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Hot Docs Festival Online Country Listing Language Program Category Accessibility
All Her Dying Lovers
Available until June 24
A nurse, a Nazi and a fish: this is the incredible tale of a young Czech woman who, in the face of Nazi occupation, trumps the invaders with her unique form of resistance. Her story is given an animated retelling that explores the collision of history, truth and myth-making.
| | Runtime: | 6 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Germany | | Czech Republic | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Czech | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | annabennerstudio.com/All-Her-Dying-Lovers | | | Director(s): | Anna Benner | | Eluned Zoe Aiano | | Producer(s): | Linda Dedková | | Anna Benner | | Martin Hulovec | | Composer: | Raphael Tschernuth | | Sound: | Michal Krajczok | | Vojtech Knot |
At the Bottom of the Sea
Available until June 24
Attended by thousands in Seoul in December 2018, “The Courage to be Uncomfortable” was a demonstration against misogyny, surveillance and widespread sexism within the justice system. In the lead up to the protest, the filmmaker journeys through rural and urban areas, capturing women’s voices in this poetic, experimental film.
| | Runtime: | 11 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Korean. | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Producer(s): | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Editor(s): | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Writer(s): | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Cinematography: | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Composer: | Robin Lough | | Sound: | Caroline So Jung Lee | | Doug Paterson |
At the River
Available until June 24
This astute film swings from the calm of a forest stroll to the cacophony of a family in upheaval on the Fourth of July. A perceptive observation of family and landscape in crisis, At the River speaks to the anxieties of middle America at the beginning of the 21st century.
| | Runtime: | 10 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | A. Madsen Minax | | Producer(s): | A. Madsen Minax |
Bible Camp Memories
Available until June 24
He didn’t fit in at school—but maybe he would at bible camp? Damien revisits the summers of his youth, including past traumas with oblivious camp counsellors, fresh air, nature, evangelical Christianity and, worst of all, a cabin full of other 13-year-old boys.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Damien Ferland | | Producer(s): | Damien Ferland | | Writer(s): | Damien Ferland | | Cinematography: | Dylan Baillie |
Broken Orchestra
Available until June 24
Inventively peppered with elements of animation, this film profiles the educators and advocates of the Symphony for a Broken Orchestra—a project that mobilized a community to repair hundreds of instruments for students, in response to funding cuts for music education programs in Philadelphia.
| | Runtime: | 12 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Toronto Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.topic.com/broken-orchestra | | | Director(s): | Charlie Tyrell | | Producer(s): | Julie Baldassi | | Executive Producer(s): | Mona Panchal | | Anna Holmes | | Ryan Chanatry | | Editor(s): | Michael Barker | | Writer(s): | Josef Beeby | | Charlie Tyrell | | Cinematography: | Chet Tilokani | | Composer: | Colin Sigor | | David Lang | | Sound: | Joe Coupal |
The Brother
Available until June 24
During his waking hours, Kais is in his bed or mobility device, completely dependent on his devoted family for round-the-clock care. At night, he dreams of himself as a manga character, starring in a story of love and bravery that mirrors the selflessness of his parents and siblings.
| | Runtime: | 28 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | French | | Japanese | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | jeremiebattaglia.com/fr/projets/le-frere/ | | | Director(s): | Jérémie Battaglia | | Producer(s): | Amélie Lambert Bouchard | | Editor(s): | Andrea Henriquez | | Writer(s): | Jérémie Battaglia | | Cinematography: | Jérémie Battaglia | | Composer: | Anais Larocque | | Sound: | Marie-Pierre Grenier | | Isabelle Lussier | | Jérémie Battaglia | | Lenny Fontaine |
The Chimney Swift
Available until June 24
Based on a meticulously detailed letter, the hard-knock lives of young 19th century chimney sweeps are uncovered in this exquisite animation, which masterfully articulates the finer points of preparing children as young as four for a life of hard labour up the flues of the bourgeoisie.
