Wait. WHAT? Hot Docs has already announced its prize winners for this year’s fest. With two days of screenings left! Again, I ask, how can the audience award be decided already when there are still dozens of audiences left who haven’t voted?! And I’m just as surprised at some of the winners. Dragon Girls was …
Today was my final day at Hot Docs 2013, and I’m pleased to report that it ended on a high note. It’s always nice when your final screening is a good one, and equally nice when you’re seeing it while hanging out with fun film-loving people. So, special thanks to Mario, Fernando and Merrie for …
Today’s Hot Docs query: the crowd-funding of the Audience Award. I understand the point of the program – namely, to boost the dollar figure given to the winning filmmaker, and to spread some of that wealth to the second- and third-place finishers – but why would I donate money to be given to a winner …
It was a sunny, warm, film-filled day! First up was Menstrual Man (7/8), which surprised me (in a good way) before it even began – the screening (10:30am at the ROM on a Wednesday) was PACKED! To be honest, I’d selected the film because it was the only one showing before 11am and figured, based …
Let me begin with a quick open letter to the Scotiabank Theatre: Perhaps, in future, it would be nice if you would notify filmgoers that your water has been shut off – and, thus, all of the washrooms are closed and unusable – BEFORE they get tickets and head inside for a screening. Because discovering …
Today was interesting. Films that I thought would be awesome were meh, films that I chose just because they fit into gaps in my schedule turned out to be quite good, and the best film I saw all day was only 11 minutes long. First up was Dragon Girls (4/8) which, on paper, sounds like …
Sometimes, the fest doles out harsh realities to its filmgoers on screen. And, sometimes, it happens at the box office. Such was the case today for my mom, who wanted to join me for my 4pm screening but who found out – upon arriving at the box office first thing in the morning – that …
Two days into the festival and I am reminded again why I love Hot Docs so much – the films, the people, the conversation, the camaraderie and the energy. Every venue is literally buzzing! Speaking of venues, my new favourite fest staffer is the bespectacled English woman wrangling lines in the lobby of the Lightbox …
First day of official Hot Docs film-going and I am hobbled by a foot injury! Good times. The doctor says I need to take it easy for a couple of days, so I’ll be heading to fewer screenings over the weekend in the hopes of helping my troublesome tendons to heal. I did manage to …
With the potentially rich and colorful backdrop of New York City’s gay scene in the late-1960s through the ‘70s, I thought Continental (4/8) was going to be a lot more interesting a film experience than it was. But the key problem with this documentary about the legendary bathhouse – and the antics of its patrons, …
Hot Docs 2013 #4: Big-City Gays and Small-Town Music Read More »