Another edition of the Hot Docs Canadian International Film Festival has come and gone. I seen a wide range of films this year, with subjects dealing with everything from politics to toilets (and politics about toilets). So, without further ado, here is my wrap up of the festival. Top Ten Favourite Films nîpawistamâsowin: We Will…
The growing celebrity of drag queen Trixie Mattell is documented in Trixie Mattell: Moving Parts. Trixie Mattell, aka Brian Firkus, is drag queen, comedian, and musician, who began to rise in popularity following her appearance on RuPaul’s Drag Race. Despite losing on her first appearance on the show, Trixie teams up with fellow drag queen…
Various internet stars tell the story of the patriation of the Canadian constitution from different perspectives in Supreme Law. In the early 1980s, Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau set to gain control of the Canadian constitution from Great Britain. The story of these events are told from different perspectives by internet stars Jus Reign (Prime Minister),…
The first female Italian boxer to make the Olympics is left at a crossroads when her dreams are dashed in Butterfly. At only 18 years old, Irma “The Butterfly” Testa makes history when she becomes the first female to make the Italian Olympic boxing team. However, at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Testa…
The life and career of the Canadian folk singer is revisited in Gordon Lightfoot: If You Can Read My Mind. Growing up in the Ontario city of Orillia, Gordon Lightfoot had his beginnings playing in the coffeehouses in Toronto’s Yorkville neighbourhood. This would eventually lead to him signing with Warner Bros and becoming one of…
The use of propaganda around the world is explored in Propaganda: The Art of Selling Lies. From ancient cave paintings to the spread of fake news, propaganda has always been around to exploit your need to believe in something. This film takes a look at many forms of propaganda, ranging from films made during the…
Visitors to an ancient pine forest in Lithuania comment on the destruction caused by the local cormorant population in Acid Forest. Over the past couple of decades, cormorants have made their home in the Curonian Spit, with the bird’s acidic excrement having killed off the 200 year old pine trees in the area. Tourists come…
A young Finnish woman attends LARPing events to escape the traumatic events of her childhood in The Magic Life of V. Veera is a young woman from Finland, who is struggling to cope with childhood memories of her alcoholic father, while also caring for her mentally disabled brother Ville. As a means of escape, Veera…
The actions of a family-run private ambulance service in Mexico City is followed in Midnight Family. In Mexico City, there are fewer than 45 government run ambulances for a population of 9 million. This has resulted in a underground network of for-profit private ambulance companies with little or no training or certification. The Ochoa family…
An Icelandic seer tries to protect a lava rock formation in The Seer and the Unseen. According to the folklore of Iceland, seers are people with “second sight,” who can communicate with elves and other spirits that live among us. Ragnhildur “Ragga” Jónsdóttir is one such person, who has been told by her elf friends…
