film speaks from the heart,” Pat Mullen said in his review from Sundance. “The direct address approach makes stirring appeals to both the heart and the head. All the while, Eliassi’s sense of humour, imbued with deprecating self-reflection, appeals to viewers on a personal level. What begins as a roast ends as a plea for peace.”
Come See Me in the Good Light
Screens in: Special Presentations
Get ready for all the feels in this intimate portrait of spoken word artist Andrea Gibson, who embraces the poetry of life with their partner Megan Falley in the wake of a cancer diagnosis. This moving film won the Festival Favourite Award at Sundance and the Audience Award at Full Frame – could Hot Docs offer the next set of laurels for this crowd-pleaser and critical darling? “This disarming film invites audiences to share deeply personal moments with poet Andrea Gibson as they confront a serious cancer diagnosis,” wrote Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “Gibson, somewhat ironically, learns that they have ovarian cancer. It’s terminal. For someone who took a long time to feel comfortable with their own body and gender identity, Gibson takes the news as a poet should. It’s devastating, but also fuel. They pour their heart into new poetry. But facing certain death, they grasp better than ever a poet’s ability to imbue life through careful choices. It’s like how using a comma versus a period evokes the difference between a breath and death.”
Cutting through Rocks
Screens in: World Showcase
Winner of the Grand Jury Prize in the World Cinema Documentary competition at Sundance, Cutting through Rocks offers a compelling character study. It observes the strength that Sara Shahverdi summons daily as the first woman elected for council in her small Iranian village. She defies the patriarchal status quo in this documentary that asks if one person can indeed inspire change. “The documentary does not veer off into a larger treatise on life in Iran because there’s no need,” writes Barbara Goslawski in POV’s review from Sundance. “But it’s exactly this tightened focus that creates a sense of shock when the inevitable happens. Within the context of the film, it seems like events could go a certain way – a more hopeful way – as the film sets up a perspective that aligns with Shahverdi’s vision of the world. When the men perceive that she has gone too far in questioning their authority and power, they use the law to retaliate. Their methodology involves an attack on her very identity. The frightening aspect of this is that, according to the law, they can proceed with their plan.”
The Dating Game
Screens in: Special Presentations
Screening in the Big Ideas series at Hot Docs, The Dating Game is director Violet Du Feng’s easygoing glimpse at the dating scene in contemporary China. She follows three bachelors looking for love as they enlist a dating coach to help them score with the ladies. Or, at least, try to score. “Du Feng somewhat situates the stories of these four men within China’s cultural backdrop, if with limited scope,” wrote Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “A scene takes audiences to a match-makers’ market where parents essentially browse classified ads hung on outdoor clotheslines and trade notes in the park. Meanwhile, new video games have young women glued to their phones. They prefer sexy male avatars to flesh and blood blokes. The convenience and alienating nature of social media further narrows the pool. The bleary-eyed women staring into their phones echo Hao’s own slip-ups: life is so impersonal nowadays that people simply don’t know how to forge real-life connections.”
Deaf President Now!
Screens in: Special Presentations
Deaf President Now! gives a feature-length look into a story that serves as a chapter beat in fellow Hot Docs selection Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore. They’re fairly different takes on a student protest at Gallaudet University where Deaf students articulated their frustration over the school being governed by a hearing president. Both films also make notable advances for accessible filmmaking. “What’s quite effective is how the tools of cinema, both image and sound, are used to great effect to bring us through the experiences of those that were witness to these protests,” wrote Jason Gorber in POV’s review from Sundance. “From flashing lights to low-frequency sounds, the very feelings and sensations perceived by those that are not hearing are experienced vicariously for general audiences. Similarly, forced captions are employed to provide both accessibility and to make clear certain key points, and there’s a playfulness with the interviewees as they comment upon the microphones hanging down as per usual filmic practice.”
Endless Cookie
Screens in: Canadian Spectrum
Quite possibly the zaniest and most original documentary so far this year, Endless Cookie offers a raucous delight about the power of storytelling. Half-brothers Seth and Pete Scriver join forces as the former seeks to make a film about the latter’s stories. Animation imaginatively conjures the visuals to accompany Pete’s yarns. “The brothers’ great sense of humour, meanwhile, finds repeated punctuation marks in Seth’s eccentric animation,” said Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “The film offers more of the eclectic comic book style visual palette with which Scriver introduced himself in the 2013 animated drama Asphalt Watches, but he goes to the nethermost regions of the lunatic fringe here. Endless Cookie runs with the offbeat nature of Pete’s seemingly nonsensical stories. People have balloons for noses. Their heads might resemble found objects, like toilet seats and garlic bulbs, while every inch of their surroundings is detailed with a historical time stamp, like graffiti that screams ‘Free Leonard Pelletier’ or subtly sarcastic Easter eggs for discerning eyes and ears.” Read more about the film in Jason Gorber’s interview with the directors.
Heightened Scrutiny
Screens in: Special Presentations
American Civil Liberties Union lawyer Chase Strangio prepares to make his first case before the Supreme Court, and it’s arguably one that he’s been building towards his whole life: fighting for trans rights. This film by Sam Feder (Disclosure) chronicles the unfolding of a case before the courts that has serious implications for trans youths, trans rights, and queer rights overall. “This urgent snapshot of history in the making follows attorney Chase Strangio of the American Civil Liberties Union as he becomes the first openly trans person to argue before the Supreme Court,” wrote Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “Tackling the case of LW v. Skrmetti and seeking to overturn Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for transgender youth, Strangio smartly takes a cue from one of the Supreme Court’s own legends: Ruth Bader Ginsburg. He argues that to distinguish against trans youth among care afforded to cisgender peers continues gender-based discrimination. In short, upholding the law sets a grievous precedent.”
