Hot Docs 2025: Back With a Vengeance and a Slate of Great Films, Pt. 2
By Jim Slotek, Liz Braun, Thom Ernst, Kim Hughes, Chris Knight, Liam Lacey, and Bonnie Laufer
We are now just a day away from the 32nd edition of the Hot Docs documentary film festival, running April 24 to May 4 in venues across Toronto and featuring 113 feature documentaries from 47 countries chosen from the 2,262 submissions, with 49 making world and international premieres.
Ahead of the launch, Original-Cin has endeavoured to cover many we intuited might be good. ICYMI, our first roundup of capsule reviews ran yesterday. We will also be adding to these roundups throughout the festival as embargoes lift.
Now as always, our advice to festivalgoers remains the same: scout out films covering topics you care about but be willing to take a chance on anything that looks cool or weird or interesting. The risks of failure are small but the opportunities for rewards are vast.
Thanks for reading.
Agatha’s Almanac
Canada, 86 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 1:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 4; Fri, May 2, 11 am, TIFF Lightbox 2.
Amalie Atkins’ debut documentary chronicling her 90-year-old aunt Agatha Bock as she tends to her sprawling 54-acre family farm in Manitoba — where she singlehandedly grows a wealth of vegetables, preserving many for the winter months ahead — is a kind of filmic meditation in 16 mm. We watch as Agatha, stooped but steady, gently yanks up carrots or gauges watermelon ripeness while dispensing garden wisdom, like how to foil cutworms (use tin cans). Life cycles are very much in mind as Agatha, always wearing dresses or skirts, steadfastly prunes and plants as the seasons roll by. References to Agatha’s past life (why no suitors stuck, the sad death of sisters) offer a tantalizing if somewhat incomplete window into this fascinating, independent woman whose fierce connection to the land, and to herself, is both palpable and humbling. KH
France, 120 minutes
Mon, April 28, 8:15 pm, TIFF Lightbox 1; Sun, May 3, 4:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2.
An American Pastoral is an intense political drama guaranteed to enrage. In the conservative community of Elizabethtown, Pennsylvania, a school board election battles for the town’s soul. Ultra-conservative Christian nationalists clash with moderate Republican voices, while Democrats are left praying for a miracle. In public meetings and town halls, a decorum of civil discourse exists; however, in private, civility crumbles, stoking an atmosphere of tension that is both frustrating and frightening. Director Auberi Edler withholds judgment when capturing the convictions, fears, and doubts of the extremists, the moderates, and the few determined Democrats. It is impossible to watch An American Pastoral passively — you might find yourself shouting at the screen one moment (although I’m not recommending it), while clinging to the few sparks of hope whenever decency and reason break through. The film is an emotional experience that delivers a riveting journey that leaves you rattled, reflective, and maybe a little bit hopeful. TE
Canada, 90 minutes
Tue, Apr. 29, 8:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 1; Thu, May 1, 11 am, TIFF Lightbox 3.
The title of this real-life cloak and dagger documentary about Cindor Reeves — a whistleblower whose testimony helped convict the Liberian dictator Charles Taylor of war crimes — has a double meaning. The “betrayal” refers both to Taylor’s supporters who believe Reeves: Taylor’s brother-in-law, who lived under his roof, betrayed his benefactor. Secondly, it refers to the international authorities that used Reeves’ courageous testimony and then abandoned him, including the Canadian government which refused Reeves’ refugee claim in 2012, separating his family and putting his life at risk. Years in the making, Lena Macdonald’s film uses interviews shot years apart (the timeline can be confusing) where Reeves comes across as a consistent, sympathetic witness, amply supported by archival videos and other interviews. By the film’s end, we find Reeves, now 51 and in Sierra Leone, still living in political limbo, separated from his Canadian family. LL
Canada, 62 minutes
Wed, Apr. 30, 5:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 1.
