Running in Toronto April 25 to May 5, 2024 the 2024 HOT DOCS Festival is back, now in its 31st edition. The Festival not only is one of the World’s premiere Documentary Film Festivals, it is also highlighted by an array of events including a dynamic series of knowledge sessions, networking opportunities and market programs for documentary practitioners and industry delegates, including the renowned Hot Docs Forum and Hot Docs Deal Maker.
This year, 168 Documentary Filmmakers are expected to introduce their work at the Festival including the likes of Peaches, Sash Simpson, Valerie Simpson, Lucy Lawless, Thelma Schoonmaker and several more! Priyanka Chopra-Jonas produced BORN HUNGRY also premieres at the Festival this year.
HOT DOCS ‘24 boasts 168 documentaries representing 64 countries across 16 diverse programs and will feature 51 world and 32 international premieres.
Tickets and ticket packages can be purchased and/or redeemed online at www.hotdocs.ca or in person at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Box Office, located at 506 Bloor Street West in Toronto.
Our Justin Waldman (@DubsReviews) attends this year’s Festival and gives us his Top Five picks, in addition to sharing some reviews of some key titles!
From Justin:
There are so many great Documentaries to see this year at the Hot Docs festival but there are a handful of titles that certainly standout more than others. While the Nightvision program (usually the most disturbing documentaries or the most out of the box, though there are exceptions) isn’t the typical midnight fare this year but two of the three titles in the program certainly have peaked my personal interest. With plenty of being shown throughout the Festival, I am going to dive into my top five most intriguing docs (with one recommendation of something I’ve covered) for the upcoming HOT DOCS ’24 in no particular order.
Some Reviews ahead of the Festival:
The most wonderful time of the year, or so the saying goes. December is supposedly a time of joy, love, gifts, whimsical magic and so forth. Of course, this only really applies if you’re of the Christian faith and celebrate Christmas, but for director Ken Wardrop that is the focus of their documentary, So This is Christmas. The documentary focuses on a small Irish village and a handful of residents and their relationship with the Criss Cringle holiday.
The dark side of holidays that no one ever seems to focus on is what Ken Wardrop decides to focus on in So This is Christmas. We get to see the stories of five individuals, all of which have a very difficult relationship with the holiday. While their stories are told and interweaved with the Christmas scenery and exploration, however these five people truly do not like the holiday and certainly do not have the joy that the holiday typically evokes. Whether the stories the audiences are told are tales of tragic loss or just horrific circumstances, So This is Chirstmas will have the audience re-examine not only how they celebrate the holiday but the meaning of Christmas itself.
Ken Wardrop crafts a story that not only is going to captivate the audience but also ensure that they take a more appropriate look at the holiday season. While some people celebrate the holiday season, and the Christmas cheer others have a difficult relationship with the holiday and thusly creates an uncomfortable and difficult time of year for those.
So This is Christmas screens at the HOT DOCS ’24 on Tuesday, April 30th at 8:15 pm at TIFF Lightbox and Thursday, May 2nd at 4:45 pm at Scotiabank Theatre.
When creating a Documentary on a subject/person that has been done often and has had plenty of spotlight on the subject it is rather a daunting task and difficult to do something new and provide new light to said subject. Larry Weinstein was tasked with creating a documentary on Beethoven and specifically his Ninth, amply titled Beethoven’s Nine: Ode to Humanity, a play on the ode to joy. While the documentary doesn’t singularly focus on Beethoven himself or the ninth itself but rather the impact of the legendary piece of music and how it is managed to stand the tale of time over the last 200 years.
Focusing on Beethoven’s Nine from legendary comic creators to psychologists, Weinstein’s documentary focuses on how the music has carried a significant cultural impact over the past two centuries. With stories interwoven across different cultural moments and world issues, we see the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra perform the piece, and we also see Director Larry Weinstein breakdown the piece and the fourth wall in regard to the current situation in Israel and his personal connection to that story. He focuses on explaining how to separate art from life and the significance that Beethoven brings to the cultural zeitgeist.
Beethoven’s Nine: Ode to Humanity may not be the Documentary expected from audiences, but instead delivers a beautiful story of triumph and art that has defined generations. The cultural significance of the Ninth and how it has brought people together, helped them face adversity, and bring them an ‘Ode to Joy’ is truly captured in Weinstein’s Documentary which similarly to Beethoven’s Ninth will transcend audiences for centuries to come.
Beethoven’s Nine: Ode to Humanity screens at HOT DOCS ’24 with screenings on Sunday, April 28th at 5:15 at the TIFF Lightbox, Tuesday, April 30th at 11:30 at the TIFF Lightbox, and Saturday, May 4th at 2:15 at Scotiabank Theatre.
Alfredo Pourailly De La Plaza brings one of the most inspiring and heartbreaking Documentaries to audiences this year, with his The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine. With a title like that it may be easy to think this is a Documentary of something whimsical and fantastical, and while in part of its essence it is, but at its core the true heart of the story is looking at a broken system, a son who doesn’t want to watch his father suffer, and a passion for life and willingness to live that cannot go unmatched; true determination and perseverance brings this machine to new heights and levels.
The Film focuses on Toto as he’s in his 60s and has been working in the mines for the past 40 years and explaining in the town of Tierra Del Fuego in Chile, there aren’t many miners left. His car – similarly to his health – is in disarray but keeps on pushing through, even though they both need lots of fixes and eventually won’t be able to continue. His son, Jorge, cannot watch his father continue this way any further, and Toto doesn’t qualify for social assistance, so he creates an invention, a gold harvesting machine that he hopes can help his father so he can continue to live without the extra continuous strain on his body.