| | Runtime: | 5 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Germany | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.fabianfred.com/chimney/ | | | Director(s): | Frédéric Schuld | | Producer(s): | Fabian Driehorst | | Executive Producer(s): | Fabian Driehorst | | Editor(s): | Frédéric Schuld | | Writer(s): | Frédéric Schuld | | Fabian Driehorst | | Composer: | Frédéric Schuld | | Sound: | Alex Müller-Welt |
Comfort Zone
Available until June 24
Brigitte lives with a mysterious, invisible presence: her 21-year-old son, who has shut himself in his bedroom for the past three years. Communicating only via WhatsApp, mother and son are locked in a codependent waiting game. Will his door ever open again, or will it have to be forced?
| | Runtime: | 24 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Germany | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | German | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.jonasegert.de/komfortzone | | | Director(s): | Jonas Egert | | Producer(s): | Emilia Möbus | | Editor(s): | Julia Furch | | Stefan Strüber | | Writer(s): | Jonas Egert | | Julia Furch | | Cinematography: | Felix Riedelsheimer | | Composer: | Pablo Jókay | | Sound: | Tobias Rehm | | Moritz Müller-Preißer |
Día de la Madre
Available until June 24
As night becomes day, a feisty group of youths make a decidedly unconventional ruckus that is sure to go down in the history books for the tired and shocked people at the receiving end of their exuberance.
| | Runtime: | 6 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Spanish | | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Ashley Brandon | | Dennis Höhne | | Producer(s): | Nevo Shinaar | | Editor(s): | Ashley Brandon | | Cinematography: | Ashley Brandon | | Dennis Höhne | | Sound: | Ashley Brandon |
Egg Cup Requiem
Available until June 24
Octogenarian Johnny Green is a dedicated pocillovist, or egg cup collector. His vast collection, numbering more than 9,000, is crammed into his Auckland home. This touching portrait brings Johnny’s collection to life and creates a tangible link to precious memories from his past.
| | Runtime: | 12 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | New Zealand | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.loomfilms.co.nz/eggcuprequiem | | | Director(s): | Nick Mayow | | Prisca Bouchet | | Producer(s): | Nick Mayow | | Prisca Bouchet | | Editor(s): | Nick Mayow | | Cinematography: | Prisca Bouchet |
Êmîcêtôsêt: Many Bloodlines
Available until June 24
A Cree filmmaker and her white partner document their pregnancy and journey to parenthood. From the search for an Indigenous donor and midwife to their concerns about raising a child as an interracial queer couple, the joy of having a child together gives them the courage to overcome any obstacle.
| | Runtime: | 11 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Cree | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Theola Ross | | Producer(s): | Alex Bailey | | Editor(s): | Lucius Dechausay | | Cinematography: | Alexandre Nour Desjardins | | Sound: | Anthony Wallace |
The Fantastic
Available until June 24
Former North Koreans recount their experiences watching forbidden foreign films and how these informed their perception of the outside world. Speculating solely from these illegal movies, fiction takes on a surprising new form, where reality, imagination and plausibility meet the unknown for both the North Koreans looking out and westerners looking in.
| | Runtime: | 30 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Finland | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Korean | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Maija Blåfield | | Producer(s): | Maija Blåfield | | Editor(s): | Maija Blåfield | | Cinematography: | Maija Blåfield | | Composer: | Tuomo Puranen | | Sound: | Olli Huhtanen |
Fat Kathy
Available until June 24
The lives of millions depend on eight small clams working hard to detect contamination in the city’s water supply. Clams are the new canaries in the coal mine in this stranger-than-fiction peek at how humans create problems for the planet and then use living organisms to protect themselves… from themselves.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Poland | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Polish | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.facebook.com/Gruba-Ka%C5%9Bka-Fat-Kathy-106542297490730 | | | Director(s): | Julia Pelka | | Producer(s): | Ewa Jastrzebska | | Editor(s): | Andrzej Czarnecki | | Julia Pelka | | Writer(s): | Julia Pelka | | Cinematography: | Szymon Kluz | | Sound: | Weronika Bloch | | Julia Pelka | | Grzegorz Kucharski |
The Flame
Available until June 24
In the Australian Outback, the stories of the past are reframed through a series of interwoven portraits. The Flame beautifully explores the powerful and shifting properties of fire and wind, bringing the stories of ancestors—and the upheaval that the white fella brought to the community—into the present.
