Program will showcase unforgettable true-life stories featuring the likes of Michel Gondry, Martin Scorsese, Lucy Lawless, Sash Simpson, Amy Hoggart, Samuel Habib, Shawn Farquhar, Margaret Moth, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Toronto/CMEDIA: The full lineup of new documentary features that will screen in this year’s Festival’s Special Presentations program is being announced by Hot Docs containing a stellar lineup of films that promise to inspire, inform, and entertain Festival audiences.
Visionary filmmakers, intriguing subjects, and riveting storytelling. are being featured in the titles in this program.
Taking place April 25 to May 5, the 2024 Hot Docs Festival will be shown in cinemas across Toronto.
Delving into narratives of power, corruption and tragedy, the 2024 Special Presentations program will offer a critical lens on societal issues.
Additionally, the festival will focus its camera onto celebrated artists and filmmakers themselves, providing audiences with intimate insights into their lives and creative processes.
Audiences will be transported on immersive journeys by the program taking them into the worlds of base jumping, magic, psychics, and cats, enticing them to explore a captivating array of diverse and fascinating subjects.
Included in the World premieres are:
Red Fever, showcasing Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond travels to the four corners of Turtle Island and across Europe to explore the world’s fascination with Native Americans and recognizing the profound impact Indigenous people have had in shaping modern Western culture.
American Cats: The Good, the Bad, and the Cuddly, deals with exploring the controversial practice of declawing cats by hilarious Full Frontal with Samantha Bee correspondent Amy Hoggart.
The Ride Ahead is an expansion of co-director Samuel Habib’s short film My Disability Roadmap (Honourable Mention, Best International Short Documentary, Hot Docs Festival 2022), and explores a typical 21-year-old, navigating life with a disability, yearns to move out, start a career and find love.
Lost in the Shuffle, showcases world champion magician Shawn Farquhardevising a new trick by delving into a medieval murder cold case; and
Le Mans 55: The Unauthorized Investigation, which explores Le Mans race’s tragedy in 1955 where more than 80 spectators were killed.
The International Premieres of Hot Docs 2024 include:
Fly, the thrilling new National Geographic doc with incredible cinematography and storytelling showcases three couples whose passion for BASE jumping means they’ll risk everything for the rush of feeling alive.
Michel Gondry, Do It Yourself, the North American Premiere of the music video director and filmmaker’s life, work and creative process.
2024 Special Presentations will also include:
the Canadian premieres of Power, examining the history, scale and social effects policing has had on the United States and its culture;
Black Box Diaries, which sees journalist and filmmaker Shiori Ito take on one of the most powerful institutions in Japan to prosecute her high-profile sexual assailant in a landmark legal case;
Union, in which a group of Amazon workers on New York City’s Staten Island take on one of the world’s largest and most influential companies in the fight to unionize;
Never Look Away, the directorial debut of Lucy Lawless that follows CNN combat camerawoman Margaret Moth, whose appetite for danger is challenged following a life-changing injury;
Look Into My Eyes, acclaimed filmmaker Lana Wilson’s new film featuring an eclectic group of New York City psychics;
Born Hungry—the latest from acclaimed Canadian filmmaker Barry Avrich—chronicles the rags-to-riches tale of Sash Simpson, a runaway child from the streets of India, who was adopted into a Toronto family with 31 siblings before becoming a world-renowned chef; and
Made in England: The Films of Powell and Pressburger, in which Martin Scorsese shares his lifelong love affair with the “subversive commercial movies” of filmmakers Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whose collaboration thrived in the adversity of WWII.
Descriptions for films in the Special Presentations program appear below. In many cases, filmmakers will be in attendance for post-screening discussions. For more information on the program visit http://go.pardot.com/e/463832/ot-docs-festival-announcements/kvnrb/645817419/h/jppbqDc1rZ9ibl74O1-zPTfSqjflQvxqSdpxqvfGwlA.
Film stills of Special Presentation titles are available at http://go.pardot.com/e/463832/4cerOda/kvnrf/645817419/h/jppbqDc1rZ9ibl74O1-zPTfSqjflQvxqSdpxqvfGwlA.
AMERICAN CATS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE CUDDLY
D: Todd Bieber | P: Grace Leeson | USA | 2024 | 88 min | World Premiere
Ontario is the only province in Canada without a ban on cat declawing. Amy Hoggart, the hilarious correspondent from Full Frontal with Samantha Bee, cracks jokes, cuddles kittens and attacks this controversial practice using satire to expose a heart-wrenching catspiracy.
