Hot Docs Announces Sundance Channel People's Choice Award Winner

Hot Docs has wrapped its most successful Festival to date with audience numbers reaching an estimated 151,000. The 11-day event featured 360 public screenings of 199 films on 16 screens across Toronto, three Rooftop Docs screenings, an internationally renowned conference and market for documentary professionals, and Docs for Schools, a phenomenally popular education program for youth. A total 168 screenings went rush, and the box office saw a 24 per cent increase in revenue. The Festival brought in over 200 filmmakers and special guest subjects from across Canada and around the world to present their films and take part in special post-screening Q&A sessions with audiences. Official film selections were chosen from a total 2146 films submitted to the Festival.

"Attendance at Hot Docs jumped by 11 per cent this year," says Hot Docs executive director, Chris McDonald. "Our audiences are clamouring for great docs, and our filmmakers are raving about the Festival's fantastic audiences. It is a perfect storm!"

After the final screening yesterday, votes were tallied for the Sundance Channel People's Choice Award. The winner is SOMEWHERE BETWEEN (D: Linda Goldstein Knowlton, USA), which follows four remarkable Chinese-born adoptees as they come of age between two cultures.

The top ten audience favourites as determined by audience vote are:
1. SOMEWHERE BETWEEN (D: Linda Goldstein Knowlton, USA)
2. GIVE UP TOMORROW (D: Michael Collins, USA/UK)
3. HOW TO DIE IN OREGON (D: Peter D. Richardson, USA)
4. WILD HORSE, WILD RIDE (D: Alex Dawson and Greg Gricus, USA)
5. SENNA (D: Asif Kapadia, UK)

6. BUCK (D: Cindy Meehl, USA)
7. JIG (D: Sue Bourne, Scotland)
8. ECO PIRATE: THE STORY OF PAUL WATSON (D: Trish Dolman, Canada)
9. BEING ELMO: A PUPPETEER'S JOURNEY (D: Constance Marks, Philip Shane (Co-Director), USA)
10. KORAN BY HEART (D: Greg Barker, USA)

Also during this year's Hot Docs, attending filmmakers with official selections in the 2011 Festival were invited to vote for their favourite film. The winner of the Filmmakers Award is AT THE EDGE OF RUSSIA (D: Michal Marczak, Poland).

In addition to the film and industry prizes presented over the course of the Festival, Hot Docs today announces that PC Bang: The Rise of the Esports Hero from producer Erica Landrock is the winner of the Shaw Media-Hot Docs Rendezvous Pitch Prize and recipient of a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Funds.

Hot Docs Announces Award Winners

Hot Docs has announced the winners of the Festival's 2011 awards. The Hot Docs Awards Presentation was hosted by Jian Ghomeshi, host of Q on CBC Radio One. The Best Canadian Feature and Best International Feature winners will have encore screenings on Sunday, May 8.

The award for Best Canadian Feature was presented to FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE (D: Julia Ivanova; P: Boris Ivanov, Mike Jackson), which visits a ramshackle house in Ukraine where supermom Olga Nenya is raising 16 abandoned mixed-race children. Sponsored by the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation and Documentary Organization of Canada, the award includes a $15,000 prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. Jury statement: "The award for Best Canadian Feature goes to an intimate, poetic film that bravely confronts nuance and complexity in its characters and its world." FAMILY PORTRAIT IN BLACK AND WHITE will screen again on Sunday, May 8, at 11:00 a.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre.

The Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature was presented to two films, AT NIGHT, THEY DANCE (D: Isabelle Lavigne, Stéphane Thibault; P: Lucie Lambert), which sweeps us into the chaotic world of a family of voluptuous female belly dancers in working class Cairo as they struggle to practice an art in danger of disappearing, and THE GUANTANAMO TRAP (D: Thomas Selim Wallner; P: Thomas Kufus, Amit Breuer, Marcel Hoehn, Christoph Jorg), which follows four lives forever changed by the infamous U.S. detention camp. Sponsored by the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation, the award includes a $10,000 prize courtesy of the Brian Linehan Charitable Foundation. Jury statement: "The special jury prize is shared between two films, a powerful film that mobilizes compelling characters who face uncomfortable truths, piecing together the anatomy of a broken system – THE GUANTANAMO TRAP by Thomas Selwin Wallmer, and a beautifully filmed, haunting and evocative documentary that invites us into a world we would never be able to enter otherwise – AT NIGHT, THEY DANCE by Isabelle Lavigne and Stephane Thibault."

