Whether it’s your pals, your partner or your parents, documentaries about family and friends can shed light on the complexities and challenges around relationships of all stripes. Here are nine such films screening at the festival this year.
Birds of War (6/8)
Co-director Janay Boulos and Abd Alkader Habak chronicle the evolution of their relationship in this (obviously) deeply personal documentary that’s sort of a When Habak Met Janay tale. Lebanese Janay is working as a reporter at BBC Arabic in 2016 when she taps Habak, a Syrian activist documenting the destruction of Aleppo, for footage to use in her coverage of the uprising. What begins as a professional collaboration via text message and the occasional phone call gradually moves into much more personal territory as the pair’s connection intensifies in direct proportion to the level of danger and risk for Habak. Soon, they’re trading photos, videos and falling for each other, all while keeping their burgeoning relationship under wraps from family and friends. The film does lose some momentum once the duo is together, and the second half isn’t nearly as gripping as the first, but it’s nonetheless a solid portrait of a star-crossed couple navigating cultural and geographic obstacles in the name of love.
The Delivery Line (6/8)
Five midwives from around the world, each working on the frontlines in their respective cities and towns, are profiled in director Nance Ackerman’s intimate and informative documentary. The five — Ximena in Mexico, Hamasatu in Nigeria, Jay in Toronto, Gulbadan in Afghanistan, and Maria in Colombia — share stories of their midwifery work, which fills a critical gap in the healthcare system, and share why they do it, how they do it, and some tricks of their trade that help expectant mothers. From treating pregnant asylum seekers at the U.S. border to tending to newborns in remote regions of the Afghan mountains or the slums of South America, the midwives and their patients often face daunting circumstances for treatment, including war, gangs, opioid addiction and migration, and the film reveals how they manage to continue their work amid such challenges. With great care and respect for all involved, Ackerman crafts a film that’s both an engaging character study (some of these women could merit docs all their own!) and an important look at women guiding other women through one of the most difficult/beautiful/scary/exciting/painful/exhilarating experiences of their lives when the options for aid are otherwise slim to none.
Gealtra (6/8)
If you’ve seen the viral videos The Spark or Ya Boy, then you’re already familiar with the pint-sized Irish rappers who frequent the Kabin Studio: a graffiti-ed trailer-turned-classroom-turned-recording-studio in Cork City, and the subject of this appropriately lively documentary from director Brendan Canty. Intent on connecting kids to their heritage and preserving the Gaelic language, Kabin’s staff encourage local at-risk youth to express themselves through rhyme and verse, creating a supportive, creative safe space for anyone who feels “different,” and fostering self-confidence and camaraderie in the process. Interviews with some of the kids — who share what the Kabin and its crew mean to them, and how they’ve grown as a result of participating — are interspersed with footage of the wee talents recording and performing their work. The doc’s subjects are undeniably likeable and charming, but I kept hoping the filmmakers would also delve a bit deeper into how and why the Kabin began (how long has it been running? how do they fund it? what is the community reaction? are there plans to grow the program to other cities? etc.), to provide a bit more info on this unique (?) approach to cultural preservation that’s clearly having a profound impact.
Kindergarten (7/8)
Okay. Hear me out. Nothing really happens in this documentary. There’s no storyline. No key figure. No deep issues or controversial topics or buzz-worthy subjects. It’s literally just 80-ish minutes of clips of adorable toddlers and little kids at a daycare. That’s it. About ten minutes into watching it, I thought, “WTF am I watching? YouTube?”, and I was ready to cut my losses and bail. But, for some reason, I didn’t. I kept watching. And the more I watched, the more invested I became. The more relaxed I felt. And the more I loved it. Directed by Jean-François Caissy, it’s a film about nothing and everything at the same time – the daycare and its pint-sized population provide tiny vignettes (the fight for a favorite toy, the comfort of a warm hug, the epic struggle that is eating a bowl of spaghetti with your fingers) that are as totally inconsequential as they are weirdly riveting. The themes of wonder, discovery, and learning through doing run quietly in the background, and I swear my blood pressure dropped, my body relaxed and my breathing slowed while watching everything unfold. At a festival where so many films deal with brutality, scandal, war, death, trauma, violence and the like, this sweet documentary serves as a lovely, quiet, soothing balm for the soul.