| | Runtime: | 12 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Australia | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Nick Waterman | | Producer(s): | Nick Waterman | | Raphaela Rosella | | Executive Producer(s): | Kim McConville | | Editor(s): | Nick Waterman | | Writer(s): | Nick Waterman | | Megan Washington | | Dayannah Baker Barlow | | Tyrese Fernando | | Paul Spearim | | Connie Taylor | | Lance Whitton Jr. | | Cinematography: | Adric Watson | | Composer: | Megan Washington | | Sound: | Sasha Zastavnikovic |
Gun Killers
Available until June 24
Steeped in the atmospherics of a taut spy thriller, Gun Killers portrays retired blacksmiths John and Nancy Little as national heroes. The couple are employed by local police to engage in the mass destruction of firearms, in a noble effort to protect the lives of all Canadians.
| | Runtime: | 11 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | mediaspace.nfb.ca/epk/gun-killers/ | | | Director(s): | Jason Young | | Producer(s): | Rohan Fernando | | Executive Producer(s): | Annette Clarke | | Editor(s): | Andrew MacCormack | | Writer(s): | Jason Young | | Cinematography: | Paul McCurdy | | Composer: | Dave Anderson | | Paul Frehner | | Jason Michael MacIsaac | | Sound: | Luke Batiot |
Hollie's Dress
Available until June 24
As 14-year-old Hollie sews her first dress with her mother, she faces the decision all Mennonite girls must make as they reach adulthood. Will she put on the dress, become a full member of the Mennonite church and assume her role as a mother, or will she join the wider world?
| | Runtime: | 25 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.anniesakkab.com/hollies-dress | | | Director(s): | Annie Sakkab | | Producer(s): | Paul Lee | | Annie Sakkab | | Editor(s): | Annie Sakkab | | Writer(s): | Annie Sakkab | | Cinematography: | Annie Sakkab | | Vanessa Tignanelli | | Composer: | APM Music Library | | Ken Young | | Sound: | Amanda Ann-Min Wong |
Hydebank
Available until June 24
A 21-year-old offender serving his sentence in the Northern Irish countryside forms an unlikely bond with the facility’s flock of sheep and begins to accept the brutal act that landed him in prison. A quiet and contemplative film about repentance, Hydebank shows a young man’s internal struggle with innocence and evil.
| | Runtime: | 17 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Ross McClean | | Producer(s): | Chris Kelly | | Editor(s): | Anders S Jepsen | | Cinematography: | Ross McClean | | Sound: | Ciaran Devlin-Rushe |
In the Shadow of the Pines
Available until June 24
Inspired by the filmmaker’s own upbringing, this deeply personal animated documentary about a difficult father-daughter relationship questions ideas of shame around being othered as an immigrant in North America and how life-defining experiences can inhibit us from claiming and owning our identities.
| | Runtime: | 7 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Japanese | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Anne Koizumi | | Producer(s): | Sahar Yousefi | | Editor(s): | Anne Koizumi | | Writer(s): | Anne Koizumi | | Composer: | respectfulchild |
Invasion
Available until June 24
Urgent and timely, Invasion documents the Unist’ot’en camp, Gidimt’en checkpoint and larger Wet’suwet’en First Nation as they stand up to the Canadian government and corporations behind the Coastal GasLink pipeline, opposing colonial violence in an era of supposed reconciliation.
| | Runtime: | 18 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Toronto Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Wet'suwet'en | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.mutualaidmedia.com/invasion | | | Director(s): | Michael Toledano | | Sam Vinal | | Producer(s): | Franklin López | | Michael Toledano | | Sam Vinal | | Editor(s): | Franklin López | | Cinematography: | Michael Toledano |
Jo
Available until June 24
Jo is the fierce, self-assured protagonist of this profile of a working-class hero. She embraces the troubles of her past while forging an unapologetic path forward, guided by uncompromising principles and a deep love for only two people: her daughter Karine and singer Diane Dufresne.
