Hot Docs unveils 2024 selection against turbulent backdrop

Twenty-four hours after ten Hot Docs programmers exited the festival en masse, the Canadian doc fest unveiled its programme of 168 documentaries representing 64 countries, featuring 51 world and 32 international premieres. Hot Docs 2024 runs April 25 to May 5, promising “an unparalleled celebration of non-fiction storytelling on a global scale.”

In an online statement posted March 25, programmer Myrocia Watamaniuk wrote: “I have made the heartbreaking choice to exit the 2024 Hot Docs Festival…I do so with 9 of my fellow colleagues… I will continue to fight for films and filmmakers – they are the bedrock of all film festivals, and the reason I do this job.” The other departing programmers are Samah Ali, Vivian Belik, Jesse Cumming, Angie Driscoll, Margaret Pereira, Gabor Pertic, Kaitlynn Tomaselli, Mariam Zaidi, and Yiqian Zhang.

The programmers’ exit followed Artistic Director Hussain Currimbhoy’s departure on March 20 for “personal reasons,” as confirmed by the festival.

On March 26 the programmers together issued a further statement via social media.

“The ten programmers who have left Hot Docs 2024 have done so independently of any other Hot Docs personnel,” they wrote. “We consider ourselves to be a principled, process-driven programming team, but this year we were unable to carry out that process.”

“Programming Hot Docs is a labour of love: love for both the films/filmmakers, and for the process of selection,” the statement continues. “We, as programmers, uphold a standard of care for filmmakers – there is an implicit trust between us. Hot Docs does important work, operating under the values of inclusivity and equity.

“Recently, the once welcoming programming environment was turned into a toxic workplace by:

1. a lack of respect for protocol and business communication
2. the dismissal and/or diminishment of team members’ voices
3. breaches of contracts across various programmes

“We were expected to work in an ever-changing, chaotic, unprofessional and discriminatory environment. Programming team members approached HR, Senior Management, the President and then the Board in good faith to share our concerns. There was an effort by all parties to work together until a request by the programming team for public transparency (regarding the above concerns) was denied.

“In order for a world-class event like Hot Docs to remain relevant and thriving, the programming team believes it must be kept accountable and transparent. Trust and respect is essential, as is a deeply-held commitment above all to filmmakers – none of this would exist without them, and they’re the reason we do this work. The programming team fully supports and celebrates the films in the festival this year, just as we support all documentary filmmakers working to speak truth to power.”

New Hot Docs president Marie Nelson referred to the difficult times the festival has experienced post-pandemic in a March 8 open letter to festival audiences. “While we’re already seeing positive signs of recovery as audiences both old and new are returning to the cinema, and while we’ve taken steps to reduce our overhead without impacting our core programming, we are quickly losing runway and urgently need direct support to ensure our future viability,” she wrote.

At the March 26 press conference when this year’s Hot Docs selection was unveiled, Nelson appeared to strike a conciliatory tone towards the programmers: “We understand that our union is far from perfect, but I also know that the only way we can create a more perfect union is if we do it together, and so I will continue to work to try to earn that trust and hope that they will come back, and if they don’t come back this year that they’ll come back next year.”

HOT DOCS SELECTION 2024
Hot Docs 2024 festival will open April 25 with the international premiere of Luther: Never Too Much, directed by award-winning filmmaker Dawn Porter. “This remarkable film delivers a stirring portrait of music sensation Luther Vandross, as the film charts his creative journey, his larger-than-life path to stardom, and the creation of his most memorable songs,” write organisers.

Organisers further underline how “Hot Docs continues its commitment to gender parity with 54% female directors represented in the official selection.” 

“I am excited to embark on my first Hot Docs Festival as President,” Marie Nelson commented. “There is something so extraordinary about what this Festival represents: the opportunity to unite with fellow documentary lovers to share in the collective experience of being amongst the first audiences to witness unforgettable stories of human power. We strive to continue bringing this experience to Toronto audiences for years to come, and hope that doc lovers—both seasoned and new—will come out to support us in this and take in the remarkable lineup of films showcased at this year’s Festival.”

The International Competition comprises ten “engaging stories from around the globe.”

