#HOTDOCS: 2025 HOT DOCS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL PREVIEW

By Amanda Gilmore

Documentaries are about to be front and center once again!

This year’s Hot Docs International Film Festival will screen 113 feature-length Documentaries. The Festival, which runs from April 24 to May 4, 2025 will also feature 169 live screenings on five screens at two venues in Toronto. The two venues this year is their Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and TIFF Lightbox.

The opening night film is one to keep your eyes on. It’s a Canadian made Doc about the complex history of the country’s 2SLGBTQ+. Other noteworthy docs are Come and See Me in the Good Light, Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, and Ai Weiwei’s Turandot.

There’s many films to watch over the 10-day festival but the five titles we are most looking forward to viewing are:

The Dating Game: a revealing glimpse into modern China’s hidden demographic crisis, following three long-term bachelors as they attend a seven-day intensive dating camp—their perceived last chance at finding love in a country where millions of men face the unexpected aftermath of the one-child policy. Canadian Premiere. 86 Minutes

An American Pastoral: in small-town Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, a chilling political transformation unfolds as Christian nationalist candidates campaign for control of the local school board. Following the resignation of four moderate Republicans, a vacuum emerges that far-right activists fill eagerly, targeting LGBTQ+ literature and championing white-supremacist ideologies beneath a veneer of upholding religious values. North American Premiere. 120 Minutes

Deaf President Now!: a first-person account of the historical protests of the same name from the students-turned-organizers who came into their own and helped change the way the world saw the Deaf community, in turn advancing the disability rights movement. International Premiere. 100 Minutes

My Missing Aunt: A South Korean filmmaker uncovers the erased existence of her aunt who died by suicide before graduating college. As she confronts family secrets and dating violence, she exposes generations of patriarchal damage inflicted on women to live as “good daughters.” North American Premiere. 78 minutes

Parade: Queer Acts of Love and Resistance: the opening night film allows Canadians to revisit the pivotal moments and courageous actions that ignited Canada’s 2SLGBTQ+ movement. Through rarely seen archival footage and first-person accounts, audiences are brought to the frontlines of the struggle.

Hot Docs ’25 will take over Toronto from April 24 to May 4, 2025. More here.

Check back regularly as we will be sharing reviews of what we saw!