BLACK BOX DIARIES
D: Shiori Ito | P: Eric Nyari, Hanna Aqvilin | Japan, UK, USA | 2024 | 104 min | Canadian Premiere
Journalist Shiori Ito takes on one of the most powerful institutions in Japan to prosecute her high-profile sexual assailant in a landmark legal case. Using personal footage and hidden cameras, Ito puts it all on the line for justice.
BORN HUNGRY
D: Barry Avrich | P: Jay Hennick, Mark Selby, Barry Avrich | Canada | 2024 | 77 min | Canadian Premiere
The true rags to riches tale of Sash Simpson, a runaway child from the streets of India, who was adopted into a Toronto family with 31 siblings before becoming a world-renowned chef.
FLY
D: Shaul Schwarz, Christina Clusiau | P: Christina Clusiau, Shaul Schwarz | USA | 2023 | 106 min | International Premiere
To stand on the edge and jump into the wind, one must be willing to lose everything. That could mean the love of your life, or the life you love. Three couples in the world of BASE jumping risk everything to feel alive.
POWER
D: Yance Ford | P: Sweta Vohra, Jess Devaney, Yance Ford, Netsanet Negussie | USA | 2024 | 87 min | Canadian Premiere
By collaging part essay, interview and archival, Power traces the explosion of police power from the founding of the U.S. to our present. Power makes the historical continuity of unchecked police power legible—examining who’s policed, who’s protected and why.
RED FEVER
D: Neil Diamond, Catherine Bainbridge | P: Lisa M. Roth, Rebecca Lessard | Canada | 2024 | 104 min
| World Premiere
Cree filmmaker Neil Diamond travels to the four corners of Turtle Island and across Europe to explore
the world’s fascination with Native Americans, recognizing the profound impact Indigenous people have
had in shaping modern Western culture.
THE RIDE AHEAD
D: Samuel Habib, Dan Habib | P: Dan Habib, Erica Lupinacci | USA | 2024 | 97 min | World Premiere
An expansion of his short film My Disability Roadmap, Samuel Habib is a typical 21-year-old, itching to move out, start a career and find love. But “no one tells you how to be an adult, let alone an adult with a disability.”
LE MANS 55: THE UNAUTHORIZED INVESTIGATION
D: Emmanuel Reyé | P: Isabelle Dagnac | France | 2023 | 90 min | World Premiere
The Le Mans race in 1955 made history through tragedy when more than 80 spectators were killed. Uncover the story of the crash that took the lives of so many and, to this day, looms over the world of motorsports.
LOOK INTO MY EYES
D: Lana Wilson | P: Kyle Martin, Lana Wilson | USA | 2023 | 105 min | Canadian Premiere
In this unique journey into the human desire for connection, acclaimed filmmaker Lana Wilson follows an eclectic group of New York City psychics whose intimate readings reveal a kaleidoscopic view of loneliness, connection and healing with humour and intrigue.
LOST IN THE SHUFFLE
D: Jon Ornoy | P: Jon Ornoy, Ana Carrizales | Canada | 2024 | 100 min | World Premiere
Pick a card, any card! World champion magician Shawn Farquhar delves into a medieval murder cold case among Jacks, Queens and Kings as he devises a new trick inspired by the world’s best sleight-of-hand artists.
MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER
D: David Hinton | P: Matthew Wells, Nick Varley | UK | 2024 | 131 min | Canadian Premiere
Martin Scorsese tells of his lifelong love affair with the movies of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger and their “subversive commercial movies.” Drawing on a rich array of archival material, Scorsese explores their collaboration that thrived in the adversity of WWII.
MICHEL GONDRY, DO IT YOURSELF
D: François Nemeta | P: Olivier de Bannes, Robin Accard, Philippe Savine | France | 2023 | 80 min | North American Premiere
French filmmaker Michel Gondry re-invented the music video and challenged Hollywood with his distinctive handmade visual style. Intimately documented, Gondry’s career and playful creative process receive an overdue review, from his earliest music videos to his latest feature film at Cannes.
NEVER LOOK AWAY
D: Lucy Lawless | P: | New Zealand | 2024 | 85 min | Canadian Premiere
CNN camerawoman Margaret Moth was facing down war’s inhumanity when one bullet changed everything but her resolve. Debut filmmaker Lucy Lawless turns the camera’s gaze on this groundbreaking woman and her legacy.
UNION
D: Brett Story, Stephen Maing | P: Samantha Curley, Mars Verrone, Martin DiCiccio | USA | 2024 | 104 min | Canadian Premiere
The Amazon Labor Union (ALU)—a group of current and former Amazon workers on New York City’s Staten Island—takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize.
