News

Hot Docs 2022 wrapped last night after bringing 225 films from 63 countries to audiences in Toronto cinemas and across Canada online. The 11-day hybrid festival featured 318 live screenings on nine screens at four venues across the city with 223 live filmmaker Q&As, and five special extended discussions with filmmakers and special guests as part of the Big Ideas Series, presented by Scotia Wealth Management. Further building on national audiences cultivated by the past two online editions, all official selections also streamed nation-wide during the 2022 Festival with additional content, including recorded filmmaker Q&As, a panel discussion presented with UNHCR, and two special Curious Minds sessions, which paired films with panel discussions featuring subject experts.

ROGERS AUDIENCE AWARD - $50K IN PRIZES COURTESY OF ROGERS GROUP OF FUNDS
The Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, which recognizes the top Canadian feature as determined by audience poll and awards cash prizes totaling $50,000, courtesy of Rogers Group of Funds, to the top three Canadian features in that poll, was announced on May 8 at a special free encore screening at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Eternal Spring (D: Jason Loftus | P: Jason Loftus, Masha Loftus, Yvan Pinard, Kevin Koo | Canada) placed first and received the top prize of $25,000 CDN; Okay! (The ASD Band Film) (D: Mark Bone | P: Gregory Rosati, Amalie Bruun | Canada) placed second and received a $15,000 CDN prize; and Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children (D: Barri Cohen | P: Craig Baines | Canada), a searing account of abuse inside Ontario’s oldest government-run home for disabled children, placed third and was awarded $10,000 CDN.  

HOT DOCS AUDIENCE AWARDS
At the close of the Festival, it was determined that Eternal Spring also placed first in the overall audience poll, also winning the Hot Docs Audience Award. The top mid-length film in the audience poll was Sexual Healing and the top short film was Dad Can Dance. 

1. Eternal Spring
2. Okay! (The ASD Band Film)
3. Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children
4. Beautiful Scars
5. Smell of Money
6. Navalny
7. Handle with Care: The Legend of the Notic Streetball Crew
8. Hunting in Packs
9. The Kids in the Hall: Comedy Punks
10. Batata
11. Returning Home
12. The Quiet Epidemic
13. Category: Woman
14. In the Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis
15. How Saba Kept Singing
16. The Unsolved Murder of Beverly Lynn Smith
17. Dad Can Dance
18. Who We Will Have Been
19. Alis
20. Relative

Top Films by Program

• Artscapes: Beautiful Scars
• Canadian Spectrum: Eternal Spring
• Deep Dive: In the Eye of the Storm: The Political Odyssey of Yanis Varoufakis
• Hidden Histories: Unloved: Huronia’s Forgotten Children
• International Spectrum: Who We Will Have Been
• Made In Chile: Alis
• Markers: Skin
• Nightvision: Crows Are White
• Persister: Hunting in Packs
• Special Presentations: Smell of Money
• The Changing Face of Europe: Band
• World Showcase: Sexual Healing

DOCS FOR SCHOOLS
Hot Docs' wildly popular Docs For School program also ran during the Festival, offering teachers across Canada free access to 13 films, including five official selections from this year’s Festival, and accompanying teaching resource linked to curriculum. As decided by student vote, Navalny won the Scotiabank Docs For Schools Student Choice Award, which includes a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Scotiabank.

FESTIVAL AWARDS
On May 6, 13 awards, including nine for Festival films in competition—of which seven were won by female filmmakers—and $65,000 CDN in cash and prizes was awarded to Canadian and international filmmakers. The winners were revealed at the 2022 Awards Presentation hosted by arts journalist and co-founder of Media Girlfriends Garvia Bailey.
 
INDUSTRY CONFERENCE & MARKET 
Hot Docs also presented a hybrid edition of its annual industry market and conference, welcoming 1,941 delegates from 74 countries. The Hot Docs Industry LIVE program featured three days of knowledge sessions and networking events and online offerings included Hot Docs Forum, Deal Maker and Distribution Rendezvous, along with additional industry content. At the Hot Docs Forum, the $40,000 in first look Pitch Prizes and the $10,000 CMF-Hot Docs Forum Canadian Pitch Prize were awarded to top pitches. 

At Hot Docs Deal Maker, the Festival’s one-on-one curated pitch event, a total of 55 projects pitched in more than 750 pre-arranged meetings to more than 96 decision makers. Distribution Rendezvous, the tailored meeting service for completed films seeking distribution, facilitated more than 900 meetings for 114 projects. Additionally, 14 Doc Accelerator fellows from across Canada participated in private programming which will continue in the coming months.