is taking place in cinemas across Toronto, programming 168 documentaries from 64 countries including 10+1 German productions and co-productions. The 11-day festival features 274 live screenings on seven screens at three venues across the city, with 248 live filmmaker Q&As.
In the Best Mid-Length Documentary category, the jury acknowledged OMI NOBU – THE NEW MAN (D: Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, | P: Aurélien Bodinaux, Natasha Craveiro, Paulo de Carvalho, Gudula Meinzolt, Alyaa Musa | Cape Verde, Belgium, Germany, Sudan | 2023 | 64 min), which tells the story of Quirino, the sole inhabitant of Ribeira Funda, isolated by his village’s superstitious legacy and living beneath the very real threat of the unstable cliffside that borders it. Jury Statement: “Honourable mention goes to a breathtaking, cinematic film that closely observes the last days of the last man to live in a remote and ghost-ridden village on an island in Cape Verde. The New Man captures the symbiotic relationship between man and nature raising important questions about the implications of climate breakdown.” [source: all award winners]
LineUp German productions and co-productions:
- BEETHOVEN'S NINE – ODE TO HUMANITY | BEETHOVENS NEUN – ODE AN DIE MENSCHLICHKEIT by Larry Weinstein, 90min, P: Riddle Films, 3B-Produktion, D: UNITEL, [POP/LIFE]
- A BODY LIKE MINE by Maja Classen, 35min, P: POISON, [SHORTS]
- THE BONES | BONES – DIE JAGD NACH DINOFOSSILIEN by Jeremy Xido, 98min or 60min, WS: DOGWOOF, P: Intuitive Pictures, CABULA6, berlin producers, [Surprise Screenung]
- ETERNAL YOU by Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck, 87min, WS: dogwoof, P: beetz brothers film production, [EMERGENCE]
- INVISIBLE PEOPLE by Alisa Berger, 71min, P: FORTIS FEM FILM, D: Le Fresnoy, [NIGHTVISION]
- MY STOLEN PLANET by Farahnaz Sharifi, 82min, WS: CAT&Docs, P: JYOTI Film, Pak Film, [PERSISTER]
- OMI NOBU – THE NEW MAN by Carlos Yuri Ceuninck, 64min, P: NRW sprl – NEON ROUGE PRODUCTION, AUTENTIKA FILMS, KORI KAXORU FILMS, [WORLD SHOWCASE]
- SILENT TREES | EISKALTE GRENZE | DRZEWA MILCZA by Agnieszka Zwiefka, 84min, coP: ma.ja.de., P: Chilli Productions, D: KFF Sales&Promotion, [WORLD SHOWCASE]
- SMILING GEORGIA by Luka Beradze, 62min, P: 1991 Productions, COLOR OF MAY, [WORLD SHOWCASE]
- TEACHES OF PEACHES by Philipp Fussenegger, Judy Landkammer, 102min, WS: MAGNETFILM, P: avanti media fiction GmbH, D: farbfilm verleih GmbH, [POP/LIFE]
- TONGO SAA – RISING UP AT NIGHT by Nelson Makengo, 95min WS: Square Eyes Film, P: Twenty Nine Studio & Production, Mutotu Productions, coP: Film Five GmbH, Diam Productions, Auguste Orts, Magellan Films, [WORLD SHOWCASE]
Browse all documentaries in festival programme here and stay tuned via FB.
Hot Docs INDUSTRY
Hot Docs Industry Programs include the Hot Docs Forum, Deal Maker, Close Up With...sessions, Workshops and Conference, market & funds.
Among the selected projects are with German participation:
- TEA WITH THE TALIBAN by Ovidio Salazar, P: Faction Films Ltd. (UK), Nadcon GmbH (Germany). As Taliban leaders strive to rebuild Afghanistan in their own image, pulled between the demands of The West and their own ideology, pressures mount on the ground for the people.[hot doc forum pitch]
- THE MOST IMPORTANT PRISONERS by Zakaria Rahmani, P: Fruitmarket Arts & Media GmbH (Germany), Ard Mhacha Productions (Ireland), One ends up being Guantanamo Bay’s highest value detainee while his cousin, a close advisor to Usama bin Laden, is detained in Iran, where he becomes the most important prisoner. Captured by opposing sides in the War on Terror, the two cousins shared the same fate of becoming the most important prisoners. There struggle for survival offers a unique and untold view on the war on terror, its causes and consequences. [deal makers]
- THE SOLDIER'S JOURNEY by Helena Maksyom, Privu A. Adrian PFA (Romania), Perennial Lens GmbH (Germany), Een Van de Jongens (Netherlands), Astrae Productions (Switzerland) What does it take for Helena, a filmmaker to pick up a weapon in the most ruthless war the world has experienced since World War II and still try not to lose hope in humanity and the future? [deal makers]
Decisions Makers from Germany are:
• Monoduo Films, Ben Bassauer .
• NEW DOCS, Elina Kewitz .
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Sabine Bubeck-Paaz .
• Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen (ZDF), Wolfgang Bergmann .
• 31 Hot Docs 2024 •
• 30 Hot Docs 2023 •
• 29 Hot Docs 2022 •
• 28 Hot Docs 2021 •
• 27 Hot Docs 2020 •
• 26 Hot Docs 2019 •
• 25 Hot Docs 2018 •
_appeal_PR march8, 2024_
–31 Hot Docs Press Conference_
_31 Hot Docs TRAILER_