By Anne Brodie
Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, or Hot Docs, the biggest doc fest in North America celebrates 30 years of life-based, non-fiction films. From a community affair now reaching across Canada, this year April 27th – May 7th, 214 films from 72 countries will be presented in person, and as of May 5, 100 will stream nationwide via Hot Docs at Home until May 9th. Here’s a brief overview of a few of the gems on offer.
Barry Avrich’s Without Precedent: The Supreme Life of Rosalie Abella makes its world premiere at Hot Docs. Abella was the first female Jewish Supreme Court Judge in Canada and also the youngest judge in Canadian history, appointed at 29. Abella leaves the post as the longest-serving current member. Considered a hero and Canada’s RBG, Abella championed human rights, employment equity, same-sex marriage and constitutional law. She was born in a German displaced persons camp after WWII and immigrated to Canada. Here Abella’s dedication to marginalized communities won her far-reaching international admiration and much love at home.
Twice Colonized by Danish filmmaker Lin Alluna opens the festival following its triumphant debut at Sundance this year. It’s the first co-production between Inuit across colonial borders and the first Pan-Arctic film co-production and concerns. Aaju Peter, a tiny ball of fire, is an Inuit lawyer and activist, a member of the Order of Canada, and a globally respected fighter for the rights of indigenous people. Alluna followed her for seven years, and discovered Peter was indeed, ‘twice colonized”. The first time Peter was taken alone as a child of eight, from her Greenland family to Denmark, to be stripped of her indigenous heritage and raised as a European. She grew up in Copenhagen and calls the country and language ‘cold’, ‘harsh’, and ‘strict’. Peter refuses to speak Danish. She was colonized a second time living in Iqaluit, Nunavut, by southern Canada. Peter is extraordinarily compelling and engaging, her dedication to preserving Inuit ways, like seal-hunting, is urgent and unforgettable.
Philippe Falardeau’s 4-part documentary series Lac-Mégantic: This is not an Accident examines the “worst oil train tragedy in history; a foreseeable catastrophe ignited by corporate and political negligence” on July 6, 2013, in Lac-Mégantic, Quebec. An out-of-control freight train carrying a massive load of Bakken oil exploded and derailed in the community’s downtown, killing everyone in its path and causing irreparable harm. Meet traumatised angry survivors who say it was preventable, and the major players who defend themselves.
The NFB presents two doc shorts – Georges Hannan’s Undertaker for Life! and Holly Andersen’s Hebron Relocation. Andersen explores the idea of what is home as she learns about her community’s connection to generations of displaced northern Labrador Inuit.
Hannan looks at an unusual profession – the artisan of bereavement. “Love of life, dark humour, and comforting wisdom are the best remedies against existential despair” we learn.
The Eternal Memory is about a loving couple, Augusto and Paulina facing his diagnosis of Alzheimer’s disease.
Iron Butterflies. Ukraine 2014. Butterfly-shaped shrapnel found in a downed pilot’s body proves beyond doubt that a foreign government purposely shot down flight MH17. This war crime remains unpunished.
July Talk: Love Lives Here – The band July Talk plans for live shows back in 2020 but they’re stuck, unsure of their ambitions, COVID, the financial risk they’re taking, and the sudden onset of a serious illness.
Satan Wants You – A “Satanic Panic” in the 1980s and ‘90s was partly the result of Michelle Remembers, a memoir by psychiatrist Larry Pazder and his patient Michelle Smith. Her Catholic childhood memories of being kidnapped by Satanists inspired rumours of devil worshippers preying on children. Lurid daytime TV spread panic for ratings and in the real world, people were subject to wrongful arrests and convictions, based on conspiracy theories and “alternate” realities.
Seven Winters in Tehran – Reyhaneh Jabbari, 19, is nearly raped during a business meeting and stabs the man, then flees. She’s arrested and charged with murder but her self-defence argument is lost because the predator has wealth and power. She is sentenced to death.
Smoke Sauna Sisterhood – Women share a sauna with one another, revealing secrets and stories they’ve held close. The sauna and conversation seem to wash away the pain and shame they carry and with the support of the others, they begin to reset and recover.
Denys Desjardin’s documentary diary I Lost My Mom examines the filmmaker and his sister’s processes of dealing with their mom’s last days. They work to ensure she is well-cared for in the CHSLD system and share intimate time with her until the inevitable happens.
Caiti Blues, from Justine Harbonnier, follows 30-year-old singer Caiti Lord who lives in a community of outsiders in the ghost town called Madrid, New Mexico, near Santa Fe. Her early music career was promising, with musical education and performances on Broadway but she now lives in poverty. Music keeps her spirits up.
Rama Rau’s Coven concerns three young Toronto-based women who identify as witches. Their paths to learning about and adopting wiccan practices take them, among other places, to Scotland where one of the women discovers a distant ancestor was hung as a witch.
Cynara -A woman calls 911 to report two men broke into her home and her daughter isn’t breathing. First responders find 16-year-old Cynara without vital signs, and her mother, Cindy Ali, immobile on the floor. Cynara dies and Cindy becomes the prime suspect. Exclusive interviews with Cindy, her family, her lawyer, witnesses, and court documents create a compelling real-life crime thriller.
Echo of Everything– Music is a mysterious force explored through science, history, and philosophy. Filmed with global interviews, music and dance wove together with drama, animation, expressionism, and archival material. Created during the pandemic, filmmaker Cam Christiansen reflects on the human condition, resilience and his relationship with music.
Revir- Everything You Hold Dear – Siblings Susie and Sune raised themselves alone and as adults buy an old farmhouse and bring in animals—live, dead, and in “different stages of resurrection”. A taxidermist supports them but the women start to drift apart.
Kurdish-Canadian filmmaker Kordo Doski, a Kurdish refugee who resettled and grew up in Toronto presents Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story at Hot Docs. David Oyelowo executive produces via his company Yoruba/Saxon, this “exuberant and uplifting” vision of humanity about a stellar refugee sports club of immigrants in Sweden determined to draw attention to the stateless people of their homeland.
All you need to know is here: https://hotdocscinema.ca