Now in its third year, the half-dozen shorts in the Hot Docs–commissioned “Citizen Minutes” provides speed dating–like introductions to inspiring individuals and their social causes. A Stop Gap Measure follows Luke Anderson and his foundation as he makes an upbeat case for better disability access. Hommes-Relais is about Manuel, a Mexican doctor who provides psychological help for immigrant men in Quebec. La Femme equi-LIBRE introduces us to Josée Gallant-Gordon, who provides mental health care through equine therapy on Prince Edward Island. Becoming Ruby shows the talents of Asian Canadian drag queen Ruby Chopstix as the first “artist in residence” at Winnipeg’s Rainbow Resource Centre. Crossing the Divide rides along with two Canadian women from different political views as they attend the U.S.-based Braver Angels convention where they learn to “disagree better.” In Red Girl Rising, the whirlwind former teacher and education consultant Joyce Jonathan Crone and her Hope Arises Project celebrate Indigenous culture and reconciliation in her Huntsville community. LL
Canada, France, 97 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 10:30 am, TIFF Lightbox 1; Wed, Apr. 30, 5:15 pm, TIFF Lightbox 4.
Filmmaker Virginia Tangvald, daughter of infamous Norwegian sailer Peter Tangvald, was born at sea and lived on a boat with her half-brother Thomas and her parents until she was a toddler. Idyllic, until you look closely. Her mother and Tangvald separated, fortunately, as too many in Tangvald’s world met tragic ends. In this haunted tale, harrowing and heartbreaking in equal measure, Tangvald looks into the mysterious death of her brother at sea and discovers her father’s legacy — a dark and terrible family history. Gripping storytelling, and visually mesmerizing. LB
UK, 87 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 8:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 3; Tue, Apr. 29, 10:45 am TIFF Lightbox 3.
Sophie Compton and Daisy-May Hudson directed this powerful documentary in which six women who were former inmates of London's Holloway Prison return to the condemned building to join a healing circle. The women meet and talk about how they came to be incarcerated; like most women in prison, they all experienced abuse and domestic violence in childhood. The details are disturbing and what they endured growing up is infuriating, but the women showing their vulnerability — and their strength — will amaze and inspire you. More than one of the women talks about early trauma, family breakdown, and actually feeling safe in prison. Shattering. LB
Mama Goals
Sweden, 70 minutes
Wed, Apr. 30, 7:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Fri, May 2, 2 pm TIFF Lightbox 2.
Mama Goals is about a woman who believes she can do it all. Part of the Hot Docs’ Persister program shining a light on the voices of strong, inspirational women, Mama Goals follows Sweden’s Charlotta Björck as she struggles to become a comedian but must deal with the realities of her life. In a bold move, this mother of two young children quits her secure full-time healthcare job to pursue her dreams. It’s enlightening and heartbreaking to follow her journey. Some will say she’s selfish, others will admire her tenacity and chutzpah. No matter, it’s an inspiring journey that might light a fire under others afraid to take a chance at what they really want in life. BL
Canada, 89 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 8 pm, TIFF Lightbox 1; Wed, Apr. 30, 11:15 am, TIFF Lightbox 1.
The Nest, co-directed by author Julietta Singh and transgender filmmaker Chase Joynt (A Better Man, Framing Agnes) focuses on Singh’s family home, a Queen Anne-style heritage home in Winnipeg, and the women who resided there over the past 140 years. These include a Métis philanthropist and activist who once horsewhipped a racist journalist, a deaf art teacher, the guests of the Japanese consulate who campaigned for redress for the Second World War Japanese Canadian interment, and Singh’s perceptive, feminist octogenarian mother, who restored the house. The film includes re-enactments and commentary by contemporary women from Métis, deaf, and Japanese cultural organizations, who appear to be having a ball. Though the tone can feel self-congratulatory, the film is a timely riposte to the historical denial of the current patriarchal backlash. LL
Canada, 43 minutes
Thu, May 1, 5 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Sat, May 3, 2:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 3.
