The 2018 HOT DOCS CANADIAN INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL is shaping-up to be an exciting one with the announcement of their Special Presentations! Running April 26 to May 6, tickets for the Festival go on sale to the public March 20, 2018.
Special Presentations include:
Amal
D: Mohamed Siam | Lebanon, Egypt, France, Germany, Norway, Denmark | 2017 | 83 min | North American Premiere
Filmed over six turbulent years following the Tahrir Square uprising in Egypt, a feisty 14-year-old activist grows before our eyes into a commanding young woman, searching for her identity in a tinderbox of political turmoil and patriarchal systems.
Anote’s Ark
D: Matthieu Rytz | Canada | 2018 | 77 min | Canadian Premiere
As rising sea levels threaten to swallow the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, its president races against the clock to secure the future of a population doomed to be among the world’s first climate change refugees.
Believer
D: Don Argott | USA | 2017 | 101 min | Canadian Premiere
Imagine Dragons frontman and devout Mormon Dan Reynolds struggles to reconcile his faith with his church’s hardening stance on homosexuality, and finds himself on a mission to combat growing suicide rates among Utah’s LGBTQ youth. Produced by Live Nation Productions.
Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man
D: Tommy Avallone | USA | 2018 | 70 min | International Premiere
“Bill Murray crashed my karaoke party.” “Bill Murray photobombed our engagement pictures.” Everyone knows someone with a “Bill Murray” story, but this inspirational and drop-dead-funny detective doc hunts down the myths and the man.
Chef Flynn
D: Cameron Yates | USA | 2018 | 83 min | Canadian Premiere
When a 10-year-old prodigy launches a restaurant in his parents’ house, his culinary creations lead to collaborations with some of the world’s best chefs and a New York Times Magazine cover. But with his career set to take off, can he handle the heat?
The Cleaners
D: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck | Germany, Brazil | 2018 | 88 min | Canadian Premiere
Dive into the shadowy world of internet content moderators, where fingers hovering over the delete key judge within seconds the lines between art and pornography, journalism and propaganda, censorship and free speech—with far-reaching consequences both online and off.
Constructing Albert
D: Laura Collado, Jim Loomis | Spain, Estonia | 2017 | 82 min | Canadian Premiere
In the high-stakes world of haute cuisine, legendary Catalonian restaurant elBulli casts a long shadow—but when it closes, the head chef’s younger brother draws on his long-unrecognized creative genius to fight for his own culinary vision.
The Devil We Know
D: Stephanie Soechtig | USA | 2018 | 88 min | International Premiere
Citizen activists unravel one of the largest environmental scandals of our time when West Virginian residents discover DuPont has been dumping a toxic chemical into the water supply—one that’s now found in the blood of over 99% of the world’s population.
Inventing Tomorrow
D: Laura Nix | USA | 2018 | 105 min | Canadian Premiere
Roused by the issues faced by their own communities, brilliant young minds from around the globe gather in Los Angeles for the world’s largest high school science fair, tackling environmental crises with ingenuity, inspiration and hope.
Love, Gilda
D: Lisa D’Apolito | USA | 2018 | 84 min | International Premiere
The vulnerable and effusive spirit of beloved comedian Gilda Radner is brought to life through newly discovered audio recordings, home movies, interviews with friends and diary entries read by performers she’s inspired, including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph.
On Her Shoulders
D: Alexandria Bombach | USA | 2018 | 94 min | International Premiere
After surviving enslavement and genocide, a resilient young Yazidi woman is thrust onto the international stage as a spokesperson for those who’ve suffered at the hands of ISIS, where she must learn to navigate bureaucracy, fame and good intentions.
The Oslo Diaries
D: Mor Loushy, Daniel Sivan | Canada, Israel | 2018 | 98 min | Canadian Premiere
Once upon a time, Israel and Palestine almost made peace. Personal diaries and never-before-seen archival footage bring raw emotion and new insights to the secret, complex negotiations—and eventual failure—of the Oslo Accords peace process.
Playing Hard
D: Jean-Simon Chartier | Canada, USA | 2018 | 90 min | World Premiere
A powerhouse Montreal game studio finally greenlights its next potential blockbuster, but egos and artistry collide with the bottom line as everything rides on the epic battle game—featuring samurais, knights and Vikings—hitting the jackpot.
