#FIRSTLOOK: HOT DOCS TED ROGERS CINEMA RESUMES PROGRAMMING RESUMES DECEMBER 4, 2024

Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema is delighted to unveil its December lineup, featuring an exciting collection of docs from some of the world’s most compelling filmmakers. This diverse program is set to captivate audiences with powerful stories that span a wide range of themes: from Ali Weinstein’s poignant look at the final days of Ontario Place in Your Tomorrow, to Errol Morris’ in-depth examination of the family separation crisis in the U.S. in Separated.

“We are deeply excited to reopen our cinema, where the magic of storytelling comes alive through Canadian and international films that connect with our valued audiences,” shared Heather Haynes, Hot Docs’ Director of Programming. “With a lineup of award-winning documentaries ready to inspire and engage, we invite you to share in the joy of experiencing these films on the big screen, surrounded by a community of passionate viewers. Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema is more than just a venue; it’s a home for our documentary family, a place where stories unite us and foster connection. We can’t wait to welcome you back for this extraordinary journey.”

To view the full December 2024 calendar, please visit www.hotdocs.ca

PREMIERES

Premiering at Hot Docs Cinema in December: Your Tomorrow, Ali Weinstein’s new film documenting the final days of Toronto’s iconic modernist waterfront park, Ontario Place.
The Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity 2024 presents the best international ads of the year on the big screen.

SERIES

Season 2024-25 of Doc Soup—Toronto’s best-loved film series showcasing premieres of the hottest documentaries fresh off the international Festival circuit, including lively post-screening Q&As with directors and other special guests—will launch on December 4 with the world premiere of Play it Loud! – How Toronto Got Soul, the little-known story of how Jamaican music became a critical part of Canadian culture. The December 4 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Graeme Mathieson, musician Jay Douglas and producer Andrew Munger. The December 7 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Graeme Mathieson and film subject Everton Pablo Paul. Both sessions will be moderated by Heather Haynes, Hot Docs’ Director of Programming.

For Viola, Hot Docs screening series centering Black, Indigenous, and People of Colour (BIPOC)-led stories and filmmakers, named in honour of Canadian civil rights icon Viola Desmond, returns on December 13 with a free screening of Seeking Mavis Beacon, an investigation into the disappearance of one of the most influential Black women in technology. The screening will be followed by a conversation with director Jazmin Jones and co-collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross, moderated by Toronto-based critic and curator Saffron Maeve.

Hot Docs Cinema is your one-stop destination to catch all the most talked-about docs of this awards season. The Hottest Docs series features screenings of Separated, where Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris delves into the harrowing chapter of family separations in recent American history; Daughters, which follows four young girls preparing for the first-ever father/daughter dance in a Washington, DC jail; Zurawski v Texas, a powerful story of women denied abortions joining forces with a fearless attorney to challenge the state of Texas and reclaim their rights and reproductive futures; Will & Harper, featuring Will Ferrell on a heartfelt road trip with his friend Harper after she comes out as a trans woman; Hollywoodgate, which explores the Taliban’s occupation of the Hollywood Gate complex, said to be a former CIA base in Kabul; Black Box Diaries, documenting journalist Shiori Ito’s landmark legal battle as she takes on one of Japan’s most powerful institutions to prosecute her high-profile assailant; Porcelain War, showcasing three Ukrainian artists who continue to create amidst defending Kharkiv from Russian attacks; Ernest Cole: Lost and Found, Raoul Peck’s compelling portrait of Ernest Cole, one of South Africa’s pioneering Black freelance photographers; Queendom, in which a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow, in defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws; and A New Kind of Wilderness, where a family embarks on a journey to live a free, untamed life on a small farm in the Norwegian forest. Select screenings include a live or pre-recorded director Q&A.

Get into the holiday spirit at Hot Docs Cinema! The 2024 Festive Favourites series will showcase cherished classics, including White Christmas, The Muppet Christmas Carol, Die Hard and a special The Polar Express PJ party. Tickets to all screenings are $7.50, except for Die Hard ($15.00) and donations of cash or non-perishable food item in support of the Spadina-Fort York Community Care are welcome. The December 14 screening of White Christmas is free for Hot Docs members.