Khartoum
Screens in: Made in Exile
A collective of filmmakers and participants join forces in the innovative Khartoum. This unique work explores questions of migration and liminal spaces as the participants find themselves displaced amid the crisis in Sudan. Instead of telling their stories on the ground at home, they capture them dramatically in safer territory. “The film stands as a stirring testimony to individuals—in this case, filmmakers and subjects alike, who lean into a difficult situation in order to adapt and push beyond often unbeatable odds,” notes Barbara Goslawski in her review from Sundance. “Not only have these directors illuminated the fundamental realities of the Sudanese refugees’ lived experiences, but they have realized a wealth of possibilities within the film’s very structure. This effort expands the documentary’s impact and reach.”
Life After
Screens in: Special Presentations
The 1983 case of Elizabeth Bouvia, who unsuccessfully fought for her right to die, inspires a haunting question for director Reid Davenport. The filmmaker wonders what became of Bouvia after her very public fight, so he explores the controversial debate about medically assisted dying and what that means for people with disabilities. It’s a provocative study through a personal lens. “Including myself as part of the film is a way to make the film feel organic,” Davenport told Jason Gorber during an interview from Sundance. “The idea that I would shoehorn myself into a film wouldn’t do anything for my sensibility. Instead, moments like with the cop provide a breaking the fourth wall in an organic way, in a way that I hope deconstructs the notion of a film.”
Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore
Screens in: Special Presentations
Headlining Hot Docs’ Big Ideas series, Oscar winner Marlee Matlin shares her story about becoming a reluctant Deaf rights advocate and fighting for accessibility in the wake of her breakthrough performance in Children of a Lesser God. She sees her recent hit with CODA as a full circle moment as co-star Troy Kotsur joined her in the winners’ circle, but the doc asks why Hollywood can’t adapt quickly enough to be accessible for all. “This intimate and insightful self-portrait goes beyond the usual celebrity formula to offer a necessary case study in representation. Matlin shares her frustration that she barely received the same consideration as other actors even though she achieved the highest honour in the industry,” writes Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “After an Oscar win, she mainly got small roles, guest spots on television—notably all parts written as Deaf characters. But Stern’s appreciative portrait gives Matlin fair credit for refusing to complacent as the only person in the room and using her experience to advocate for change. People often use the saying of putting one’s money where one’s mouth is, but perhaps Matlin’s story is one of recognizing the future in one’s hands.”
Mr. Nobody Against Putin
Screens in: Special Presentations
If young minds are especially susceptible to propaganda—and key to a regime’s ability to manipulate future generations—then one teacher takes a courageous stand in Mr. Nobody Against Putin. David Borenstein tells the story of Russian school teacher Pasha Talankin, using many images the instructor shot, who defied Putin’s orders and refused to follow a propagandistic curriculum. “It brings us inside this community with rare sensitivity and care,” notes Jason Gorber in his review from Sundance. “Borenstein does well to keep the film on target, but this is obviously Pasha’s story to be told, and his footage and perspective drives the entirety of interest. The result is an absolutely stellar look at how much a country at war, particularly one like Russia given both its vast territory and vast history of conflicts, can be reshaped away from the front line. This is a brilliant film, accessible yet profound, and already easily one of the best of the year. It’s sure to generate conversation well outside Pasha’s toxic yet paradoxically wonderful home town.”
Selena Y Los Dinos
Screens in: Special Presentations
The handsomely and lovingly assembled archival documentary Selena y Los Dinos celebrates the life and music of singer Selena Quintanilla. Isabel Castro gives Selena the Amy treatment while the singer’s friends and family reflect on an artist tragically cut down at the cusp of stardom. “Castro brings a lens to the documentary that expands the frame beyond this one family,” writes Pat Mullen in POV’s review from Sundance. “Selena’s siblings share that they were essentially straddling two worlds by being a Tejano band. They’d sing in Spanish, but couldn’t speak the language fluently. Archival clips show Selena’s determination to learn Spanish, a challenge she gamely accepted while serving as the spokesperson for the band in interviews. This determination demonstrates her appeal, and how many young Latinos saw themselves in her.”
Yalla Parkour
Screens in: Made in Exile
This story of PK Gaza aka Gaza Parkour fuels this story of belonging, displacement, and exile. Yalla Parkour won the Grand Jury Prize for international cinema at DOC NYC last fall and brings to Hot Docs its unique portrait of life in Palestine and away from it, as Areeb Zuaiter offers a personal consideration of heritage and homeland. “The film is framed as a narrated letter from Zuaiter to her mother, beginning as she looks at old photos and recalls the power of her mother’s smile,” Larry Fried says in POV’s review from DOC NYC. “For the director, it is a powerful image of hope that she clings to as she watches Palestine being destroyed in the Israel-Hamas War. She recalls her first meeting with Matar and feeling a sense of belonging through their conversations, something she struggled with during her childhood as a mixed-race Palestinian-Jordanian. Zuaiter recalls how other Palestinian kids made fun of her unusual accent, which results in her feeling detached from the country and the violence it endures as she grows older. This creates distance between her and her mother, who felt deeply affected by her home country’s destruction in ways the filmmaker only now fully understands.”
