A documentary about getting back at Borat, a full slate of Canadian films, and flicks that reflect tough economic times from bingo parlours to big pharmaceuticals’ race to produce the world’s first female Viagra are among 171 titles at this year’s Hot Docs.
Now in its 16th year, Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival runs April 30 to May 10. Organizers announced the full lineup at a news conference yesterday.
The movies come from 39 countries and represent a wide range of styles of non-fiction filmmaking. The biggest fest of its kind in North America, Hot Docs’ diverse menu features several movies set in Toronto, including Invisible City, a story of boyhood struggles in Toronto’s Regent Park, and Jackpot, a look at the hilarious and heartbreaking intensity of nights at Delta Bingo.
Besides the previously announced special presentations titles, which include the opening night world premiere of Jennifer Baichwal’s Act of God, Hot Docs announced these films, many of them world premieres:
• Outrage: An examination of American politicians who campaign against the gay community.
• The Cove: Louie Psihoyos’s intervention to end Japan’s dolphin slaughter.
• Carmen Meets Borat: A dark comedy about the Romanians who found themselves starring as idiots in Sacha Baron Cohen’s 2007 film.
• Waterlife: Kevin McMahon’s immersion into the complex toxicity of the Great Lakes.
• Inside Hana’s Suitcase: The story behind a girl’s name scrawled on a suitcase from Auschwitz.
• Amerika Idol: A True Story: Barry Avrich’s doc about a small town near Belgrade where residents decide to change their image by erecting a statue of Rocky hero Rocky Balboa as the icon to lead them to fame and fortune.
Also announced Thursday, the competitive Canadian Spectrum program, which includes 10 world premiere feature-length films, including Albert Nerenberg’s Laughology, a look at laughter’s source and meaning; Alison Rose’s Love at the Starlite Motel, a peek into the life at Miami’s busiest by-the-hour motel; and Sarah Goodman’s When We Were Boys, about the lives of students at a private boys’ school.