| | Runtime: | 13 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Ontario Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | French | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Carmen Rachiteanu | | Producer(s): | Kristine Thelle | | Editor(s): | Martin Morisette | | Writer(s): | Carmen Rachiteanu | | Cinematography: | Nicolas Canniccioni | | Composer: | Nicolas Borycki | | Sound: | Yann Cleary | | Marco Fania |
Just a Guy
Available until June 24
Eva, Sarah and filmmaker Shoko Hara all corresponded with Richard Ramirez, a notorious California serial killer and rapist, during his incarceration in the 1980s and ’90s. Using an ever-shifting, self-erasing claymation style, Just a Guy expresses their transgressive affection and attraction without judgment, and shows the destigmatizing and charitable potential of human interaction.
| | Runtime: | 15 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Germany | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Shoko Hara | | Producer(s): | Stefan Michel | | Editor(s): | Tobias Wilhelmer | | Writer(s): | Simon Thummet | | Composer: | Chiara Strickland | | Sound: | Marc Fragstein | | Luis Schöffend |
Kachalka
Available until June 24
Not just for pumping iron, the gym Kachalka is a place to see and be seen, where those working out are just as eclectic as the 200-plus machines fashioned from cast-off Soviet-era machinery. This living relic is thoroughly modern in its repurposing of 100 tons of iron.
| | Runtime: | 10 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Ireland | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Ukrainian | | Russian | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Gar O'Rourke | | Producer(s): | Ken Wardrop | | Executive Producer(s): | Andrew Freedman | | Editor(s): | John O'Connor | | Cinematography: | Colm Hogan | | Sound: | Kateryna Herasymchuk |
Lhomme’s Dreams
Available until June 24
Without ever having travelled, Dr. Jules Lhomme amassed over 3,000 artifacts, becoming one of the world’s first collectors of African art. What was once considered a cabinet of curiosities now resembles a coffin of colonial atrocities, in this haunting animated archive of imaginary exploration and realized exploitation.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | France | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Florent Morin | | Producer(s): | Pierre Baussaron | | Emmanuel-Alain Raynal | | Editor(s): | Albane du Plessix | | Florent Morin | | Writer(s): | Florent Morin | | Cinematography: | Florent Morin | | Composer: | Manuel Morvant |
Lola
Available until June 24
Lola dolefully observes the break up of her family. There’s nothing she can do but sit and watch as her loved ones act out, argue, silently stew and finally leave. A heartrending look at the end of a marriage and a time of transition, through the innocent eyes of the pet dog.
| | Runtime: | 21 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Miranda Carter-Watson | | Producer(s): | Jamie MacDonald | | Editor(s): | Ona Bartroli Portell | | Cinematography: | Miranda Carter-Watson | | Composer: | Saul Bragman | | Sound: | Ross Wilkes-Houghton |
The Lost Astronaut
Available until June 24
Ed Dwight Jr. was poised to become NASA’s first African-American astronaut—until, suddenly, he wasn’t. In a succinct chronicling of 1960s US history, The Lost Astronaut looks back at pivotal moments in Ed’s career and exposes the systemic racism that snatched away his chance to make history.
| | Runtime: | 13 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Toronto Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | breakwaterstudios.com/film/the-lost-astronaut/ | | | Director(s): | Ben Proudfoot | | Producer(s): | Gabe Godoi | | Executive Producer(s): | Abby Davis | | Editor(s): | Nick Wright | | Cinematography: | Brandon Somerhalder | | Composer: | Nicholas Jacobson-Larson | | Sound: | Sean Higgins |
Modern Whore
Available until June 24
Former escort Andrea Werhun is the star of this unprecedented portrayal of sex work, characterized by personal agency, humour and heart. Exposing deep complexities of sexual power and social stigma, this hybrid documentary brings the pages of Werhun’s candid memoir to life through interviews and scripted scenes.