• Death of a Saint by Patricia Bbaale Bandak, Denmark, 91 mins, International Premiere. Filmmaker Patricia Bbaale Bandak gives birth  on Christmas Eve, the same day her mother  was killed by two gunmen in their Ugandan home decades earlier. Yearning to know her mother, she returns to her birthplace to reclaim what was stolen from her.
• Devi by Dubina Shrestha, Nepal, 80 mins, World Premiere. Devi is a mother, a rebel warrior and sexual violence survivor of Nepal’s civil war. Inspiring and courageous to her core, she battles personal demons in her campaign against rape’s erasure from the narrative of war.
• The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine by Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza, Chile, Netherlands. 77 mins. World Premiere After 40 years working in the mine at Tierra del Fuego, Toto doesn’t qualify for the social security that would allow him to retire. So his son Jorge attempts to build a gold harvesting machine to bring them a better future.
• Farming the Revolution by Nishtha Jain, India, 100 mins. Amidst COVID lockdowns, India’s farmers  rise up on an unprecedented scale against  unjust new laws. Over half a million protesters —men and women from all generations, religions, classes and castes—gather and reinvent co-existence while winning a rare victory over the state.
• Fragments of a Life Loved by Chloé Barreau, Italy, 95 mins, International Premiere. From age 16, the filmmaker has recorded each of her male and female lovers. Using only these early videos and present-day interviews with each partner, she assembles her fluid lusts, loves, rejections and growth into a history of her heart.
• Porcelain War by Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev. Ukraine, USA, Australia. 87 mins. International Premiere. Why would anyone craft fragile ceramics in an active war zone? Three Ukrainians, fighting as both soldiers and artists, offer up an unexpected dispatch from the front lines. Creativity combats destruction in this gorgeous Sundance Best US Documentary award-winner.
• Standing Above the Clouds by Jalena Keane-Lee. USA, 85 mins. World Premiere. When the Thirty Meter Telescope is set to  be built on Mauna Kea, three Native Hawaiian families risk it all to defend their sacred mountain. Standing Above the Clouds explores intergenerational healing and the struggle to retain ancient ceremonies.
• Streets Loud With Echoes by Katerina Suvorova. Kazakhstan, 95 mins. World Premiere. When a young Olympic skater is murdered,  it galvanizes Kazakhstanis. Tracing the steps  of a young journalist and a strong-willed  political scientist, the camera observes a society learning to raise its voice, despite decades of  fear and oppression.
• The Weavers’ Songs by Ismael Vásquez Bernabé. Mexico, 78 mins. World Premiere. In San Pedro Amuzgos, Oaxaca, where  weaving is not only a way of life but the main economic export, the importance of tradition and the responsibility of legacy are explored  in this reflective debut feature by Ismael Vásquez Bernabé.
• XIXI by Fan Wu, Taiwan, Philippines, South Korea,100 mins. World Premiere. An unexpected and joyous exploration of womanhood, autonomy and self-reinvention, told through the video diaries and personal archive of the free-spirited XiXi and the evolution of the friendship between her and the filmmaker.

Canadian Spectrum Competition, a competitive program showcasing bold new works by Canadian directors

