It’s always sad when Hot Docs ends. It’s like the end of ten days of documentary-movie camp, during which I got to hang out with all kinds of neat people and make new friends and do fun things like hu…
Partly by design and partly by coincidence, my entire day – in terms of screenings and experiences – somehow dealt with waiting. Literally and/or figuratively.
First up was Waiting for Lightning (6/8…
One of my favorite things about Hot Docs, and documentaries in general, is learning about something – a person, a place, a practice, an event, an idea, whatever – I might never have heard of before an…
It’s always funny to me which screenings wind up packed to the rafters and which ones are barely attended. Even better, as the festival goes on, it’s interesting to hear which films are getting consis…
Sometimes, even a two-screening day can feel long... especially when your digestive system reacts poorly to something you ate the previous afternoon. So it was that I made my way through the day and d…
What better way to follow a “light” movie-going day than to see if I’ve still got what it takes to pull off one with four back-to-back screenings? Happily, it turns out my stamina – not tapped since I…
As many frequent festivalgoers will likely attest: sometimes, when you’re seeing a whole slew of movies in a fairly short amount of time, you need a “light” day in order for your body and mind to take…
It was a very grey and rainy day today, which meant audiences arriving for screenings wet from the knees down and with drippy umbrellas in tow. In some cases, having to stand outside in the rain while…
What is WRONG with some people in the audience for these Hot Docs screenings? Bad behavior during a film, which used to be scarce (if present at all) during the fest, is now rearing its loud, ugly hea…
I’m not sure whether it’s a good sign or a bad one that each of the three films I saw today made me cry. (Yes, I know, it's to be expected at Hot Docs -- these docs are frequently poignant.) The subje…
My first official Hot Docs screening is tomorrow night, but I’ve been lucky enough to catch a few pre-fest press screenings. Here’s what I’ve seen so far, and what I thought:
In the strangely poignan…
It's here! A year has flown by and it's once again time for what's become my favourite film festival -- Hot Docs! This year's fest will unspool some 189 documentaries from 51 countries, with subjects …