Back to the Bloor revisits the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema’s most recent previous incarnation, when from 1980-2010 it was known as the Bloor Cinema, screening multi-month holdover hits, cult and midnight movie madness and mainstay classics. In December and January, Back to the Bloor will screen Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, School of Rock, Bridget Jones’s Diary and Godzilla (1954).

SPECIAL EVENTS

Hot Docs Cinema and A24’s residency of Stop Making Sense—the “greatest concert film of all time”—returns in December, featuring some of Talking Head’s most memorable songs.

La Vie Boheme! On December 8, Hot Docs Cinema will present an electrifying sing-along screening of Rent, the Chris Columbus vibrant adaptation of Jonathan Larson’s legendary Broadway musical.
Ring in the New Year with the Dude! Hot Docs Cinema invites audiences to one of their most hallowed and wildest cinema traditions: the eight annual Dude’s New Year’s event featuring The Big Lebowski!
BTS ARMY alert! On December 27, Hot Docs Cinema presents a one-night-only screening of RM: Right People, Wrong Place, a new candid documentary that delves into the life of BTS’ leader RM as he navigates global stardom while working on his second solo album, offering an intimate glimpse into his creative journey across multiple cities.

Cinema Ticket: $15 (Members tickets from $10)*
*Unless otherwise specified.

PREMIERES

Premiere
YOUR TOMORROW
D: Ali Weinstein | Canada | 96 min | 2024
With Toronto’s iconic modernist waterfront park, Ontario Place, set to close for redevelopment, an eccentric yet lovable group of park regulars and staff members live out its last year open to the public while confronting its controversial transformation into a private spa and waterpark.

The Friday, December 6 screening will be followed by an insightful Q&A with director Ali Weinstein, producer Geoff Morrison, birder Francesca Bouaoun, activist and politician Norm Di Pasquale and professor and swimmer Steve Mann. The session will be moderated by Hot Docs’ Director of Programming, Heather Haynes.

Opens Friday, December 6

Premiere
CANNES LIONS INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL OF CREATIVITY 2024
105 min | 2024
Ads are art, and these ones will knock your socks off. Check out the best of the best of the 2024 Cannes Lions Festival. Prepare to be persuaded!
Opens Saturday, December 21

THE HOTTEST DOCS

The Hottest Docs
SEPARATED
D: Errol Morris | USA, Mexico | 93 min | 2024
Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Errol Morris incisively probes the darkest chapter in recent American history: family separations.

The Sunday, December 8 screening will be followed by a virtual Q&A with American journalist Jacob Soboroff, a regular correspondent for MSNBC and NBC News, and the author of Separated: Inside an American Tragedy. The session will be moderated by Heather Haynes, Hot Docs’ Director of Programming.

Saturday, December 7 / 2:30 PM
Sunday, December 8 / 7:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
DAUGHTERS
D: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae | USA | 108 min | 2024
Daughters follows the lives of four young girls who prepare for the first ever father/daughter dance in a jail in Washington, DC. What unfolds is an intimate portrayal of childhood that is both heartbreaking and inspiring.

WINNER – Audience Award, US Documentary, Sundance 2024; Festival Favourite, Sundance 2024; Knight Documentary Award, Miami Film Festival 2024

Saturday, December 14 / 12:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
ZURAWSKI V TEXAS
D: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault | USA | 98 min | 2024
A group of women denied abortions, even at the brink of death, band together with a fearless attorney to sue the state of Texas in an extraordinary effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures—not only for themselves but millions of others.

Saturday, December 14 / 6:30 PM
Sunday, December 15 / 6:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
WILL & HARPER
D: Josh Greenbaum | USA | 114 min | 2024
When Will Ferrell’s good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self.

Sunday, December 15 / 3:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
HOLLYWOODGATE
D: Ibrahim Nash’at | Germany, USA | 91 min | 2024
Immediately after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban occupied the “Hollywood Gate” complex, claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul. The Taliban finds countless aircrafts, weapons and pieces of military equipment. Over one year, HOLLYWOODGATE shows the transformation of an extremist militia into a military regime.
WINNER – Full Frame Grand Jury Award, Full Frame Documentary Film Festival 2024; Golden Eye Award, Zurich Film Festival 2023

Both screenings of the film will be followed by an insightful pre-recorded Q&A with director Ibrahim Nash’at, moderated by Hot Docs Festival Programmer Aisha Jamal.