The Oldest Person in the World (7/8)
Fun fact: every single one of us has, for a millisecond, been the youngest person on Earth. That’s just one of the little nuggets of insight in director Sam Green’s heartfelt doc chronicling his 10-year journey to meet, and learn from, the ever-changing holders of the Guinness World Record as the oldest person alive (erm, a title they typically only hold for a short time, for obvious reasons). Criss-crossing the globe, Green meets assorted centenarians, who range from 115 to 117 at the time of his visit, profiles each one through archival photos and stories, and attempts to glean some of their secrets to longevity… which is not always easy, given the deteriorating state of his subjects. But the film’s focus gradually shifts a bit, as a number of obstacles (namely, a cancer diagnosis and a pandemic) arise that change the course of the narrative, both literally and figuratively. What begins as kind of a novelty project slowly morphs into more of a deeper calling, and the process becomes a meditation on mortality and what it means to live a good life. Green says he’d like the documentary to keep going in perpetuity — updating it with each new record holder as they claim they title — and I’ll be here for the next installment.
On My Own Terms (4/8)
Two half-siblings about to age out of a group home prepare to forge their own paths in this uneven and somewhat hard to follow doc from director Tadensz Chudy. Pawel is an aspiring boxer, who’s hesitant about leaving the safety, security and structure the home provides, while his half-sister Julia is eager to get out and claim her independence. The film follows each one through assorted vignettes — they look at a flat to rent together, Pawel gets his driver’s license, Pawel’s coach gives him some pretty questionable tough love about his likelihood for failure, Julia throws a party and invites their estranged mother, and so on — but because Julia’s hair keeps changing style and color from scene to scene, it became impossible to figure out how much time was passing or what was actually happening. Did Pawel move out of the group home? If so, did they move in together or are they living apart? Is he living in residence at university? It’s never clear, and it became frustrating trying to get a handle on the course of events, which left me feeling “meh” rather than mesmerized by the end.
Stories for Sandro (6/8)
Much like The Eternal Memory, which I screened at Hot Docs 2023, this moving and heartfelt doc explores a family dealing with the onset of Alzheimer’s in a previously sharp, accomplished journalist. In this case, filmmaker Giacomo Boeri turns the camera on his irresistibly charming and spirited father Sandro, who’s in the early stages of the disease at the outset and who’s crafted all sorts of coping mechanisms to mitigate the effects of his fading mind. When commercial-director Giacomo finds a study claiming that memories tied to strong emotions are more likely to be cemented in the brain, he decides to help his father revisit some of the most important moments in his life by recreating them as elaborate full-scale-production short films. A skilled writer, Sandro begins putting his core memories — from surviving a fatal car accident as a child to his activism, military service and falling in love with his wife — down on paper before they evaporate, while Giacomo and his crew bring each tale back to life with actors. Sort of a film within a film, the poignant and quietly powerful doc (which gave me a crying headache, btw) chronicles the project’s process, and the increasing difficulties faced by all involved as Sandro’s condition slowly deteriorates and the family struggles with how to proceed.
Time and Water (8/8)
Part family scrapbook, part love letter to glaciers, part ecological alarm, this poetic and deeply moving doc from Academy-award-nominated director Sara Dosa (Fire of Love, Hot Docs 2022) revolves around Icelandic author Andri Snær Magnason who, after the first “death” of one of Iceland’s glaciers in 2014, sets out to preserve their memory somehow. Framed as a video time capsule for future generations (when all glaciers may be gone), filled with fascinating glacier facts (did you know they make sound and change color as they age?), and packed with Magnason’s home movies and photos, the film is sort of a “my life in glaciers” story, as he explores glacier myths and mysteries, recounts pivotal moments in his family’s history as they relate to nature, and draws parallels between the deaths of his adventurous grandparents and the rapidly accelerating retreat of the glaciers they loved so much. Informative, contemplative, meditative and beautifully shot, the documentary is an effective ode to the passage of time, and a poignant eulogy for the natural world that’s vanishing before our eyes.
Vegapolis (5/8)
When I started watching this verité documentary chronicling the comings and goings of a group of teenaged friends at the titular ice park in Montpellier, France, I initially thought it would be a slog. It felt like Euphoria-lite on Ice, and I was bracing for boredom. And while I was halfway correct (I didn’t love it but thought it was good), I did find myself getting increasingly invested in the lives and assorted dramas of its young protagonists. Directed by Micha Barban-Dangerfield, it’s definitely a niche film for a niche audience. The “action” follows the teens as they flirt, skate, make out, and discuss life/the future/getting a job while hanging out at their beloved rink — which serves as a refuge, a home, a community and/or a nightclub depending on what’s going on — as the skating season winds down for the year. While the film presents the rink as a quasi-microcosm of the world, and explores the complexities of teenaged friendships and romances, it didn’t fully resonate with me and felt sort of repetitive as a lot of the footage consists of just teenagers skating around… and around… and around.
Check out more of Moviepie’s coverage of Hot Docs 2026 here!
