The festival never fails to deliver a wide-ranging selection of documentaries centered around the one of the most universal themes there is: family. This year’s crop includes stories filled with heart, humor, and harrowing history. Here are four I checked out!
Betrayal (6/8)
Being a whistleblower is tough. Being a whistleblower against a family member is even tougher. If that family member is your brother-in-law, Liberian rebel-turned-president-turned-warlord Charles Taylor, you’re Cindor Reeves — and you wind up the central figure of this fascinatingly tense and informative documentary from director Lena Macdonald. Filled with archival footage and interviews with scholars, journalists, and even some of Taylor’s still-loyal colleagues, the film is an in-depth chronicle of how a young Reeves went from regarding Taylor as a father figure to being a member of Taylor’s regime… and, ultimately, the anonymous source for a Washington Post exposé that would bring that regime — and its rampant crimes, corruption and abuses of power — to an end. Now living in exile, Reeves shares his story in the doc, offering a frank firsthand account of an historically significant conflict through a deeply personal lens, revealing what happens when a megalomaniacal leader’s ambition supersedes his humanity, and sharing the huge toll that is often paid by those willing to speak truth to power.
Ghosts of the Sea (6/8)
Director Virginia Tangvald plumbs the depths of her family’s tragic history in this haunting and sombre exploration of what happened to her older brother, Thomas, who disappeared at sea in 2014 — and the parallels between his life with that of the siblings’ father, renowned sailor Peter Tangvald. Criss-crossing the globe to literally and figuratively piece together the details of her father’s life (scandals, affairs) and what might have happened to her free-spirited but troubled brother, Virginia conducts interviews with assorted friends, acquaintances and family members, and unearths some dark family secrets and scandals — not the least of which is the fact that two of her father’s wives and two of his children all died at sea — along the way. While the film does feel a bit self-indulgent from time to time (e.g., the unnecessary artistic sequences of seagulls flying about or Virginia swimming, which distract from the narrative more than they complement it), it’s nonetheless an well-crafted and unflinching look at a dysfunctional family dynamic, and the legacy of tragedy it spawned.
King Matt the First (7/8)
Amid so many upsetting documentaries about war and crime and all the terrible things happening in the world, sometimes my soul needs a cinematic salve, and that’s exactly what I stumbled upon with this whimsical and poignant ode to childhood from director Jasmina Wójcik. Inspired by the beloved Polish novel of the same name (about a boy who becomes king), Wójcik turns the camera on her two young daughters, Lea and Zoja, and follows them over the course of several years — and multiple seasons — as they frolic in the forest, swim in ponds, explore abandoned buildings, and generally play. Not so much a traditional documentary as an imaginative assembly of beautifully shot home movies set to voiceovers of the girls’ musings on everything from their relationship to war to boys, it’s a celebration of sisterhood and how children subtly evolve as they get older. One key caveat: not a lot actually happens in this doc. It’s sort of like a very long lyrical poetic exercise. But if you’re looking for a film that gently taps into your heart instead of your head, and delivers some beautiful cinematography, this one does the trick.
Mama Goals (5/8)
What price fame? That feels like the underlying thesis in director Ellen Fiske’s biographical doc chronicling one young mother’s efforts to break into the entertainment industry. Charlotta Björck is a working-class life-long creative soul (with a gorgeous singing voice), whose humorous social-media videos have earned her a decent following. So, after 20 years as a PSW, she decides to quit her job in a bid to “make it” as a comedian. But Charlotta — who is legitimately talented — and her partner, window-washer Johannes, are also the parents of two very-young children (one of whom is neurodivergent), and her dogged pursuit of her dreams quickly begins to cause financial and emotional turmoil for the rest of the family. Shot over the course of several years as Charlotta tries her hand at assorted gigs, the doc examines the juggling act required when goals, no matter how noble, collide with existing responsibilities, and the toll the quest for self-fulfillment can take on the family members who bear witness to, but may not be a part of, the journey.
Check out more of our Hot Docs 2025 coverage here!