Three Identical Strangers
D: Tim Wardle | USA | 2018 | 96 min | Canadian Premiere
In 1980 in New York, three teenagers discover by chance that they’re triplets who were separated at birth. Despite disparate upbringings, they enjoy their newfound fraternity and fame until relationships unravel under the dark mystery surrounding their adoptions.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
D: Morgan Neville | USA | 2018 | 93 min | International Premiere
Mr. Rogers created a neighbourhood in which he connected with children through honesty, directness and love, while delicately introducing complex social issues. His work continues to resonate today, but have we failed to become the neighbours he hoped for?
Visit HOTDOCS‘ official site. Click here for more.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong)
Hot off his appearance at the Met Gala Monday night where he dazzled us with a custom dress for Katie Holmes, fashion icon Zac Posen is officially in Toronto! He is in town to present Sandy Chronopoulos’ House of Z at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival, which is a portrait of him as an artist, centering on his rise, fall and rise again in the world of fashion. This marks an ambitious feature debut for Chronopoulous, a producer at CITY (Rogers Media).
The Film premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival recently to rousing reception and debuts here in Toronto with a special Q&A by another fashion force, Jeanne Beker.
As he was headed to his Q&A, we were lucky to get a snap with Posen who along with Chronopoulos, was in great spirits!
See our Snap:
You still have opportunities to see HOUSE OF Z, more on this and showtimes at Hot Docs here.
(Photo credit: Hot Docs/Mr. Will Wong)
Television personality and science educator Bill Nye is in town for the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Appearing for his Documentary Bill Nye: Science Guy (premiering Wednesday, May 3, 2017) and also as part of the Scotiabank Big Ideas program, in which he spoke at tonight at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Just released last week was his new 13-episode Netflix series, Bill Nye Saves the World.
Our David Baldwin attended the talk which saw Nye really make a call to action for climate change. “We have to fight this for the betterment of human kind”, he says. “We can power Canada renewably right now if we just do it.”.
See a Snap:
(Photo credit: David Baldwin)
Gilbert Gottfried has built a brand around foul-mouthed insult comedy over the years as a stand-up comedian. On that same note, he also has become part of our cultural fabric, addressing boldly issues of race, religion and sex which can be heard on his podcast Gilbert Gottfried’s Amazing Colossal Podcast!. His unforgettable performance in Disney‘s Aladdin as Iago the parrot and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles as Kraang Subprime have gifted generations with timeless memories and he’s currently the subject of an eponymously-titled Documentary, Gilbert, from Filmmaker Neil Berkeley which premieres at the 2017 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival.
We think we know Gottfried from his outspoken public persona, but Gilbert portrays him as a loving husband, father and brother. We get a private, reserved man, not just the larger than life persona we are so used to seeing.
Our David Baldwin and Siobhán Rich had the pleasure of meeting with the comedy icon earlier and he speaks very candidly about his experience being followed by cameras to cracking jokes in light of tragedy, to the upcoming live-action version of Aladdin.
Why give us such intimate access to your life in this Documentary?
Gottfried: “Because I’m an idiot and a masochist”, he jokes. “Filmmaker Neil Berkeley, came up to me over two years ago and said ‘I’ve always had a dream to make Gilbert Gottfried Documentary.’. I told him, ‘You should really set your dreams much higher!”. “And then he started following me around and it made me uncomfortable every single second. I hated it and I’m too much of a wimp to tell him to go get away from me.”. “In revealing myself, it always seems like that scene from The Wizard of Oz. Don’t look at that man behind the curtain!”.
Having seen the Documentary, what do you think of it?
Gottfried: “The Documentary to me feels like what my vision of hell is. They put a big movie screen in front of you and you’re forced to watch your whole life. The reviews are surprisingly great but boy, it’s torture!”. He adds, “I’m happy to watch myself as Pierre the chef. I don’t want to watch myself as myself.”.
What inspires you?
Gottfried: “The fact that I have low intelligence and no class whatsoever.”.
Tell us about your involvement with Autism Documentary Life, Animated and also St. Jude Children’s Hospital.
