Hot Docs unveils first schedule of special presentations for its 32nd festival

Special Presentations Program To Spotlight Stories Of Activism, Justice And Identity And Feature Global Trailblazers, From Osca-Winning Actor Marlee Matlin To Fearless Investigative Journalistjournalist Christo Grozev

Toronto/CMEDIA: The first slate of films to be screened as part of its Special Presentations program at the Hot Docs Festival, running April 24 to May 4 in Toronto was announced May 11 2025.

The Special Presentations program, which features high-profile subjects, award-winning films and filmmakers, and masterful perspectives on current events and pressing issues, will screen in cinemas across downtown Toronto during the Festival.

Making its world premiere at Hot Docs Festival 2025 is The Nest, a deeply personal exploration of memory, identity, and intergenerational storytelling by co-directors Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh. International premieres include Deaf President Now!, a powerful chronicle of the landmark student protest that transformed accessibility rights in the US; and Life After, in which celebrated filmmaker Reid Davenport investigates the troubling implications of assisted suicide laws for disabled people.

Making their Canadian premieres are Antidote, a gripping real-life thriller following investigative journalist Christo Grozev and activist Vladimir Kara-Murza as they challenge Russia’s political machine; Apocalypse in the Tropics, Petra Costa’s timely and incisive look at the rise of religious fundamentalism in Brazil; Coexistence, My Ass!, where comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi boldly navigates the Israel-Palestine conflict with razor-sharp wit; Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, an intimate portrait of the trailblazing Deaf actor; and Saints and Warriors, which captures the fierce competition and deep community spirit of the All Native Basketball Tournament in British Columbia. These films, and many more, will be presented as part of Hot Docs Festival 2025.

The full selection of films to screen at Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival 2025 will be announced at a press conference on March 25. Ticket packages are now on sale online. Ticket package redemption and single ticket sales for Hot Docs members are available starting March 25. Single ticket sales open to the public on April 1.   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/lcd6y/773669884/h/9gGEGFqOt7aCOASp4g1skpzHvyiQm53CHkQmDMhegds.

Film stills of Special Presentation titles are available at http://go.pardot.com/e/463832/y3p8zknz/lcd72/773669884/h/9gGEGFqOt7aCOASp4g1skpzHvyiQm53CHkQmDMhegds.

How does it feel to be on Putin’s most-wanted list? Christo Grozev, an investigative journalist and co-founder of Bellingcat, is on the run, while Vladimir Kara-Murza, a political activist, stands trial for treason. A riveting doc-thriller about those resisting and confronting the blood-chilling Russian regime.

In Oscar-nominated filmmaker Petra Costa’s latest excursion into the state of democracy she turns her attention to Brazil’s most prominent televangelist, Silas Malafaia, delving into the rise of religious fundamentalism in politics and its close ties to the far-right nationalist movement.

Mixing the personal with the political, comedian Noam Shuster Eliassi boldly confronts the Israel-Palestine conflict in her one-woman show. Skillfully navigating massive social and political divides with wit and humour, she challenges audiences with hard truths that are no laughing matter.

DEAF PRESIDENT NOW!
D: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim | P: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim, Amanda Rohlke, Jonathan King, Michael Harte | USA | 2024 | 100 min | International Premiere

When Gallaudet University’s board selected a hearing president over two deaf candidates in 1988, the almost entirely Deaf and hard-of-hearing student body pushed back, sparking a revolution that influenced the future of disability rights.

LIFE AFTER
D: Reid Davenport | P: Colleen Cassingham | USA | 2025 | 99 min | International Premiere

Disability cinema auteur Reid Davenport takes on assisted suicide, exploring how a practice intended to empower end-of-life decision-making has exposed the long-standing devaluation of disabled life.

MARLEE MATLIN: NOT ALONE ANYMORE

D: Shoshannah Stern | P: Robyn Kopp, Justine Nagan, Bonni Cohen, Shoshannah Stern | USA | 2025 | 97 min | Canadian Premiere

Pioneering Deaf performer Marlee Matlin candidly opens up about her life and career. Her meteoric and tumultuous rise to fame with her Oscar-winning performance in Children of a Lesser God is just one chapter of an iconic legacy that continues to resonate.

THE NEST

At the end of her mother’s life, director Julietta Singh returns to her childhood home, where centuries of forgotten matriarchs emerge to reveal stories of resistance and resilience. Indigenous, Deaf, Japanese and South Asian histories intertwine, buried in a house full of secrets.

For over sixty years, teams have gathered on the Pacific west coast for the All Native Basketball Tournament. As the defending champions, the Skidegate Saints, battle to keep their title, it’s clear the event has become a symbol of resilience, community and culture.

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