The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine is a story of triumph and the power of a good, healthy father-son relationship. De La Plaza brings a levity to such a serious story and by capturing the earnest feelings between Toto and Jorge along with his wonderful contraption and idea creates a moving documentary that is sure to capture the hearts of its audience and bring a powerful story of perseverance and love to the forefront.
The Fabulous Gold Harvesting Machine screens at the HOT DOCS ’24 on Sunday, April 28th at 4:00 pm at the Scotiabank Theatre and again on Tuesday, April 30th at 8:30 pm at the Scotiabank Theatre.
First-time feature Director Hamoody Jaafar takes risks with making their Documentary on the River Rouge High School Panthers basketball team, a team that at one point was one of the most successful high school basketball teams in the United States. 70 years later from their triumphant run, a former player returns to the scene and wants to coach the team to help them achieve another state championship. While the story is inspiring and aspirational, the documentary aspect of it almost feels lost. It feels like a well crafted Hollywood-ized story of overcoming the odds and defying the chances to achieve what a once prosperous team back to their glory. It works incredibly well, but the guise of a documentary feels lost, even though it is one.
Rouge focuses on LaMonta Stone – the former player who returns to bring the team back to the championship dance and some of the student players consisting of Legend Geeter, Brent Darby Jr and Ahmoni Weston. Not only does the Documentary focus on creating a world for the audience to get lost in and route for the underdogs to regain the glory they once held and create a world for of hope that this team can claim another championship. But it also focuses on the troubles and tribulations of being a pre college athlete, fighting for scholarships, what life brings after the games over and the things that people don’t always think about when thinking about student athletes. It offers an inside look that usually gets ignored and explores the chaos that resides off the court.
Hamoody Jafar captures the story of the River Rouge Panthers and the past, present and the future of some of their current players. It does so in a way that does not feel like a Documentary, as it focuses more on the team being the best team they can be rather than the trials and tribulations of what happens off the court and after they graduate. While it may not be feel traditional the story is exceptional and is bound to capture the heart of their audience.
Rouge screens at the HOT DOCS ’24 on Sunday, April 28th at 8:15 pm at the TIFF Lightbox and Tuesday, April 30th at 5:30 at the TIFF Lightbox.
The heart yearns for what the heart yearns for, at least that is the general message that Alix Blair wants to convey in their Documentary; Helen and the Bear. Focusing on a nearly forty year marriage that is running near its end (death not divorce) it examines how people can be together, even if they seem completely different but something brings them together and the thought of then being alone is one of fear and anxiety, but learning to make the most of the time they have together is key.
In the ’70s, Helen – a young idealistic hippie — met Pete McCloskey, a republican who opposed his own party and famously ran against Richard Nixon. What happens next is something neither of them could’ve predicted – they fall in love, and end up getting married despite a plethora of things Helen doesn’t understand such as the concept of marriage and even their own sexual preference/orientation. While Pete is busy working, Helen explores her sexuality all the while not wanting to hurt her husband. Affectionately calling Pete the Bear, Helen and the Bear focuses on their relationship, what they’re going through now that Pete is 96 years old and nearing the end of his life, and how love manages to persevere overall.
Helen and the Bear is a beautiful look at love, time, and self but the issue lays in how deep Blair chooses to go with the subjects and focal point. Nothing gets explored too deeply and thusly it is all surface level discussions, emotions, and feelings. Yes, loss is a part of life, but one would think the dissolving of a near forty year marriage simply due to age would be a harder subject to address and accept. Overall, Helen and the Bear scratches the surface and it is plausible based on Helen’s personality it is something that’s been accepted, but further exploration and deeper questions being asked could’ve provided deeper connections to the audience.
Helen and the Bear screens at HOT DOCS ’24 Sunday, April 28th at 4:40 pm at Scotiabank Theatre and April 30th at 11:45 am at Scotiabank Theatre.
The world has always had a fascination with magic, or at least I should say I did when I was a young child. The slight of hand and whimsical nature of everything is truly something magical and intriguing and captures an audience unlike anything else in the world. Now what could a documentary about magic be, because as we all know a good magician never reveals the tricks of the trade. However Jon Ornoy’s Documentary, Lost in the Shuffle focuses on Shawn Farquhar and some of his closest friends as they answer an unthinkable question – the origin of the Suicide King.
While the Documentary focuses on the slight of hand and cards specifically, talking about hDw the ideation and design of cards has relatively stayed the same since the 1500s there has always been something interesting about the Royals in the decks. Farquhar never knew, or claims to have not known about this troubled card until someone pointed it out to him at a young age; the king of hearts, throughout time has taken his blade and stabbed himself in the head. The question becomes why as audiences follow Shawn and his friends to discover the answer to this question and uncover more tricks of the trade and slight of hand shenanigans.
While this might not be Documentary about something hard-hitting, its ability to tell an interesting story and provide insight and background on one of the oldest games in humanity – cards is truly eye opening. A careful balance between handling the task at hand and following Shawn’s adventures are captured in Onroy’s direction that marvel and dazzle its audience as we hope to learn the origin of the card and other mysteries that get revealed throughout.
Lost in the Shuffle screens at the Hot Docs ’24 festival Monday, April 29th at 5:15 and Wednesday, May 1st at 8:15 pm.
More Reviews to come, please check back soon.
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