2025 Awards

Hot Docs 2025 Awards and Prizes

Hot Docs announced today that over CAD 126,000 in cash will be awarded to filmmakers at the 2025 Festival. These encompass a variety of accolades, including juried awards for films in competition, audience awards determined by ballot, industry prizes recognizing top works-in- progress projects and other special awards categories. The 2025 Hot Docs Festival will take place April 24 to May 4 in Toronto.

All awards for films in competition will be decided by Hot Docs Festival Juries, with the winners set to be unveiled during the Hot Docs Awards Presentation on Friday, May 2.

Unless otherwise noted, all prizes are awarded to the director of the winning film.

Films in Competition

HOT DOCS BEST INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to an exceptional feature-length documentary in the International Competition program. Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $10,000 cash prize.

HOT DOCS BEST CANADIAN FEATURE DOCUMENTARY AWARD
Awarded to an exceptional feature-length documentary in the Canadian Spectrum Competition program.
Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $10,000 cash prize. 
Supported by Telefilm Canada.

HOT DOCS JOAN VANDUZER SPECIAL JURY PRIZE-INTERNATIONAL FEATURE DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to a feature-length documentary in the International Spectrum Competition program that the jury feels is deserving of special recognition.
Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $5,000 cash prize.
Supported by Makeway Foundation-Harbinger Fund in memory of Joan VanDuzer.

HOT DOCS DGC SPECIAL JURY PRIZE-CANADIAN FEATURE DOCUMENTARY 
Awarded to a feature-length documentary in the Canadian Spectrum Competition program that the jury feels is deserving of special recognition. The award comes with a $5,000 cash prize. 
Sponsored by DGC National and DGC Ontario.

HOT DOCS EMERGING INTERNATIONAL FILMMAKER AWARD 
Given to a first or second-time international filmmaker with a feature film in the International Competition program. The award includes a $3,000 cash prize. 
Supported by Donner Canadian Foundation.

HOT DOCS EARL A. GLICK EMERGING CANADIAN FILMMAKER AWARD
Given to a first- or second-time Canadian filmmaker with a feature film in the Canadian Spectrum Competition program. The award, supported by Earl A. Glick, includes a $3,000 cash prize.

HOT DOCS BILL NEMTIN AWARD FOR BEST SOCIAL IMPACT DOCUMENTARY
The Award will recognize the producers of a film from the Canadian and International features that has the greatest potential to create social impact, in other words to change attitudes, behaviours and/or policy. The nominees include Writing Hawa, Heightened Scrutiny, Mundurukuyü – The Forest of the Fish Women, Life After, Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance and KHARTOUM.
The $10,000 cash prize accompanying the award will help enable the winning film team to optimize the impact of the documentary through outreach and marketing activities.
Supported by the Bill Nemtin Legacy Fund.

HOT DOCS BEST MID-LENGTH DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to an exceptional documentary between 41 and 65 minutes in length. Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $3,000 cash prize.
Sponsored by Mubi.

HOT DOCS BEST INTERNATIONAL SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to an exceptional international documentary up to 40 minutes in length. Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $3,000 cash prize.
Sponsored by TVO Docs.

HOT DOCS BETTY YOUSON AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN SHORT DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to an exceptional Canadian documentary up to 40 minutes in length. Hot Docs is pleased to present the winner with a $2,000 cash prize courtesy of John and Betty Youson.
Supported by John and Betty Youson.

Special Awards Categories

HOT DOCS DON HAIG AWARD  
The Don Haig Award will be awarded annually to an outstanding Canadian independent producer with a film in the Festival. The Award recognizes creative vision and entrepreneurship as reflected in the work being showcased at Hot Docs, as well as a track record for nurturing emerging Canadian filmmakers. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Don Haig Foundation.

View past recipients >>

LINDALEE TRACEY AWARD 
The award honours an emerging Canadian filmmaker working in the spirit of Lindalee Tracey, whose films reflect a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and “a joie de vivre.” The winner will be awarded $5,000 by White Pine Pictures.

Audience Awards

HOT DOCS AUDIENCE AWARDS
Awarded to the feature/mid-length documentary and the short documentary that receive the highest rating in an audience poll. Announced after the close of the Festival.

HOT DOCS ROGERS AUDIENCE AWARD FOR BEST CANADIAN DOCUMENTARY
Awarded to the top Canadian feature documentary in an audience poll. The winner will receive a $50,000 cash prize courtesy of Rogers, announced at a special encore screening on the Festival's final night.

Awarded to the documentary that receives the highest rating in the student audience poll. Announced at the end of the Docs for Schools program. The winner will receive a $5,000 cash prize.

2025 Industry Pitch Prizes

HOT DOCS first look AWARDS FOR WORKS-IN-PROGRESS
Hot Docs first look is a curated access program for philanthropic supporters and documentary-loving investors that grants them behind-the-scenes access to new projects in development and the world of documentary pre-production and production financing. This year Hot Docs first look participants will award a minimum of $10,000 at our Works-In-Progress industry event.

