Hot Docs announced May 5 the pitch winners at this year’s Hot Docs Forum, the Festival’s international co-financing market event and flagship industry event. Prize money totalled $50,000, including $40,000 in first look Pitch Prizes and the $10,000 CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize.
Financed by participants of Hot Docs first look program, a curated access program for philanthropic supporters of and investors in documentary film, first look Pitch Prizes are decided on by participants after viewing all pitches. The awards are given directly to the filmmakers and are designed to create lasting social impact for the causes associated with their work.
The first prize of $25,000 CDN went to The Queendom (Dir: Otilia Portillo/Prod: Paula Arroio Sandoval, Oscura Producciones S.A. de C.V.,Mexico), in which three Mexican Indigenous scientists – all women – partner with mushrooms to fight for their territories. The second prize of $15,000 CDN was awarded to A Woman’s Path (Dir: Marjan Khosravi/Prod: Milad Khosravi, Stephanie Von Lukowicz, Seven Spring Pictures (Iran), Lukimedia (Spain), the story of a woman who is forced to abandon her nomadic lifestyle after being betrayed by her family.
The CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize, presented in partnership with the Canada Media Fund, is a $10,000 cash prize that is awarded to the best Canadian pitch and is intended to go towards the production and completion of the winning project. The 2022 CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize was awarded to Untitled Labor Union Documentary (Dir: Brett Story, Stephen Maing/Prod: Mars Verrone, Samantha Curley, Level Ground Productions LLC (USA), Oh Ratface Films (Canada), an intimate portrait of workers taking on one of the world’s most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.
“The resilience and creativity of our documentary creators and dedicated support from decision maker community are most powerfully displayed in this 2022 edition of the Hot Docs Forum,” commented Elizabeth Radshaw, Hot Docs Industry Programs Director. “It is a true honour to see this documentary family grow.”
“The 20 teams who pitched in the Forum spent months – sometimes years – preparing for moments like this,” added Dorota Lech, Hot Docs Forum Producer. “We know that the expertise and knowledge around this table will legitimize, support, and help launch these films and are honoured to be a step on their artistic journeys. I’m especially in awe of each artist’s perseverance, tenacity, and courage and grateful to the decision makers for their generosity of spirit and guidance in helping these magnificent, joyous, sometimes heart-breaking, often unbelievable films reach audiences.”
At this year’s Hot Docs Forum, 20 projects represented by 26 filmmakers, 15 of whom are BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Colour) and 14 of whom are women and representing 19 countries, were presented to a live digital room of more than 50 key funders and decision makers as well as filmmakers, producers, and other observers.
A total of 55 projects were pitched during more than 750 pre-arranged meetings to more than 96 decision makers during Deal Maker, the Festival’s one-on-one curated pitch event. Distribution Rendezvous, the tailored meeting service for completed films seeking distribution, facilitated more than 900 meetings for 114 projects. Additionally, 14 Doc Accelerator fellows from across Canada participated in private programming which will continue in the coming months.
This year, Hot Docs offered a hybrid industry program, with three days of Hot Docs Industry LIVE knowledge sessions and social events, and online programs that included Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs Dealmaker, Distribution Rendezvous and additional industry content. 1941 registered delegates, including 218 decision makers, from 74 countries participated in this year’s live and online industry programs.
