The 2024 Hot Docs Film Festival is in full effect with a catalogue of 168 documentaries from 64 countries and 83 international premieres and we’ve got the scoop on the most highly recommended films to watch.
This year, Dawn Porter’s Luther: Never Too Much is the opening night screening for the 31st edition of the festival. The Hot Docs festival is running from April 25 through May 5.
To help narrow down the list, Now Toronto collaborated with Hot Docs directors Heather Haynes and Kristin Boivin to create a guide for festival attendees who don’t know where to start. Our categories include romance, comedy, drama, newsworthy, local, and BIPOC and queer films.
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ROMANCE
Agent of Happiness
Agent of Happiness takes place in Bhutan and follows the story of a 40-year-old named Amber who is an agent of Gross National Happiness. His job is to ultimately measure the level of happiness of the country by going door-to-door and checking everyone’s well-being. Amber goes on a spiritual journey and visits various tribes of Bhutan to make new acquaintances and understand their lives.
Haynes says this film made her feel grateful.
“…This film for me really focuses on the smaller things that we overlook in our lives and it’s a love story that’s threaded throughout,” she said.
Fragments of a Life Loved
Fragments of a Life Loved centres on its director, Chloé Barreau, who has filmed all her lovers since she was 16 years old. Barreau has documented every man and woman she loved from a crush, relationship, to a one-night stand during her time in Paris and Rome. In this film, she turns the table around and interviews each of her exes to uncover their versions of her.
Boivin says it’s a gorgeous film that teaches viewers heartbreak is a part of life and you don’t feel heartbreak without love.
“This woman basically interviews all of her exes which you would think would be a very scary thing. But they all have a lot of distance from the relationship, and it’s just beautiful to look back on relationships big and small from your youth basically,” she said.
COMEDY
Smiling Georgia
Directed by Luka Beradze, Smiling Georgia is set in the town of No Name, Georgia and goes back to the 2012 U.S. election when a presidential candidate promised to provide free dental care to vulnerable citizens. As a result, crowds of people had their rotten teeth pulled out and some didn’t even have enough to chew their food. Now, the film is getting an update on the citizens and explores the lengths of political power.
American Cats: The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly
American comedian and actress Amy Hoggart from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee educates viewers on the physical and psychological effects of declawing cats in American Cats: The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly through a range of interviews with pet owners, activists and veterinarians. Boivin says this documentary is comedic in terms of how the subject matter is approached.
“…There’s so many cute funny little cats and she kind of goes to these different conventions and things and she’s got that very Samantha Bee or The Daily Show kind of approach to interviewing people that is humorous,” she explained.
CANADA-BASED
Red Fever
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond and Catherine Bainbridge present Red Fever, a film that delves into the world’s historical fascination with Indigenous Peoples. The film analyzes examples of cultural appropriation by Indigenous scholars, artists and community members. This includes fashion, sports, governments and agricultural practices.
“…Neil basically, he’s not only the director, but he leads the audiences through the film and the discovery. He’s got a great humour and approach to his work and his character in general,” Haynes said.
Yintah
Yintah is directed by Jennifer Wickham, Brenda Michell, and Michael Toledano, and is described as an urgent call to climate justice action. The film looks at crimes committed by the Canadian government and its partnerships as they breach First Nations sovereignty for financial gain. The film studies the impact of large fossil fuel companies that invade Wet’suwet’en lands and ultimately pollute its environment with natural-gas pipelines that cover several bodies of water.
NEWSWORTHY
Union
Union focusses on a group of workers who made history after becoming the first unionized Amazon workplace in the United States. Coined as one of the most historic wins for labour since the 1930s, Union is an inspiring tale about a working class group with no prior organizing experience or support fighting against a massive corporate giant.
“This is about the Amazon labour union, the movement that they made within New York and Staten Island and the first screening of this is going to have the participants in the film be present. And she’s also going to have a local labour union representative come and speak more about local union issues in Ontario,” Haynes said.
Nice Ladies
Nice Ladies touches on the members of a women’s cheerleading squad in their fight to survive following the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in 2022. This film is about the strength of sisterhood and connection as each member copes with daily traumas, resentment and survivor’s guilt.
DRAMA
Black Box Diaries
Black Box Diaries is about the riveting tale of Shiori Ito, a young woman and aspiring journalist, who attempts to expose a high-profile figure who sexually assaulted her. When her allegations were dismissed by Japan’s justice system, Ito, who is also the director of the film, goes public and establishes a court case to get justice.
“…This is a really powerful look at what women need to go through in order to bring forward their story and you can see, she has a lot of hidden cameras throughout the film. So, you can see the interactions she has with the police and various people that she’s trying to hone support from, who do not help and support her at all,” Haynes said.
My Sextortion Diary
My Sextortion Diary documents a young filmmaker named Pati who becomes a victim of an anonymous hacker who stole her laptop and later threatens to exploit her by threatening to release sexually suggestive photos to her work contacts in exchange for a ransom of thousands of dollars. The film documents a frightening situation in which Pati must take the law into her own hands.
BIPOC AND QUEER FILMS
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story
Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story tells the untold story of a trailblazer in pop music and one of the first Black trans performers, Jackie Shane. The film gives the singer the flowers she deserves by highlighting her influence when she arrived in Toronto in the 1960s. Shane was a highly-sought after headlining act for being a musician with a mesmerizing voice who could play two trumpets at once.
“It’s a beautiful film. It’s got a lot of animation for all of these great audio archives, concerts and phone calls…Toronto is really where she began to make her mark,” Haynes said.
Love Machina
Love Machina takes its viewers to the future and encourages them to ask questions about science, gender, race, human connection and love. It features Martine Rothblatt, creator of SiriusXM Satellite Radio, as a scientist who is married to Bina. In order to preserve their love forever, they create an AI robot of Bina where they include an AI mindfile of her consciousness.
“As they begin to develop this robot on Bina, they find that we need to create new pathways that are more representative of everyone and look at our technologies and the interfaces that we’ve created and how they’re embedded with patriarchal perspectives,” Haynes said.
For a complete list of films included in the Hot Docs festival, click here.
Films will play at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema located at 506 Bloor St. W., and other select theatres across Toronto. Schedule details can be found here.