International Features Jury

• Shane Smith
  
  Shane Smith is a documentary programmer at TVO. From 2015- 2023 he was programming and artistic director at Hot Docs, North America's largest Festival and Market for documentary film. Smith previously worked at the Toronto International Film Festival as the director of special projects and director of public programs. Other roles include short film programmer at Sundance, director of programming at Channel Zero Inc and executive producer in-flight entertainment at Spafax Canada. Smith has served on juries and spoken on panels at Festivals and events globally. 
• Brett Story
  
  Brett Story is an award-winning filmmaker and writer whose work pushes the formal boundaries of political cinema. Her films have screened in theatres and festivals internationally, including at Sundance, New York Film Festival, CPH-DOX, and IDFA. She is the director of four feature films, including The Prison in Twelve Landscapes (2016) and The Hottest August (2019), and the author of the book Prison Land. Her most recent feature documentary, Union (2024) co-directed with Stephen Maing, premiered at Sundance 2024 where it won the Special Jury Prize for Art of Change. Union has screened at over 100 festivals worldwide and was shortlisted for an Academy Award. 
• Inti Cordera

  
  Inti Cordera is a documentary film director and producer; Founder of LA MAROMA productions (1995) and of the DocsMX festival & organization in 2006. 

  During more than 30 years as a director and producer, he has carried out numerous projects of documentary films, series and TV programs. He has also been selected and awarded at renowned festivals in Mexico, Latin America, North America and Europe. 

  Inti has participated as a jury member in festivals and project evaluation committees, as well as in workshops, analysis forums and work groups, in more than 15 countries.

Canadian Features Jury

• Mads K. Mikkelsen

  
  Mads K. Mikkelsen is Head of Programme at CPH:DOX. He runs two public cinema clubs, teaches film history at the Danish Film School, and is a frequent contributor to local and international film magazines, as well as the author of a book about non-fiction cinema. In 2019, he received an award for his programming work from Festival  de Cannes - Marché du film and Screen International. 

• Noland Walker

  
  Noland Walker is a television executive and co-programmer of ITVS’s Independent Lens series on PBS. Prior to being an executive, he was an award-winning writer, producer, and/or director of documentary films including Africans in America, Citizen King, Jonestown: The Life and Death of Peoples Temple, and Boogie Man: The Lee Atwater Story. At ITVS, Walker has led project and talent development efforts and contributed to the editorial work of dozens of ITVS films. He is the Executive Producer of ITVS’ newly released docuseries, Dallas (2019).

• Sarah Ouazzani
  
  Sarah is the Artistic Director of DOXA Documentary Film Festival and an experienced professional in programming, distribution, and international sales. Her career has taken her across the globe, with roles in India, China, Canada, and Morocco. She served as a programmer at the Festival du Nouveau Cinéma in Montréal and FIDADOC in Morocco. From 2014 to 2021, she oversaw sales and distribution for films that received awards at Berlinale, Sundance, IDFA, and many other festivals. Her love for cinema led her to found Photogram in 2021, an organization based in Montréal, dedicated to supporting the international sales and development of films. 

Midlengths & Bill Nemtin Award Jury

• Sabine Lange
  
  Sabine Lange is a commissioning editor working for ARTE, the European Culture TV channel with its head office based at Strasbourg. She is in charge of La Lucarne, the creative documentary, dedicated to experimental, auteur films. Latest productions include Apolonia, Apolinia by Lea Glob, We will not fade away by Alisa Kovalenko, Fantastic machine by Axel Danielson and Maximilien Van Aertryck. 
• Ali Weinstein

  
  Ali Weinstein is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker whose work has shown at Hot Docs and festivals around the world. Her latest documentary Your Tomorrow (TVO), about the last year Ontario Place was open to the public, premiered at TIFF 2024 where it was a runner up for the People’s Choice Documentary Award. Ali also directed the feature-length documentaries Mermaids (2017) and #Blessed (2020), and produced There's No Place Like This Place, Anyplace​ (2020) directed by Lulu Wei. She holds an MFA in Documentary Media Studies from TMU.

• Alison Duke
  
  Alison Duke is an award-winning writer, director, and producer known for bold storytelling that centers on underrepresented voices. She co-founded OYA Media Group with Ngardy Conteh George, producing acclaimed works like Mr. Jane and Finch, Black Community Mixtapes, and A Mother Apart. Her docu-series Paid in Full—a co-production with Julie Bristow’s Catalyst and Idris Elba’s Green Door Pictures for CBC and BBC—earned Canadian Screen Award nominations for Best Direction and Best Series. Bam Bam: The Sister Nancy Story premiered at Tribeca and is now streaming on Crave. Alison also co-founded OYA Black Arts Coalition, mentoring emerging Black creatives. She is the 2024 Hot Docs' Don Haig awardee and the 2019 WIFT-Toronto Crystal Award winner for mentorship.

Shorts Jury

• Ruth Somalo
  
  Ruth is a programmer, curator, filmmaker, educator and researcher. She works as Senior Programmer at DOC NYC, Documenta Madrid & the Architecture and Design Film Festival. Some of her independent programs include "The affection for small things” (Cineteca de Madrid/DOCMA), "Filming One’s Own Ghosts” (Union Docs) and “Broken Senses” (Anthology Film Archives). Ruth is the chair of the Programming committee of The Flaherty Board of Trustees and works as mentor and film seminar Instructor at Union Docs. As a filmmaker her work has been shown in theaters, festivals and museums internationally and she holds a PhD. from Autonomous University of Madrid. 
• Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo
  
  Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo is an Emmy-winning producer and curator for Op-Docs, The New York Times’s award-winning platform of short documentaries by independent filmmakers from around the world. Yvonne Ashley is an active participant in panels, forums, workshops and juries at international film festivals and markets. Before joining The Times in 2019, she was at American Documentary | POV, PBS’s long-running documentary strand.
• Aeyliya Husain
  
  Aeyliya Husain is an award-winning documentary filmmaker whose work focuses on issues of representation, women, and photography. Her latest film An Unfinished Journey, a feature for CBC, ARTE France, and ERT. She is currently producing a feature-length documentary about climate change through the lens of a visual artist, living in the fastest warming place on earth, Svalbard.