The Canadian Features Jury also acknowledged the film WIEBO'S WAR (D: David York, P: David York, Nick Hector, Bryn Hughes, Bonnie Thompson; EP: David York, David Christensen) with an honourable mention.

The award for Best International Feature was presented to DRAGONSLAYER (D: Tristan Patterson; P: John Baker, EP: Christine Vachon), about Californian skate-punk Skreech who stretches out his adolescence by riding empty pools, getting wasted and road-tripping. Sponsored by A&E, the award includes a $10,000 prize courtesy of Hot Docs. Jury statement: "We were captivated by a non-hero, in a capitalistic, nihilistic society in decline. We were drawn to the funky connection between the structure and content, the freshness of filmmaking and original non-linear storytelling. For these reasons we stand by DRAGONSLAYER." DRAGONSLAYER will screen again on Sunday, May 8, at 11:00 a.m. at the ROM Theatre.

The Special Jury Prize – International Feature was presented to THE CASTLE (D: Massimo D'Anolfi, Martina Parenti; P: Massimo D'Anolfi, Martina Parenti; EP: Massimo D'Anolfi, Martina Parenti), in which rigorous observational filmmaking exposes the ennui and heightened tensions of today's border security via Milan's Malpensa Airport. Sponsored by the Ontario Media Development Corporation, the award includes a $5,000 prize courtesy of Hot Docs. Jury statement: "For portraying a liminal space in both humor and pain; for the uncompromising camera which sees it all; for noticing the hardship of a system trapped by its own obsession of security, turning a regular terminal into an intrusive checkpoint into Europe; for not neglecting those who resist; for us who look but don't see."

The International Features Jury also acknowledged the films GRANDE HOTEL (D: Lotte Stoops; P: Ellen De Waele, Co-Producer Denis Vaslin, Volya Films; EP: Ellen De Waele) and HELL AND BACK AGAIN (D: Danfung Dennis; P: Mike Lerner, Martin Herring; EP: Dan Cogan, Karol Martesko Fenster
Gernot Schaffler, Thomas Brunner, Maxyne Franklin) with honourable mentions.

The award for Best Mid-Length Documentary was presented to OUR NEWSPAPER (D: Eline Flipse; P: Eline Flipse; EP: Eline Flipse), in which a disgruntled journalist quits The Leninist and starts Our Newspaper in a remote Russian village. Sponsored by Canada Council for the Arts, the award includes a $3,000 prize courtesy of Hot Docs. Jury statement: "This is a portrait of a place and a people receding into history. Alternately poignant and wary in tone, it is the compelling story of a man attempting to find meaning and purpose within a fatalistic environment."

The Short and Mid-Length Films Jury also acknowledged the film PEOPLE I COULD HAVE BEEN AND MAYBE AM (D: Boris Gerrets; P: Pieter van Huystee) with an honourable mention.

The award for Best Short Documentary was presented to FLYING ANNE (D: Catherine van Campen; P: Joost Seelen), a three-dimensional portrait of a girl with Tourette’s looking for love, acceptance and understanding. The award includes a $3,000 prize courtesy of Hot Docs. Jury statement: "This is a film that impressed the jury because of its ability to bring viewers into the world of its young subject with great sensitivity and skill. Through bold camera work we’re drawn into a visceral and moment to moment experience of her emotions and struggles. It achieves a genuine sense of transcendence through its balance of vérité elements and lyrical imagery."

The Short and Mid-Length Films Jury also acknowledged the film SOMETHING TO TELL YOU (D: Pete Gleeson; P: Pete Gleeson; EP: Yvette Coyne) with an honourable mention.

The HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award was presented to director Michal Marczak for the film AT THE EDGE OF RUSSIA (P: Marianna Rowinska), in which a young recruit arrives at his Arctic post, hundreds of miles from the nearest human settlement, and is charged with an absurd task: patrolling the nothingness. The HBO Documentary Films Emerging Artist Award is sponsored by HBO Documentary Films. Jury statement: "Incredible storytelling of an initiation ceremony turning a young recruit into a real soldier. At the end of Russia, the end of the world perhaps, this film stunningly portrays five men as they protect their country in the icy snow against an invisible enemy. We unanimously salute this powerful debut in cinema."

The Sundance Channel People's Choice Award and audience top ten favourite films of the 2011 Festival, determined by audience ballot, will be announced on Monday, May 9. Also announced on this day is the Filmmaker Award, determined by ballots cast by Hot Docs 2011 filmmakers.

Special Screening of “RESTREPO” at Hot Docs

National Geographic Films, documentary festival Hot Docs and realscreen magazine are uniting to pay tribute to filmmaker Tim Hetherington with a special one-off charity screening of the late director’s Academy Award©-nominated Afghanistan war documentary RESTREPO.

The screening will be held at the TIFF Bell Lightbox theatre in Toronto at 3 p.m. EST on Saturday, May 7, during the Hot Docs documentary festival. All proceeds from the screening will be donated to a charitable organization to be determined by the Hetherington family to honor Tim's life, work and humanitarian initiatives around the world.

RESTREPO co-director Sebastian Junger will attend the screening, paying tribute to Tim, his friend and collaborator, and will host a Q&A session after the film.

Junger said: “Tim devoted his life to documenting the human cost of war, and he has now become part of that cost. As his colleague and close friend, I know that Tim’s paramount concern was civilian suffering during war, and he would want us to do everything in our power to alleviate that suffering. The world lost a very great man, but I know that Tim’s work will continue to bring us insight and understanding for decades to come. He will be deeply missed.”

Lisa Truitt, President of National Geographic Cinema Ventures, added: “We are shocked and deeply saddened. Tim was a very special and talented man, and we will always be inspired by his vision and passion. He was willing to take incredible risks to show us a true and unbiased picture of our world, and for that dedication he paid the ultimate price. Our hearts go out to his family and friends.”

The special screening comes after Hetherington, 40, was killed in Libya on April 20 while covering the conflict between Muammar Gaddafi and Libyan rebels. The conflict also claimed the life of his friend and fellow photojournalist Chris Hondros.

The news sent shockwaves and sadness throughout the documentary and journalism communities. Hetherington was highly praised as both a photographer and a filmmaker, having won the 2007 World Press Photo Award for his pictures of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan, and sharing the 2010 Sundance Film Festival Grand Jury Prize for RESTREPO with his co-director, Junger.

For RESTREPO, Hetherington and Junger spent a year documenting one American platoon’s battles in Afghanistan’s danger-filled Korengal Valley. Unflinching, emotional and insightful, the film has won numerous awards — in addition to the 2010 Sundance Prize, it received the Phoenix Film Critics Society Award for Best Documentary and the National Board of Review Award for Best Documentary, and it was nominated for Best Documentary Feature at this year’s Academy Awards©.

Chris McDonald, Executive Director, Hot Docs, said: “Hot Docs is honored to host this special screening of RESTREPO. Tim’s untimely death is a tragic loss, and I’m sure our audience and documentary colleagues will join with us in paying tribute to his remarkable life and work.”

Barry Walsh, Editor, realscreen, added: “The tragic passing of Tim Hetherington has seen the documentary and journalism communities lose someone who obviously had so much to offer through his sense of commitment and his pursuit of the real story. The team at realscreen is honored to be uniting with National Geographic and Hot Docs to support this worthy cause and pay tribute to a filmmaker and photojournalist who will be sorely missed by all who knew and worked with him.”

Tickets for the screening, priced at CAD$20, are on sale now, available online at hotdocs.ca, by phone at (+1) 416-637-5150, or in person at the Hot Docs documentary box office at 131 Bloor Street West, Toronto. Additional charity donations can be made onsite at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.

Hot Docs Week: 20 Films to See at Hot Docs.

