Hot Docs is pleased to announce that five Canadian music documentary projects will receive a total of $145,000 CDN in the second round of funding from the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund. Established in the spring of 2020, this production and development fund was created through a gift from The Slaight Family Foundation. The first of its kind in Canada, the Fund is committed to filmmakers telling engaging, high-quality stories that embrace musical forms and artists and demonstrates Canadian music’s role in the world.
To date, the Hot Docs-Slaight Family Fund has funded 11 projects and disbursed $262,500 CDN.
Eligible projects were considered by the selection committee, which included Jennifer Baichwal (Mercury Films), Daniel Cross (EyeSteelFilm), Hot Docs (Olena Decock and Lisa Valencia-Svensson) and Barnaby Marshall (Slaight Music).
Development Funds
IN SEARCH OF…DIVINE STYLER
D: Peter Mishara & Omar Majeed
P: Christina Piovesan
Production company: First Generation Films Province: Ontario In 1996, a young writer from London, Ontario decides to launch a hip-hop zine to discover what happened to his favourite rapper who disappeared from the music biz. He ends up uncovering a story that unites hip-hop heads the world over.
YOUNG CANADIAN
D: Alan Zweig
P: David York
Production company: 52 Media Inc.
Province: Ontario
Art Bergmann, the godfather of ’70s Vancouver punk, wrote songs about hookers, junkies and the victimized. But by 2000, Art was broken—addicted, and arthritic, unable to walk or play guitar. Now, Art must overcome his biggest challenge yet.
Production Funds
GODDESS OF SLIDE
D: Alfonso Maiorana
P: Alfonso Maiorana, Agata De Santis
Production company: Soul Flicker Films Inc.
Province: Quebec
A spirited musical journey of Ellen McIlwaine, a slide guitar virtuoso whose unbreakable faith in her talent propelled her into a rebellious life in rock and blues.
SMOKE & GIFTS
D: Stephen Chung
P: Ann Shin, Hannah Donegan, Michelle Mama
Production company: Fathom Film Group Province: Ontario
Filmmaker Stephen Chung pulls back the curtain on the community of musicians and friends centred around the trailblazing band Broken Social Scene. This stunning POV documentary features never-before-seen archival footage and pays tribute to the power of indie music and the artists who started out in Toronto bars before rocketing to global fame.
LHASA
D: Sophie Leblond
P: Audrey-Ann Dupuis-Pierre
Production company: Metafilms inc.
Province: Quebec
From Lhasa de Sela’s nomadic childhood in Mexico to her artistic life in Montreal, this film follows her life and career, as a woman and as an artist, until her untimely death from cancer at age 37. With Lhasa’s narration as our guide, this film is an intimate collage of her writings, drawings and paintings, alongside the family’s archives, visiting the places and people she loved.
The Slaight Family Foundation was established in 2008 by John Allan Slaight. Allan Slaight is known as Canada’s broadcast pioneer, music leader and a prominent Canadian philanthropist. Through his generosity, the Foundation proactively supports charitable initiatives in the areas of healthcare, at-risk youth, international development, social services and culture.