Hot Docs will commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary of Confederation with the commissioning of In the Name of All Canadians, a compilation of six short documentaries inspired by Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms. From Indigenous rights to multiculturalism to the controversial ‘notwithstanding clause,’ participating filmmakers have each selected a specific aspect of the Charter to explore, looking at how it resonates in the stories of their fellow Canadians.
Projektionen der Sehnsucht
Featuring seven stories from seven auteurs from around the world, the film chronicles this unprecedented moment in time, and is a true love letter to the power of cinema and its storytellers.
Ottimismo democratico
A collection of shorts made by various directors in response to 9/11.
An experimental anthology about mental turmoil. Nine subversive perspectives from young filmmakers from around the world who lament over depression, alienation, loneliness, and heartbreak as universal experiences.
One camera in one setting, one attic and eight young directors – the result is a unique Dadaistic collage of seven short sketches. The original task for each filmmaker was to keep each short under three minutes, to set it in one hotel room, and to include the sentence “I miss Sonja Henie." This experimental film was shot over a single night at the international film festival FEST in Beograd in 1971.
The timeless photographs of Ansel Adams have made him one of the most recognized and admired names in art. This intimate look at the man and his work details his position as a staunch environmentalist and how his art reflected his strong worldview. David Ogden Stiers narrates this profile produced for the PBS series "American Experience," which was directed by Emmy-winning documentarian Ric Burns.
Two closely related episodes. Youths make problems for two local orchestras about to compete nationally, and in a talent competition a young girl gets stage fright, while another lies to her boss to compete.
This documentary tells the story of people who were at the scene of the 2014 Sewol Ferry disaster: journalists, bereaved families of the victims, and the survivors. Ten years after the disaster, what did it leave them? These are three omnibus documentaries with different perspectives.
Gottland provides an unconventional look at Czechoslovak 20th century history. Inspired by the bestselling book “Gottland” from the Polish journalist Mariusz Szczygiel, this feature-length film is comprised of short stories portraying peculiar fates. Young documentary film makers from renowned Prague Film School FAMU, inspired by the book, take a closer look at the history of post-war Czechoslovakia and Czech Republic, in order to discover new heroes and remind us of the ones that were forgotten or erased from the history.
"These portraits are encounters I wanted to be kept from oblivion, even if it is only while you are watching them. They are women who work, who have children, and who, at the same time, keep their independence of mind. I shot 24 portraits of 13 minutes each. I have chosen this short running time for several reasons: not becoming a bother, escape tv adds cuts, shoot the movie quickly, in one pace and without too many scratches. I am not a documentaries maker. I am more like a faces, hands and things lover. To show reality is not my goal. “Reality” is just a word, just like its twin sister “fiction”, which I practice as well, but with a different delight." (Alain Cavalier)
A series of 43 documentary shorts, directed (without credit) by several famous French filmmakers and each running between two and four minutes. Each "tract" espouses a leftist political viewpoint through the filmed depiction of real-life events, including workers' strikes and the events of Paris in May '68.
30 years of freedom = 30 authors = 30 minutes of films. A unique project of Reflex magazine and Czech Television, which in honor of the 30th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution reflects many forms and understanding of freedom. Various personalities of the Czech cultural sphere have made their minute films.
Tragedy struck when the Space Shuttle Challenger disintegrated just 73 seconds into flight. Hours earlier, engineers argued to cancel the launch, amid fears of such a tragedy – so why did it go ahead?
Concorde was an icon of the skies, but on 25 July 2000, Air France Flight 4590 left Paris for New York and caught fire during take-off before crashing to the ground just over a minute later, killing everyone on board. The tragedy brought an end to the dream of supersonic passenger flight. But what caused the disaster? Investigators, survivors’ loved ones and those who examined the wreckage recall the tragedy and describe how the evidence led to a shockingly simple conclusion about what went wrong.
In this cinematic zine, directors scattered all over the world adapt to screen hilarious and poignant Belarusian news stories. Featuring phone thieves, TikTok storks, the tiniest castle in the world, and victims of the depression epidemic.
Two students from the Czech Film Academy commission a leading advertising agency to organize a huge campaign for the opening of a new supermarket named Czech Dream. The supermarket however does not exist and is not meant to. The advertising campaign includes radio and television ads, posters, flyers with photos of fake Czech Dream products, a promotional song, an internet site, and ads in newspapers and magazines. Will people believe in it and show up for the grand opening?
At the awards ceremony of the 14th International Cacocortos Festival, a festival where filmmakers offer their own take on the concept of “Caco”. The host, Caco, presents the finalist short films of the Official Cacocompetition while the audience awaits the winning work of this “privilegious” festival.
Anthology short film with segments by nine directors against Silvio Berlusconi and its Forza Italia party — released ahead of the 1994 Italian general elections, which Berlusconi nevertheless won in a landslide. In Nanni Moretti's segment, he and Silvio Orlando reprise their roles from The Yes Man (1991).