| | Runtime: | 12 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | modernwhore.com/ | | | Director(s): | Nicole Bazuin | | Producer(s): | Lisa Baylin | | Executive Producer(s): | Nicole Bazuin | | Andrea Werhun | | Jonas Diamond | | Editor(s): | Nicole Bazuin | | Writer(s): | Nicole Bazuin | | Cinematography: | Nina Djacic | | Sound: | Daenen Bramberger |
Nancy's Workshop
Available until June 24
One Sunday a month, natural hair specialist Nancy Falaise closes the doors of her Montreal salon to lead a private workshop for young Black girls struggling to love their natural hair. The group bonds and shares familiar experiences of navigating their self-image and racial identity.
| | Runtime: | 20 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | Toronto Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | French | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.cbc.ca/shortdocs/shorts/nancys-workshop | | | Director(s): | Aïcha Diop | | Producer(s): | Christina Carvalho | | Executive Producer(s): | Charles Officer | | Jake Yanowski | | Composer: | Emily Bitze |
Nuxalk Radio
Available until June 24
Chart a day in the life of Nuxalk Radio, broadcasted from the Nuxalk village of Q'umk'uts' (Bella Coola, B.C.)—one station of many in a growing grassroots radio network focused on healing and empowering communities by broadcasting solely in Indigenous languages.
| | Runtime: | 3 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Nuxalk | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Slts'lani (Banshee Hanuse) | | Producer(s): | Jessica Hallenbeck | | Executive Producer(s): | Murray Battle | | Rudy Buttignol | | Editor(s): | Jason Schneider | | Writer(s): | Slts'lani (Banshee Hanuse) | | Cinematography: | Louvens Remy | | Slts'lani (Banshee Hanuse) | | Jessica Hallenbeck | | Dave Shortt | | Sound: | John Öhrn | | Jessica Hallenbeck |
Oil & Water
Available until June 24
Facing imminent takeover of their ancestral lands, women in the Turkana region of Kenya organize themselves to stand up against oil giant Tullow. Despite resistance from the men in their community, they continue to oppose the corporation that threatens to snatch away their sovereignty and way of life.
| | Runtime: | 13 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Turkana | | English | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Anjali Nayar | | Producer(s): | Andreas Mendritzki | | Editor(s): | Andres Landau | | Cinematography: | Guillaume Beaudoin | | Composer: | Jim Chuchu | | Sound: | Andreas Mendritzki |
Once the Dust Has Settled
Available until June 24
A Canadian town called Asbestos was once home to the largest mine of its kind in the world. Years after the mine’s closure, Asbestos residents reflect on their changing city, built around the open pit that acts as a constant reminder of a not-so-distant industrial past.
| | Runtime: | 15 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | Canada | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | French | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | hervedemers.com/une-fois-la-poussiere-retombee | | | Director(s): | Hervé Demers | | Producer(s): | Hervé Demers | | Editor(s): | Hervé Demers | | Writer(s): | Hervé Demers | | Cinematography: | Hong An Nguyen | | Sound: | Mélanie Gauthier | | David Ledoux | | Olivier Calvert | | Daniel Toussaint |
Playback
Available until June 24
In the conservative city of Córdoba, Grupo Kalas, a chosen family of transgender women and drag queens combine performance and protest onstage at club La Piaff. This unknown history from the 1980s manipulates time and space using VHS tracking and re-enactments to produce alternate endings for those who died of AIDS.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Argentina | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Spanish | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.kinorebelde.com/kino2020/playback/ | | | Director(s): | Agustina Comedi | | Producer(s): | Magalí Mérida | | Editor(s): | Valeria Racioppi | | Writer(s): | Agustina Comedi | | Cinematography: | Magalí Mérida | | Sound: | Guido Deniro |
Puberty
Available until June 24
A midwife and single mother who “drinks too often and cries too much,” according to her kids, is looking for companionship. Post-divorce, she’s lonely, with a limitless resource to love that’s not being used. Will a sexcation with a married man fill her need? Or will finding a way to love herself?
