Skip to main content

30 Years of Hot Docs: Oscar Nominees

Roll out the red carpet for this curated selection of films that were featured at Hot Docs Festival before being nominated for an Academy Award. 

Hot Docs Members and Hot Docs at Home subscribers can stream now at watch.hotdocs.ca.
Not a member? JOIN NOW

Series runs Until July 26

a man with glasses

A Concerto is a Conversation

Nominee Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) 2021 

Award-winning Black composer, Kris Bowers (Bridgerton, Greenbook) traces his lineage through his grandfather who grew up in Jim Crow Florida. Hot Docs alumnus Ben Proudfoot  and executive producer Ava DuVernay deliver a heartwarming and poignant story about finding success as a Black man in America.

  • D: Ben Proudfoot & Kris Bowers
  • USA
  • 2021
  • 13 min
Watch Now

Joe's Violin

Nominee Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) 2017 

A donated violin forges an improbable friendship between 91-year-old Holocaust survivor Joe Feingold and 12-year-old Bronx student, Brianna Perez. A hopeful, captivating story of survival and connection through music.

  • D: Kahane Cooperman
  • USA
  • 2016
  • 24 min
Watch Now
teenager leaning on a skateboard

Minding the Gap

Nominee Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film 2018 

In his debut film, director Bing Liu follows his skateboarding friends in a quest to understand why they all ran away from home in their youth. Bing explores the gap between fathers and sons, discipline and domestic abuse, and ultimately that precarious chasm between childhood and becoming an adult.

  • D: Bing Liu
  • USA
  • 2018
  • 93 min
Watch Now
three people dancing

War Dance

Nominee Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film 2007 

A group of children in war-ravaged Uganda find a reprieve in school through music and dance. Their inspiring journey to a prestigious music festival in their nation’s capital is a stirring tale about the power of the human spirit to triumph against tremendous odds. 

  • D: Sean Fine & Andrea Nix Fine
  • USA
  • 2007
  • 105 min
Watch Now

Get the latest from Hot Docs

Sign up for e-news and keep up to date with the latest from Hot Docs and Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
  • Advance notices about upcoming films
  • The latest on festival dates and tickets
  • Customize your preferences
  • Unsubscribe at any time
Sign up