ICYMI, I already shared my list of seven must-see short documentaries at Hot Docs 2025. Those shorts were fantastic. The rest of the shorts I screened ranged from very good to, IMO, not good at all. Here are eight more short and mid-length docs I checked out this year.
Alice (5/8)
A music-video aesthetic and interpretive visuals combine with reenactments and recollections in director Gabriel Novis’s profile of the titular surfer in Brazil, a trans woman for whom the sport serves as a pivotal connection to her past and the proverbial buoy that helps keep her afloat in an increasingly dangerous environment.
Screening with the Learning to Fly shorts program.
Balance (6/8)
Director Luiza Cocora’s slightly disjointed but heartfelt slice-of-life character study examines the immigrant experience through the eyes of 12-year-old rhythmic gymnast Anna, a Ukrainian refugee who fled to Quebec with her mother, grandmother and little brother, and whose struggles on the mat parallel her family’s struggles to adjust to their new life in Canada.
Screening with King Matt the First.
I Wanted to Hear Your Voice (1/8)
It’s not often that a documentary (short or otherwise) actually makes me angry, but this one did — largely because it felt like the exploitation of a frail, elderly subject unable to provide consent to be filmed. The entire doc — about the director caring for his Alzheimer’s-stricken mother, set to audio of increasingly confused and panicked voicemails she left for him years before — felt, to me, like an exercise in dignity loss and questionable ethics when filming someone with dementia. Would his mother really want the world to see her naked, sitting on the toilet? Or being bathed? Or simply being unable to walk, speak or function? Start to finish, I didn’t understand what I was to meant glean from the film or, frankly, who its target audience is intended to be, and I question the reasoning behind its selection for the fest.
Screening with the Heal & Release shorts program.
Lichens are the Way (DNF)
To call this doc S-L-O-W is an understatement. The first 2:45 minutes of the film (I know because I kept checking my watch!) is just one lonnnnng static shot of a pond-side cabin in the woods. That’s it. Then, the next 1:45 minutes consist of that exact same shot, but at night. WHAT AM I WATCHING? The title of the doc doesn’t appear until nearly 8 minutes in and, even then, I still had no idea what was going on (not much!) or why (who knows!). This is clearly a very very very very very niche film intended for a very very very specific (and patient) audience, and — as much as I love nature and eco-docs — I could not get into it. At all. I was bored silly, and abandoned it after 19 very tedious minutes.
Screening with Life Invisible.
Life Invisible (7/8)
Unfortunately for festgoers, this excellent short documentary (along with The Conscience Files, another one of my must-see shorts) is screening with Lichens are the Way. So, if Lichens screens first, trust me and STAY for the others! This fascinating film from co-directors Bettina Perut and Iván Osnovikoff follows scientist Cristina Dorador and a team of researchers to the Atacama salt flat in northern Chile, where the microbial mats are home to organisms that could hold the keys to creating new medications to fight a growing number of antibiotic-resistant superbugs. But the area is being destroyed by mining companies looking to extract its precious lithium (think: for lithium-ion batteries). It’s a terrific doc filled with breathtaking beauty, about the breathtaking stupidity and selfishness putting humanity at risk in the name of commercializing and privatizing nature.
Screening with Lichens are the Way.
Mother of Chooks (6/8)
Hands (or wings) down, some of the most adorable subjects of any film at Hot Docs appear in this charming, quirky and poignant short from co-directors Jesse Samos Leaman and Maite Martin Samos. The doc profiles Elaine Janes, a chicken fancier in Australia, whose small flock of clever, floofy friends has not only made her a local celebrity, but provided her with a deep sense of purpose, meaning, and family.
Screening with the Through the Cracks shorts program.
Plongeurs (5/8)
Erm, did the person who wrote the Hot Docs synopsis actually watch this short? Because the official fest description of this film clearly says “cliff diving,” but there is nary a cliff to be found in this languid tribute to youth and summer that captures the conversations and reflections of a group of thrill-seeking teens — who compare the danger of their lives with the danger of jumping off bridges and rocky outcroppings (not cliffs!) — in Marseille, France.
Screening with Night Watches Us.
We Beg to Differ (5/8)
From preteen kids revving engines to seasoned pros “diffin’” and doing donuts, director Ruairi Bradley’s doc examines car culture in rural Scotland, where the chaos of the often-risky activity helps calm the chaos of the mind. It’s an interesting look at how dangerous driving can provide participants with an unlikely, but helpful, outlet for their stress, anxiety and anger.
Screening with Night Watches Us.
Check out more of our Hot Docs 2025 coverage here!