In August 2018, Nicholas Gibbs — a 23-year-old Black man suffering mental illness — was shot dead by Montreal police, a stone’s throw from his mother’s apartment. Police asserted Gibbs was armed with a knife, something bystander video seemed to contradict. Almost everyone agreed that altercations between police and vulnerable people could be — must be — vastly improved with better training. Director Stefan Verna uses dance and music, plus interviews with family and the broader community, to elevate Gibbs beyond a grim statistic even as his status as precisely that tells so much of this sadly familiar story. KH
USA, 83 minutes
Mon, Apr. 28, 4:45 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Wed, Apr. 30, 10:45 am, TIFF Lightbox 3.
Director Sasha Wortzel wraps this paean/call-to-arms about the beauty, uniqueness, and imperilment of the Florida Everglades around the writings of the late Marjory Stoneman Douglas, who spent most of her 108 years living in and defending the “river of grass” as the Seminoles called it. It is a skillful overview of subjects that arguably each deserve their own movie. These include Douglas herself, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers — whose environmental ineptitude is famously epic — the battle led by activist William Buffalo Tiger and others to halt the construction of a Miami super-airport in the ‘Glades, and the historical role of the Seminoles and Miccosukee Nations in defending the river of grass and mythologizing it over centuries. Shout out to cinematographer J. Bennett for some truly beautiful nature visuals. JS
Canada, 75 minutes
Tues, Apr. 29, 8:30 pm, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema; Thurs, May 1, 11:45 am, TIFF Lightbox 1.
Director Damien Eagle Bear made a rookie mistake when he first undertook to profile the largely Indigenous occupants of a Lethbridge, Alberta shelter. Simply put, there were too many tragic stories to squeeze into one film. The unfocused footage sat for years until one of the subjects, Pernell Bad Arm, became an Internet video meme — angry, apparently intoxicated, fists up. What began as an object of racial ridicule was turned around by Indigenous people on social media, who added the rallying cry “Skoden!” (Rez-speak for “Let’s go, then!”). The discovery of #skoden’s identity led Eagle Bear back to the shelter, to piece together the life of a local who’d unwittingly become both a target image for racists and a Native hero. Eagle Bear’s lucky break as a filmmaker is equally fortuitous for the viewer. Pernell’s story gives us much to absorb and ponder. JS
Spreadsheet Champions
Australia, 86 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 11:30 am, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema; Fri, May 2, 5:15 pm, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema; Sun, May 4, 3:45 pm, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.
Remember Spellbound, the 2002 documentary about the Scripps National Spelling Bee? Spreadsheet Champions is that but for the Microsoft Office Specialist World Championship (Excel section). OK, so maybe not quite as relatable — heck, everyone spells, but we’re not all conversant on rounding errors for 15-digit Fibonacci numbers. But it’s still an emotional tale, as we follow a half-dozen young contestants, each a national champ in her or his home country, to the finals in Florida. Unlike Scripps, where errors are caught in real time, the winning scores here are tabulated and announced at the end of the event, Still, what the film lacks in immediacy, it more than makes up for in personality. It may even convince you to brush up your own spreadsheet skills. CK
Canada, 90 minutes
Sun, Apr. 27, 8:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2; Wed, Apr. 30, 1:30 pm, TIFF Lightbox 2.
Canadian director Ryan Sidhoo’s assured feature finds its central symbol in a cement trough that winds across the side of Mount Trebević, overlooking the city of Sarajevo. The structure is a relic of the time when Sarajevo hosted the 1984 Winter Olympics. During the war that tore Yugoslavia apart in the 1990s, the track was used as a military trench. Sidhoo’s film, which starts in 2018, is an empathetic group portrait of former luge athlete Senad Omanović and three teenaged athletes — Hamza, Zlatan, and Mirza — whom he coaches. Together, they work to repair the track, practice racing on sleds on wheels at terrifying speeds, struggle with family traumas, and pursue their collective dream of representing Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing. LL