• 7 Beats Per Minute by Yuqi Kang, Canada, 100 mins. In her harrowing pursuit of the freediving descent of a lifetime, champion Jessea Lu returns to the site of her near-death experience in the Bahamas to face past traumas and learn to trust herself and others.
• Adrianne & the Castle by Shannon Walsh.Canada, 86 mins. Alan and Adrianne built an ornate castle as a representation of their other-worldly love for each other. Now, Alan faces a future alone and grapples with his grief through creative musical re-enactments, transporting him back to the fantasy world they created together.
• Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story by Michael Mabbott, Lucah Rosenberg-Lee. Canada, 99 mins. Outshining artists like Little Richard and Etta James, ’60s soul singer Jackie Shane shattered barriers as one of music’s first Black trans performers. Why did this trailblazing icon vanish from the spotlight at the height of her fame?
• Curl Power by Josephine Anderson. Canada, 85 mins. World Premiere. Five best friends pursue their dreams of becoming Canadian National Curling Champions. Follow these girls through their high school years in British Columbia as they navigate the perils of modern teenage life on and off the ice.
• Fire Tower by Tova Krentzman. Canada, 47 mins. World Premiere. Observing the world in isolation leads to revealing insights into our connection to nature. High above the boreal forest, solitary sentinels survey dramatic and awe-inspiring landscapes as a critical first line of defense in wildfire detection.
• A French Youth by Jérémie Battaglia. Canada, France, 84 mins. World Premiere. In the south of France, two young North African men seek a new life through Camargue races,  a traditional sport where you survive by literally trying to take a bull by the horns.
• Karuara, People of the River by Miguel Araoz Cartagena, Stephanie Boyd. Peru, Canada, 77 mins. World Premiere. Facing cultural genocide, a group of Indigenous women from Peru file a groundbreaking lawsuit demanding the government recognize the Marañón River, which flows into the Amazon,  as a person with rights in order to protect  the world of powerful spirits led by the Karuara (people of the river).
• Me, Michael and I by Nicolas Tremblay, Régis Coussot. Canada, 75 mins. World Premiere. An ambitious young Quebecois man sacrifices everything in his obsession to resurrect the King of Pop, Michael Jackson. As he transforms physically to emulate his hero, dance moves and all, the lines between dreams and reality blur.
• My Dad’s Tapes by Kurtis Watson. Canada, 82 min. World Premiere. A trove of home video tapes spurs a filmmaker  to investigate repressed parts of his past  and come to terms with his own identity. An investigation into his father’s sudden suicide turns into a cathartic journey of reconnection and healing.
• Okurimono by Laurence Lévesque. Canada, 96 mins. North American Premiere. Reconstructing the past culminates in a poetic observation on the process of letting go as a Japanese Canadian woman returns to empty her childhood home, reviving the memories of her mother, a survivor of the Nagasaki atomic bomb.
• Seguridad by Tamara Segura. Canada, 76 mins. Exploring the life of her father, a former youth member of the Communist Party of Cuba, director Tamara Segura reveals how a gifted, well-intentioned young man became an abusive alcoholic, drawing revealing parallels between her broken home and her country’s fractured political system.
• The Soldier’s Lagoon by Pablo Álvarez-Mesa. Canada, 76 mins. North American Premiere. Reflecting on the construction of oral history  and its relation to the land, The Soldier’s  Lagoon dives into the misty Páramo region  and offers an elusive living archive that  navigates the dense fog separating Simón Bolívar’s past and Colombia’s present.
• Wilfred Buck by Lisa Jackson. Canada, 92 mins. North American Premiere. A hybrid, time-traveling road trip takes us into the harrowing life of charismatic Cree elder, star expert and ceremonial leader Wilfred Buck. Adapted from his memoir, this hybrid film charts his journey back to his people’s ways of coming to knowledge.

The World Showcase program features revelatory stories that span the globe, including the world premieres of Breaking the Cycle, an exploration of Thailand’s recent elections, where a group of young politicians campaigned against an authoritarian constitution; Helen and the Bear, the story of the unlikely 40-year bond between a rebellious young hippie and a U.S. Congressman known for challenging his own Republican party; and The Sharp Edge of Peace, in which four extraordinary women navigate the harsh reality of Afghanistan’s new chapter—and its political impact on women’s rights—while at the negotiating table with the Taliban. Other selections include  Mohamad Jabaly’s Life Is Beautiful (Norway, Qatar, Palestine), Agnieszka Zwiefka’s Silent Trees (Poland) and Luke Beradze’s Smiling Georgia (Georgia).

A showcase of recent works from Spain will make up the Made In program, offering Hot Docs audiences the opportunity to immerse themselves into “a rich tapestry of captivating, uniquely Spanish stories and discover the talented voices emerging from Spain’s vibrant documentary landscape.” Made In Spain will include the world premieres of The Click Trap, in which investigative journalists and online activists reveal the unsettling reach of the unregulated digital advertising industry; Flying Hands, in which a Pakistani mother questions the custom that would have her hide her deaf child out of family shame; and Wild Gleaming Space, in which a chilling encounter deep in Panama’s untamed jungle triggers a personal exploration of life and death. Made InSpain is presented in collaboration with ICEX Spain Trade and Investment.

A core element of Hot Docs is the Changing Face of Europe programme which this year features 9 new films that seek “to illustrate and examine a new and contemporary Europe from a cultural, social, geo-political and economic perspective.” Click here for more information.

The 2024 Outstanding Achievement Award will honour visionary Haitian filmmaker Raoul Peck, “whose unparalleled contributions to the world of documentary filmmaking have garnered widespread acclaim and numerous accolades.” The Festival will feature a handpicked selection of films curated by Peck, showcasing both a personal favorite and a work that has influenced him. Peck will be in attendance at the Festival, engaging in Q&A sessions following the screenings of his films. 

Hot Docs will also honour Canadian cinematographer Iris Ng through its annual Focus On program, spotlighting the remarkable work of Canadian filmmakers and craftspeople who have left an indelible mark on the documentary landscape, showcasing their invaluable contributions to the art form. Iris Ng’s notable work turns a critical lens on social justice, marginalised communities, and the process of filmmaking itself.

For details of all other Hot Docs 2024 strands and programmes, click here.