Friday, December 20 / 9:15 PM
Sunday, December 22 / 3:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
BLACK BOX DIARIES
D: Shiori Ito | Japan, USA, UK | 104 min | 2024
Journalist Shiori Ito takes on one of the most powerful institutions in Japan to prosecute her high-profile sexual assailant in a landmark legal case. Using personal footage and hidden cameras, Ito puts it all on the line for justice.
WINNER – Human:Rights Award, CPH:DOX 2024; Special Jury Award, San Francisco International Film Festival

Saturday, December 21 / 5:30 PM
Sunday, December 22 / 6:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
PORCELAIN WAR
D: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev | Ukraine, USA, Australia | 87 min | 2024
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.
WINNER – Grand Jury Prize, Best US Documentary, Sundance 2024; Best Documentary, SIFF 2024

Friday, December 27 / 5:30 PM
Sunday, December 29 / 3:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
ERNEST COLE: LOST AND FOUND
D: Raoul Peck | France, USA | 105 min | 2024
Ernest Cole was the first Black freelance photographer in South Africa, whose early pictures laid bare the injustices of apartheid for a world audience. Cole was exiled to the US, where his experiences were far from his expectations of the American Dream.
WINNER—L’Oeil d’Or, Cannes 2024

Friday, January 3 / 6:00 PM
Sunday, January 5 / 3:30 PM

The Hottest Docs
QUEENDOM
D: Brett Story, Stephen Maing | USA | 104 min | 2024
In defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism in this SXSW documentary.
WINNER – CPH:DOX Next:Wave Award 2023
Saturday, January 4 / 3:00 PM
Sunday, January 5 / 6:30 PM

The Hottest Docs
A NEW KIND OF WILDERNESS
D: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen | Norway | 84 min | 2024
On a small farm in the Norwegian forest, a family seeks a wild free existence. However, after a tragic event changes everything, they are forced from their idyllic farm and into the expectations of modern society.
WINNER—Grand Jury Prize for World Cinema, Documentary, Sundance 2024

Friday, January 10 / 6:00 PM
Saturday, January 11 / 5:00 PM

The Hottest Docs
UNION
D: Brett Story, Stephen Maing | USA | 104 min | 2024
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU)—a group of current and former Amazon workers on New York City’s Staten Island—takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.

The January 11 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Brett Story, moderated by Hot Docs’ Director of Programming, Heather Haynes.
Saturday, January 11 / 8:00 PM
Sunday, January 12 / 12:00 PM

FESTIVE FAVOURITES
Tickets: $7.50 for all films in this series except Die Hard.
Please bring a donation of cash or non-perishable food item to support Spadina-Fort York Community Care.

Festive Favourites
WHITE CHRISTMAS
D: Michael Curtiz | USA | 120 min | 1954
A successful song-and-dance team (Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye) become romantically involved with a sister act (Rosemary Clooney and Vera-Ellen) and team up to save the failing Vermont inn of their former commanding general.

Saturday, December 14 / 3:15 PM
*Free for members

Festive Favourites
THE MUPPET CHRISTMAS CAROL
D: Brian Henson | USA | 85 min | 1992
The Muppets’ rendition of Charles Dickens’ classic tale puts a unique twist on that fateful Christmas Eve, when Scrooge is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future.

Sunday, December 15 / 12:00 PM

Festive Favourites
THE POLAR EXPRESS – PJ PARTY
D: Robert Zemeckis | USA | 99 min | 2004
When a doubting young boy takes a train ride to the North Pole, he embarks on a journey of self-discovery that shows him that the wonder of life never fades for those who believe.

Friday, December 20 / 6:30 PM

Festive Favourites
DIE HARD
D: John McTiernan | USA | 131 min | 1988
Die Hard is an iconic 1980s action movie starring Bruce Willis as a rogue cop who must save a building full of hostages shortly before Christmas.
Saturday, December 21 / 9:00 PM

BACK TO THE BLOOR
Tickets: $7.50

Back to the Bloor
SCOTT PILGRIM VS. THE WORLD
D: Edgar Wright | USA, UK, Canada, Japan | 112 min | 2010
In a magically realistic version of Toronto, a young man must defeat his new girlfriend’s seven evil exes one by one in order to win her heart.
Saturday, December 28 / 9:00 PM

Back to the Bloor
SCHOOL OF ROCK
D: Richard Linklater | USA | 108 min | 2003
After being kicked out of his rock band, Dewey Finn becomes a substitute teacher of an uptight elementary private school, only to try and turn his class into a rock band.

