Hot Docs wrapped its 2025 edition last night following an 11-day Festival that brought to Toronto cinema screens 113 of the finest documentaries from Canada and around the world, sharing the most pressing stories of our time with full houses of local film-loving audiences and showcasing global filmmaking talent from a total of 47 countries. The 32nd Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival featured 179 screenings on five screens at two venues across Toronto, with over 150 filmmaker Q&As, including four extended discussions with filmmakers and special guests as part of the Big Ideas Series, and a special panel discussion with filmmakers participating in our first-ever Made In Exile program.
“As we celebrate the close of Hot Docs this year, I’m struck by what a truly special festival this has been,” said
Diana Sanchez, Executive Director, Hot Docs. “Conversations with excited audience members, top-notch film tips from our incredible volunteers, meeting so many visiting filmmakers from around the world and hearing the passion and pride they bring to their work, it has been a whirlwind of a week and I’ve enjoyed every minute of it. Our impactful Docs For Schools program filled our cinema with over 2,000 middle and high school students and became some of our visiting filmmakers’ most unforgettable festival screenings. So many subjects and special guests filled our hearts and minds with an endless outpouring of courage, authenticity and hope for the future. The Festival engaged audiences at every turn. I’m incredibly proud of our team and what they’ve accomplished to ensure Hot Docs continues to thrive in its mission of celebrating and advancing Canada’s rich documentary storytelling tradition.”
The
Hot Docs Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, which recognizes the top Canadian feature as determined by audience poll with a cash prize of $50,000 CAD, was announced last night at a free encore screening at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
Endless Cookie (D: Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver), a colourful collage of animated vignettes that explore the complex bond between two halfbrothers—one Indigenous, one white—with humorous and heartfelt tales, received the prize, courtesy of Rogers.
“We’re thrilled that Endless Cookie has been selected by Hot Docs audiences as the winner of this year’s Hot Docs Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary,” said
Heather Haynes, Director of Programming, Hot Docs. “This beautiful collaboration between two brothers brings to the screen an authentic approach to storytelling that moves hypnotically across Toronto’s Kensington Market in the 1980s and present-day in the First Nations community of Shamattawa, in Northern Manitoba, resulting in an unforgettable work of cinema that shows us the endless boundaries of the documentary artform and where it can take us. As we close out this year’s Hot Docs Festival, I want to thank all of the filmmakers who trusted us to share their stories and their work over these past 11 days. It’s the coming together of filmmakers, audiences, industry and volunteers that creates the community of Hot Docs and leaves its mark on this city, and the world, year after year. Of course, none of this would be possible without the incredible staff at Hot Docs. Thank you all for your dedication and the love and care you’ve shown in delivering a festival that has left our documentary makers, subject and guests absolutely swooning.”
With $90,000 CAD in cash and prizes announced at the Hot Docs Awards Presentation on Friday, May 2, and $50,000 CAD awarded yesterday as part of the Hot Docs Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary, this year the Festival awarded a total of $140,000 CAD in cash and prizes.
Hot Docs Audience Awards are determined by votes submitted by Festival audiences after in-person screenings. At the close of the Festival, it was determined that
Come See Me in the Good Light (D: Ryan White) placed first in the overall audience poll and won the
Hot Docs Audience Award.
The top mid-length film in the audience poll, winning the
Audience Award for Mid-Length Documentary, was
Aisha’s Story (D: Elizabeth Vibert, Chen Wang (co-director)). The top short film, winning the
Audience Award for Short Documentary, was
La Mayordomía (D: Martin Edralin).
The 20 documentaries in the audience poll are:
1.
Come See Me in the Good Light (D: Ryan White)
2.
Endless Cookie (D: Seth Scriver, Peter Scriver)
3.
Antidote (D: James Jones)
4.
Coexistence, My Ass! (D: Amber Fares)
5.
Saints and Warriors (D: Patrick Shannon)
6.
2000 Meters to Andriivka (D: Mstyslav Chernov)
7.
Mr. Nobody Against Putin (D: David Borenstein, Pavel Talankin (co-director))
8.
Selena y Los Dinos (D: Isabel Castro)
9.
Cutting Through Rocks (اوزاک یوللار) (D: Sara Khaki, Mohammadreza Eyni)
10.
Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance (D: Noam Gonick)
11.
Deaf President Now! (D: Nyle DiMarco, Davis Guggenheim)
12.
Facing War (D: Tommy Gulliksen)
13.
The Nest (D: Chase Joynt, Julietta Singh)
14.
Writing Hawa (D: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (co-director))
15.
The Gardener and the Dictator (D: Hui Wang)
16.
Holloway (D: Sophie Compton, Daisy-May Hudson)
17.
The Last Ambassador (D: Natalie Halla)
18.
The Track (D: Ryan Sidhoo)
19.
Spreadsheet Champions (D: Kristina Kraskov)
20.
Aisha's Story (D: Elizabeth Vibert, Chen Wang (co-director))
The above titles join previously announced
Hot Docs Docs for Schools Student Choice Award winner
Writing Hawa (D: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (co-director)) to make up the
full list of awards chosen by Hot Docs audiences as part of the 2025 Festival.
Hot Docs 2025 served as a vibrant hub for industry professionals, welcoming 985 delegates from 54 countries to participate in the Hot Docs Industry Conference & Market, which featured three days of professional programming, Works-in-Progress screenings, Hot Docs Deal Maker meetings, and networking opportunities. Hot Docs Industry welcomed special guests from across the documentarymaking and marketing landscape, including Andrew Peterson, Head of YouTube Canada; Canada Media Fund’s Emmanuelle Petrakis;
The Nest filmmakers Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh; Impact Producer Sholeh Fabbri; and @ThatDocumentaryGirl Content Creator Christie Bosch.