| | Runtime: | 29 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Russia | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Russian | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Elena Kondrateva | | Producer(s): | Elena Kondrateva | | Editor(s): | Lisa Kozlova | | Elena Kondrateva | | Writer(s): | Elena Kondrateva | | Cinematography: | Elena Kondrateva | | Sound: | Yurij Gedert | | Yulia Bazhenova |
Radia
Available until June 24
Radia, a Moroccan shepherd and farmer whose childhood circumstances prevented her from accessing an education, demonstrates how girls and women are prescribed their fates at a young age. Radia reflects on the idea of agency and how invention, determination and achievement exist independently of anyone's permission.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Darija | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Erica Beebe | | Producer(s): | Erica Ticknor | | Jackie Bannon | | Executive Producer(s): | Emma Davie | | Amy Hardie | | Flora Gregory | | Editor(s): | Maggie Clark | | Cinematography: | Erica Ticknor | | Composer: | Alexandra Katerinopoulou | | Sound: | Gavin Mc Cabe |
Recoding Art
Available until June 24
What do you get when a digital media researcher and a visual artist meet? A powerful amalgam of seven AI platforms, expressly married to interpret one of the world’s preeminent modern art collections—the Van Abbemuseum in the Netherlands. The results are revealing. Techno-capitalism is not an art aficionado.
| | Runtime: | 15 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Brazil | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.recodingart.com/ | | | Director(s): | Bruno Moreschi | | Gabriel Pereira | | Producer(s): | Fernanda Pessoa | | Editor(s): | Luara Oliveira | | Cinematography: | Rodrigo Levy | | Composer: | David Menezes |
Run for His Life
Available until June 24
As he prepares for the New York City Marathon, Peter Monsanto Jr. pounds the pavement of his old neighbourhood, eliciting memories of a time before his father was incarcerated on federal drug charges. As race day approaches, it’s clear that Peter’s father is with him every step of the way.
| | Runtime: | 10 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.runforhislife.com/ | | | Director(s): | Sebastian Sdaigui | | Producer(s): | Michelle Budnick | | Executive Producer(s): | CarolAnne Dolan | | Melissa Potter | | Nick Stuart | | Editor(s): | Alex Trierweiler | | Cinematography: | Frances Chen | | Composer: | Gavin Brivik | | Sound: | Raphael Ajuelos |
See You Next Time
Available until June 24
In Brooklyn, a Chinese nail artist and her Black customer engage in a dance of commerce, a conversation dripping with possibility and a transaction that, with the right investment, could glue them together. See You Next Time taps into the high-gloss potential of women connecting across the service counter and different cultures.
| | Runtime: | 6 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Mandarin | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Crystal Kayiza | | Producer(s): | Cady Lang | | Crystal Kayiza | | Editor(s): | Crystal Kayiza | | Cinematography: | Leroy Farrell | | Composer: | Baptiste Thiry | | Mozart | | Sound: | Kate Bilinski |
Sex Assistant
Available until June 24
Daniela and Andrés, a Venezuelan couple with physical disabilities, engage an artist to assist them in taking their sexual relationship beyond the boundaries of their wheelchairs. An erotic autobiography that is part advocacy and part voyeurism, Sex Assistant overcomes obstacles and prejudices by sharing a sensual, empowering and romantic scene rarely seen.
| | Runtime: | 22 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Venezuela | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Spanish | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | www.facebook.com/SexAssistFilm | | | Director(s): | Andrés González Majul | | Producer(s): | Andrés González Majul | | Daniela Berlet | | Marcel Rasquin | | Joe Torres | | Juan Antonio Díaz | | Alain Gómez Reglá | | Editor(s): | Dester Linares | | Andrés González Majul | | Writer(s): | Andrés González Majul | | Marcel Rasquin | | Daniela Berlet | | Cinematography: | Andrés González Majul | | Marcel Rasquin | | Composer: | Francisco Mejía | | Leo Aldrey | | Luis Daniel González | | Alain Gómez Reglá | | Andrés González Majul | | Sound: | Pararrayos Studios |
Speaking for the Dead
Available until June 24
There are two sides to every story. Six days after the Grenfell Tower fire, filmmaker Peiman Zekavat finds the media and residents at odds with how the unfolding events should be framed and presented to the world. This insightful film offers a number of alternative narratives to this tragic event.