Sunday, December 29 / 12:00 PM

Back to the Bloor
BRIDGET JONES’S DIARY
D: Sharon Maguire | UK | 96 min | 2001
Bridget Jones is determined to improve herself while she looks for love in a year in which she keeps a personal diary.

Friday, January 3 / 9:00 PM

Back to the Bloor
GODZILLA (1954)
D: Ishirō Honda | Japan | 98 min | 1954
Underwater hydrogen bomb testing awakens a fire-breathing monster from its centuries-long sleep, and it soon starts to terrorise Japan.
Saturday, January 4 / 9:00 PM

SPECIAL EVENTS

Doc Soup
DOC SOUP: PLAY IT LOUD! – HOW TORONTO GOT SOUL
D: Graeme Mathieson | Canada | 85 min | 2023
The little-known story of how Jamaican music became a critical and unlikely part of Canadian culture.
Recipient of Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund.

The Wednesday, December 4 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Graeme Mathieson, musician Jay Douglas and producer Andrew Munger. The Saturday, December 7 screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Graeme Mathieson and film subject Everton Pablo Paul. Both sessions will be moderated by Heather Haynes, Hot Docs’ Director of Programming.

Wednesday, December 4 / 6:30 PM
Saturday, December 7 / 8:00 PM
*Doc Soup Subscribers and Streaming Pass holders can view online starting Thursday, December 5, in an exclusive 4-day streaming window. During this time, the film will be available on the watch.hotdocs.ca portal. Please sign in with your email and password.

Special Event
RENT SING-ALONG
D: Chris Columbus | USA | 135 min | 2005
In New York City’s gritty East Village, a group of bohemians strive for success and acceptance while enduring the obstacles of poverty, illness and the AIDS epidemic.

Sunday, December 8 / 3:15 PM

For Viola
FOR VIOLA: SEEKING MAVIS BEACON (FREE SCREENING)
D: Jazmin Jones | USA | 102 min | 2024
Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing taught millions globally how to type, but the software’s Haitian-born cover model vanished decades ago. Two detectives search for Beacon, revealing questions about identity and AI along the way.

The screening will be followed by a lively conversation with director Jazmin Jones and co-collaborator Olivia McKayla Ross, moderated by Toronto-based critic and curator Saffron Maeve.

Friday, December 13 / 7:00 PM
*While this screening is presented free of charge, please consider a donation of $10 in recognition of the value of the work presented, and in honour of Viola Desmond, featured on the $10 banknote, at checkout. Half the proceeds will be shared directly with the filmmakers, who also receive screening fees.

Special Event
RM: RIGHT PEOPLE, WRONG PLACE
D: Seok-jun Lee | South Korea | 80 min | 2024
A candid documentary that delves into the life of BTS’ leader RM as he navigates global stardom while working on his second solo album, offering an intimate glimpse into his creative journey across multiple cities.

Friday, December 27 / 9:00 PM
*Doors will open one hour early at the Friday, December 27 screening for a BTS fan meetup.

Special Event
STOP MAKING SENSE – A24 RESIDENCY
D: Jonathan Demme | USA | 88 min | 1984
Newly restored in 4K to coincide with its 40th anniversary, this 1984 film is considered by many critics to be the greatest concert film of all time and is a long-held institution at the Hot Docs/Bloor Cinema. Shot over the course of three nights at Hollywood’s Pantages Theater in December of 1983, Stop Making Sense also features some of Talking Heads’ most memorable songs.

Saturday, December 28 / 5:30 PM

Special Event
THE BIG LEBOWSKI: THE DUDE’S NEW YEAR
D: Ethan Coen, Joel Coen | USA, UK | 117 min | 1998
Join us for one of our most hallowed and wildest cinema traditions: the eight annual Dude’s New Year’s event featuring The Big Lebowski!

Tuesday, December 31 / 8:00 PM
*Tickets: $20 (Members: $15)