This Thursday marks the official start of the 2011 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. Running from April 28th to May 8th, Hot Docs is a festival that showcases the best in documentaries from around the world. Last year, two documentaries featured at Hot Docs, Gasland and Waste Land, went on to receive Oscar nominations at the 2011 Academy Awards. Which films will be honoured this year? Only time will tell, but what I do know is that this year’s list might be the best one yet!

Thanks to the kind folks at both Hot Docs and NFB I have already had the chance to see a few of the films being screened at this year’s festival. I will post my reviews for you starting Thursday. Until then, below is a list of 20 documentaries playing at this year’s festival that caught my eye:

Please note that tickets can be purchased for all these films, and many more documentaries, at the Hot Docs website.

1. Beats, Rhymes & Life: The Travels of A Tribe Called Quest
2. Conan O’Brien Can’t Stop
3. Beauty Day
4. El Sicario, Room 164
5. All for the Good of the World and Nosovice
6. Pom Wonderful Presents: The Greatest Movie Ever Sold
7. Wiebo’s War
8. How to Die In Oregon
9. The Pirate Tapes
10. Project Nim

11. Despicable Dick & Righteous Richard
12. The Black Power Mixtape 1967-1975
13. How Are You Doing Rudolf Ming
14. St-Henri, The 26th of August
15. The Bengali Detective
16. Recessionize! For Fun and Profit!
17. Boy Cheerleaders
18. The Redemption of General Butt Naked
19. Matchmaking Mayor
20. Little Voices

The Garden of Hope Screening at Hot Docs

The Garden of Hope

A boy suffering from multiple sclerosis. He spends his days between treatments, memories, imagination and his struggle to stand. A struggle fought with dignity, courage, faith and love for life.

A film on the will to live and on the private space of those suffering, on the innermost thoughts...

Antonello Faretta’s The Garden of Hope is the intimate space inside each of us, where we grow the flowers of Strength, of Love and Grace in order to hold out against Life’s hard trials.

Complete Hot Docs schedule for The Garden of Hope:

Wednesday, May 4 at 9:15 pm, The Royal Ontario Museum Theatre
Friday, May 6 at 7:00 pm, The Royal Cinema

Wiebo's War Screening at Hot Docs

I am in the midst of writing a few reviews for documentaries that will be screened at the upcoming Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival. I plan to have the reviews posted to coincide with the festival. In the meantime, here is some information about one of films that the National Film Board of Canada is producing at this year’s Hot Docs festival:


Wiebo's War

Wiebo’s War tells the story of a Christian community at war with the oil and gas industry.

Wiebo Ludwig is a suspect in a 2008 string of pipeline bombings that echoes a campaign of sabotage he was accused of waging against the oil and gas industry in the 90s, during which roads were barricaded and wells blown up. When a 16-year-old girl was fatally shot on his family’s farm in 1999, the unsolved tragedy thrust Ludwig’s fight with the industry further into the media spotlight.

The Ludwig family lives in northern Alberta, in the heart of Canada’s oil patch. They arrived there 25 years ago, wanting to live more closely in accordance with their Christian beliefs and the Scripture. They built their community in the wilderness with their own hands, not knowing that it lay on top of one of the largest undeveloped fields of natural gas on the continent. Others took whichever buyout was on offer, accommodating the oil and gas industry. After years of trying to deal with the industry, politicians and the media, Ludwig and his family went to war.

Their community is self-sufficient in food and electricity, but isolated. Apart from Ludwig and his wife Mamie, there are five married couples, seven unmarried adults and 38 grandchildren, many entering their teenaged years. They are security conscious, aware that they are being watched, open to the outside world, but guarded.

And they believe that those who don’t share their beliefs, like filmmaker David York, are living in terrible darkness.

Complete Hot Docs schedule for Wiebo's War:

April 30 7:00 p.m. Isabel Bader Theatre
May 3 7:15 p.m. TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
May 7 6:30 p.m. Regent Theatre

The controversial Ludwig, along with filmmaker David York, will be in attendance at the April 30th screening.

Wiebo’s War had its world premiere at the Thessaloniki Documentary Festival (March 11 to 20, 2011) in Thessaloniki, Greece. The film was produced by David York for 52 Media and Bonnie Thompson for the NFB.