Gottfried: “More of it happens by accident. I can do wonderful things as long as I’m not directly involved. If I’m involved there’s always a lawsuit and a scandal.”. “For Life, Animated, the son had a puppet of my character from Aladdin. His father would put a puppet (of Iago) on his hand and started talking to his son and his son reacted like a old friend.”. He recalls, “My wife and I got in touch with the father and had me surprise his son at the school for autistic children. They had a Disney club and they were re-enacting Aladdin. I walked in and they went crazy.”.
“St. Jude Children’s Hospital is a hospital for little children and I thought, I was gonna get in trouble. People were tearing-up and I got up there and think, this is really officially gonna end my career. I go up there and my joke starts with ‘This blind guy goes to a hooker…’ and the audience is laughing. They loved it.”. “And I look over at the man whose daughter had cancer and he was smiling with a glow around his face. And I thought, this is what comedy can do in a tragic situation.”.
“The first thing in tragedy no matter how poor taste it is, is crack jokes. I got a standing ovation.”.
What are your thoughts on the upcoming live-action adaptation of Disney’s Aladdin?
Gottfried: “They haven’t asked me to do it, but I think any Film that doesn’t use me is making a major mistake.”.
See the Chat:
More on GILBERT here.
(Photo/video credit: Mr. Will Wong/David Baldwin/Siobhán Rich)
Running from April 28 – May 8, 2016, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has become a public staple annually. Hot Docs boasts over 200 Films this year from all around the world and over 200k are expected to attend.
We’d love to give away tickets to some of the Festival’s more high-profile Films and there is a Hollywood tie-in even! We have passes available for the following:
DE PALMA
A brilliant piece on the infamous, iconoclast Hollywood director Brian De Palma, who is the man behind Carrie, Scarface and the original Mission: Impossible.
May 2, 6:15PM
Isabel Bader Theatre
LOVETRUE
A stunning art-film on love and heartbreak produced by Shia LaBeouf.
May 4, 9:00PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox
SUITED
A moving documentary on transgender men finding the right fit in a Brooklyn suit shop produced by the lovely Lena Dunham.
May 4, 7:00PM
TIFF Bell Lightbox
To enter to win, simply head over to MR. WILL ON FACEBOOK and click “like” on this Post to win!
Indicate for us which Film you’d like to enter for. You are welcome to enter for all three.
G’luck.
To learn more about Hot Docs, including how to get tickets and screening schedules, click here.
(Photo credit: Hot Docs)
We want to draw your attention to DRAWING THE TIGER from Filmmakers Amy Benson and Scott Squire, a Film which premieres at the upcoming HOT DOCS Film Festival!
Synopsis:
A family in Nepal living on less than a dollar a day wins the globalization jackpot: a charity scholarship for their daughter to go to school in the capital city. She promises to return, to free her family from poverty.
But she does not return. Drawing the Tiger is an intimate portrait of the price one family pays for their golden opportunity.
The number one cause of death among Women in Nepal aged 14 to 49 is suicide.
See the Trailer:
A Kickstarter was launched last month to aid the funding of this Film and its monetary goal was accomplished. We want you to see this important piece of Filmmaking.
DRAWING THE TIGER screens at HOT DOCS Wednesday, April 29, 2015 at Scotiabank Theatre 6:30 PM, Friday, May 1, 2015 at Scotiabank Theatre 4:45 PM and Saturday, May 2, 2015 9:15 PM. Details here.
(Photo/video credit: nonfiction media)
The Toronto International Film Festival traditionally is a good indicator of the Films we can expect to be in-contention come Awards Season, which concludes with the Oscars. In fact, six out of seven recent Best Picture Winners saw their debuts at TIFF including: Crash, The King’s Speech, Slumdog Millionaire, No Country for Old Men, The Hurt Locker and The Artist. This raises the question – will the next Best Picture Winner also be premiering at TIFF 2012? Bet on it. Here are a few early Contenders premiering at TIFF 2012 nabbing serious buzz coming into the Festival and some of these just may even have a real fighting chance Sunday, February 24, 2013 at the Oscars.