| | Runtime: | 14 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | North American Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Peiman Zekavat | | Producer(s): | Colin Farley | | Editor(s): | Nick Bridge | | Cinematography: | Peiman Zekavat | | Sound: | Rob Szeliga |
Susana
Available until June 24
In the last year, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement conducted the largest raids in modern history at slaughterhouses, arresting and deporting undocumented workers. Despite the danger to herself and her family, former slaughterhouse worker Susana returns to the scene at night to care for animals on their way to the kill floor.
| | Runtime: | 5 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Laura Gamse | | Editor(s): | Laura Gamse | | Cinematography: | Laura Gamse | | Composer: | Moby | | Sound: | Michelle Mehrtens |
Tears Teacher
Available until June 24
Yoshida is a “tears teacher.” A firm believer that weekly crying promotes healthier living, he’s made it his mission to make more people weep. Running workshops all over Japan extolling the benefits of vulnerability and tear-jerking films, books and music, he makes a convincing argument for welling up as wellness.
| | Runtime: | 10 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Japan | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Japanese | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Noemie Nakai | | Executive Producer(s): | Christian Parton | | Editor(s): | Macarena De Oto | | Cinematography: | Shen Lin | | Composer: | Kyo Acerbis Kitayama | | Sound: | Jason Pinches |
That Joke Isn't Funny Anymore
Available until June 24
At first glance, Paul is always good for a laugh. He’s got a joke for every situation, or so it seems. A quirk of a catastrophic head injury, Paul’s waggishness no longer impresses his wife Lindsay. Filmmaker Hannah Currie asks where love goes once the jokes turn sour.
| | Runtime: | 13 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Hannah Currie | | Producer(s): | Beth Allan | | Editor(s): | Douglas Flockhart | | Blair Young | | Cinematography: | Hannah Currie | | Composer: | Francis Macdonald | | Sound: | William Aikman |
They're Just Fish
Available until June 24
Three women run a fish farm in the Algerian desert in this remarkable fish-out-of-water refugee story. Aquaculture magicians, the trio work a series of miracles and mirages to adapt to scorching temperatures, sandstorms and power outages. Far from the Nile, there are still tilapia, and far from Western Sahara, there are still Sahrawi.
| | Runtime: | 17 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Spain | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Arabic | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Ana Serna | | Paula Iglesias | | Producer(s): | Olatz Alonso | | Editor(s): | Paula Iglesias | | Writer(s): | Ana Serna | | Paula Iglesias | | Cinematography: | Ana Serna | | Iratxe Aranguren | | Composer: | Estudio Tidinit | | Sound: | Sidi Brahim Najem | | Paula Iglesias |
Ukweli
Available until June 24
In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the prevailing media narrative is the brutal toll of war, conflict and poverty. Three Congolese artists, driven by the desire to reclaim their history, present an alternative perspective in this collaborative documentary, which illustrates the power of art as a conduit for change.
| | Runtime: | 20 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Democratic Republic of the Congo | | USA | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | French | | Swahili | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Mike Ramsdell | | Producer(s): | Nadia Fazal | | Mike Ramsdell | | Mike Ramsdell | | Caleb Kabanda | | Executive Producer(s): | Alyssa Newman | | Editor(s): | Mike Ramsdell | | Cinematography: | Daniel Ali | | Composer: | Steve Jablonsky |
Umbilical
Available until June 24
In this powerful animation, a mother and daughter talk frankly about the emotional scars they sustained at the hands of an abusive husband and father and at boarding school. In acknowledging their painful past, they boldly reclaim their power and forge a new path forward,?finally free of societal expectations.
| | Runtime: | 7 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | China | | USA | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Cantonese | | Chinese | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Danski Tang | | Producer(s): | Danski Tang | | Composer: | Sean Hayward | | Sound: | Danski Tang |
Unforgivable
Available until June 24
A ruthless hitman for the 18th Street gang serves his sentence in an isolation cell in El Salvador. But in prison, Geovanny is not just guilty of crimes, but of an unforgivable sin under God and gang: being gay. A story of harrowing horror and homophobia, this unforgettable film stands alone as an example of extremes.
