CMEDIA: Advocating filmmakers, The Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund reportedly established in 2020 has awarded $121,000 to five Canadian projects.
Being committed to crafting compelling, high-quality stories that celebrate music in all its forms, the Fund champions the cause of showcasing the profound impact of Canadian music on the global stage.
The Fund also welcomes international music stories told through the distinctive lens of Canadian filmmakers.
To date, 23 Canadian projects with a combined investment of over $627,500 have been supported bythe Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund.
“Finding the funding to get films made is as hard as it’s ever been, which is why partners like The Slaight Family Foundation and funds like the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund are so critical,” says Diana Sanchez, Executive Director, Hot Docs. “This unique Fund provides much needed financial support to projects that showcase Canadian talent on a global scale, helping films move forward with confidence while signalling a belief in our own stories. Our 2026 Opening Night Film, Michelle Mama’s Antidiva: The Carol Pope Confessions, was supported by the Fund and is a powerful example of how this investment helps bring important Canadian documentaries to audiences around the world.”
2026 Production Fund Recipients
BRAMPTON UNDERGROUND
D: Anupa Mistry
P: Anupa Mistry, Radha Pithadia
Production company: Scenario Media
A group of international students form a grassroots Punjabi hip-hop scene navigate the pressures of Canada’s changing immigration policy, in the parks and parking lots of Brampton, Ontario.
INTO THE NOW WITH BRUCE COCKBURN
D: Robert Lang
P: Kim Creelman, Robert Lang
Production company: Kensington Communications Inc
A road movie, musical exploration, and portrait of an artist deeply engaged with the present, ‘Into the Now’ accompanies Canadian music legend Bruce Cockburn as he sets out on a major concert tour through Canada and the eastern United States.
KING REIGN TO THE WORLD PRESENTS
D: David Click Cox, Kwame Mason
P: David Cox, Shana McCalla, Javiera Quintana, Stuart Henderson
Production company: CLK Creative Works Inc.
On the sudden death of a lyrical giant King Reign whose pen never received the recognition it deserved he left behind unreleased music that was raw, honest, and unfinished. This film follows a group of famed hip-hop artists as they reunite to complete his final work, turning grief into music and memory into movement.
PISIKSAQSIURLANGA: I’M SEARCHING FOR A SONG
D: Charlotte Qamaniq, Jamie Griffiths
P: Charlotte Qamaniq, Jamie Griffiths
Production company: Qamaniq Records Inc. (in co-production with Chickweed Arts)
Guided by an ancestral song from her family, Inuk artist Charlotte Qamaniq returns home to revitalize pisiit—an ancient Inuit musical form nearly erased by colonization—while composing new songs that carry the living tradition forward.
ROLLING WITH MAT THE ALIEN
D: River Jordan Easton
P: River Jordan Easton, Matt Pidutti
Production company: Notion Pictures
Rebuilding his life and music after a spinal cord injury, Legendary Canadian DJ Mat the Alien’s community rallies around his return to music and the festival stage.
Included in the previous recipients of funding from the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund are: Hot Docs 2026 Opening Night Film and Top Ten Audience Favourite Antidiva: The Carole Pope Confessions, The Blind Couple From Mali, Disco’s Revenge, It’s All Gonna Break, and Nash The Slash Rises Again!