ARGO – A CIA Specialist helps six Americans who have found shelter at the home of Canadian Ambassador during the Iranian Revolution. Stars Ben Affleck, John Goodman, Bryan Cranston, Victor Garber, Clea Duvall and Taylor Schilling. Affleck also directs. Warner Bros. releases October 12, 2012. Screens at TIFF: Friday, September 7, 2012 at Roy Thomson Hall – 6:30 PM, Saturday, September 8, 2012 at VISA Screening Room – 11:00 AM and Saturday, September 15, 2012 at VISA Screening Room – 3:00 PM.
SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK – A former Teacher who was institutionalized, returns home to reconcile matters with his Ex-Girlfriend. He meets a mysterious Woman with her own set of problems. Stars Bradley Cooper, Julia Stiles and Jennifer Lawrence. David O. Russell (The Fighter) directs. Already hearing Oscar buzz from Insiders about Lawrence here. Alliance Films releases November 21, 2012. Screens at TIFF: Saturday, September 8, 2012 at Roy Thomsom Hall at 6:30 PM and Sunday, September 9, 2012 at VISA Screening Room at 11:00 AM.
THE MASTER – A Drama set in the ’50s about a Man whose Faith-based Organizations begin to catch-on with the help of his Right-hand Man. Stars Philip Seymour Hoffman, Amy Adams and Joaquin Phoenix. Paul Thomas Anderson (Boogie Nights, There Will Be Blood) directs. Alliance Films releases on October 12, 2012. Screens at TIFF: Friday, September 7, 2012 at Princess of Wales Theatre – 9:00 PM, Saturday, September 8, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox – 3:15 PM and Sunday, September 16, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox – 6:00 PM.
THE SESSIONS – A Man with an iron Lung enlists the help of a Sex Therapist and Priest to help him lose his Virginity. Stars Helen Hunt, William H. Macy and John Hawkes; Ben Lewin directs. Fox Searchlight releases October 26, 2012. Screens at TIFF: Sunday, September 8, 2012 at VISA Screening Rom at 2:30 PM, Tuesday, September 11, 2012 at VISA Screening Room at 2:30 PM and Saturday, September 15, 2012 at Ryerson Theatre.
THE PAPERBOY – A Reporter returns to his Hometown in Florida to investigate the case of a Man on Death Row. Stars John Cusack, Matthew McConnaughey, Nicole Kidman and Zac Efron; Lee Daniels (Precious) directs. D Films releases on October 19, 2012. Screens at TIFF: Friday, September 14, 2012 at VISA Screening Room – 6:00 PM and Saturday, September 15, 2012 at Ryerson Theatre – 6:00 PM.
THE HUNT – A Danish Film about a Kindergarten Teacher is falsely accused of Child Abuse. Stars Mads Mikkelsen (who won Best Actor at Cannes in May for this) and Thomas Bo Larsen; Thomas Vinterberg directs. Screens at TIFF: Monday, September 10, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox – 9:15 PM and Wednesday, September 12, 2012 at TIFF Bell Lightbox – 3:00 PM. Opens in theatres October 25, 2012 via Mongrel Media.
FRANCES HA – A young Dance Teacher lives her life with unaccountable joy and lightness, but aims to be so much more than what she is. Stars Greta Gerwig, Adam Driver and Mickey Sumner; Noah Baumbach directs this Film which recently won the hearts of Critics at the Venice Film Festival. Screens at TIFF: Friday, September 7, 2012 at Ryerson Theatre – 9:30PM, Saturday, September 8, 2012 at Winter Garden Theatre – 12:00 PM and Saturday, September 15, 2012 at Bloor HotDocs Cinema – 6:15 PM.
DREDD 3D – Set in a futuristic World where Violence is fought with Violence, a Trainee aspires to become a Judge – who act also as Jury and Executioners. Stars Olivia Thirlby, Karl Urban and Lena Headey; Pete Travis directs. Screens at TIFF: Thursday, September 6, 2012 at Ryerson Theatre – 11:59 PM and Saturday, September 8, 2012 at Cineplex Yonge & Dundas – 12:30 PM. Opens in theatres via Alliance Films on Friday, September 21, 2012.
Of course, as is the case with previous TIFFs, there always is a Dark Horse or two to emerge out of the clouds. Surely we’ll also be hearing about The Reluctant Fundamentalist, A Song for Marion and Hyde on Hudson Park? We soon shall see…
(Photo credit: Alliance Films)
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