| | Runtime: | 35 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | El Salvador | | Premiere Status: | World Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Spanish | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Marlén Viñayo | | Producer(s): | Marlén Viñayo | | Carlos Martínez | | Executive Producer(s): | José Luis Sanz | | Editor(s): | Andrea Bilbao | | Writer(s): | Carlos Martínez | | Marlén Viñayo | | Cinematography: | Neil Brandvold | | Additional Cinematography: | Víctor Peña | | Patrick Tómbola | | Marlén Viñayo | | Composer: | Omnion | | Sound: | Eduardo Cáceres |
Villa Villekulla
Available until June 24
Eight far-flung siblings gather for a family reunion on the island of Falster in Denmark. There they combine the feasts and games of their Danish upbringing with the prayer and song of their Ugandan homeland, in an effort to better understand their parentage and the pain that marks their past.
| | Runtime: | 30 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Denmark | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Danish | | English | | Luganda | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Patricia Bbaale Bandak | | Producer(s): | Victor Cunha | | Editor(s): | Louis Emil Ramm Seeberg | | Cinematography: | Loui Ladegaard | | Composer: | Mia Terry | | Sound: | Mia Terry |
Welcome Strangers
Available until June 24
At 6:00 p.m. every evening, Sarah Jackson and a group of dedicated volunteers collect asylum seekers from an ICE detention centre in Aurora, Colorado. For these anxious newcomers, the invitation of a warm bed, food and clothing is a welcome sojourn on the way to their next destination.
| | Runtime: | 21 | | Copyright: | 2020 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Spanish | | Cameroonian PidgEnglish | | Accessibility: | Partial Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | Website: | welcomestrangersfilm.com | | | Director(s): | Dia Sokol Savage | | Producer(s): | Garret Savage | | Executive Producer(s): | Morgan J. Freeman | | Editor(s): | Chelsea Jackson | | Cinematography: | Matthias Grunsky | | Composer: | Mark A. Crawford | | Sound: | Michael Kranicke | | Matthew Polis |
Welcome to a Bright White Limbo
Available until June 24
Dancer and choreographer Oona Doherty takes us on a mesmerizing journey into the all-encompassing process of creating a new piece, “Hope Hunt,” which explores identity, place and gender. The raw physicality of Doherty’s work breaks through abstract concepts and manages to speak to her audience directly: body to body.
| | Runtime: | 11 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | Ireland | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Cara Holmes | | Producer(s): | Zlata Filipovic | | Editor(s): | Mick Mahon | | Writer(s): | Cara Holmes | | Cinematography: | Luca Truffarelli | | Composer: | DIE HEXEN |
When I Write It
Available until June 24
During the last days of summer before college, two Oakland teens explore what it means to be young Black artists in their rapidly gentrifying city. A special feeling of eavesdropping permeates this sun-soaked tour of neighbourhood sights and sounds, as they both realize they’re on the cusp of personal and community change.
| | Runtime: | 15 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | USA | | Premiere Status: | International Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | English | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Nico Opper | | Shannon St. Aubin | | Producer(s): | Nico Opper | | Shannon St. Aubin | | Editor(s): | Laura Green | | Writer(s): | Nico Opper | | Shannon St. Aubin | | Ajai Kasim | | Leila Mottley | | Cinematography: | Hanna Miller | | Composer: | Ajai Kasim |
A Youth
Available until June 24
An Afghan refugee on the cusp of adulthood is stuck in Athens, waiting for his life to start. Buried, but ready to sprout, the budding rapper and his friends try to make sense of the world around them through music and poetry, taking pleasure in small freedoms while dreaming their futures.
| | Runtime: | 40 | | Copyright: | 2019 | | Country Listing: | UK | | Premiere Status: | Canadian Premiere | | | Festival Year: | 2020 | | Language: | Dari | | Farsi | | Accessibility: | Full Subtitles | | Program Category: | Shorts | | | Director(s): | Giorgio Bosisio | | Producer(s): | Afolabi Kuti | | Charlotte Carroll | | Executive Producer(s): | Emma Beanland | | Editor(s): | Andrew Joseph Cross | | Giorgio Bosisio | | Cinematography: | Giorgio Bosisio | | Composer: | Giacomo Carlone | | Peyman Fael | | Sound: | Joe Cochrane |
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