We'll be posting our reviews as we go. But first, since we've spent spent far too much of our time over the last little while getting ourselves all worked up about how awesome this is going to be — delving into the schedule, watching trailers, reading blurbs — we figured we'd share our top ten picks for the must-see flicks at this year's fest. You'll find them below — from musicians, to gay rights, to James Franco, to penises and sex dolls — with trailers and blurbs off the Hot Docs website. And you can also head on over here for the full schedule and ticket information and all that kind of stuff..
Thurs, May 3 3:30 PM Isabel Bader Theatre
Sat, May 5 8:15 PM Bloor Cinema
"Oscar winner Kevin MacDonald (Last King of Scotland, One Day in September)
delivers the long awaited, authorized biography of reggae legend Bob
Marley. MacDonald offers an expansive yet intimate history of the larger
than life artist. The icon is remembered on a most personal level
through affectionate first-hand accounts from his family and inner
circle. He was a father, a lover, a rabid football fan and a
revolutionary, but most importantly, he was a passionate and dedicated
musician. MacDonald fully immerses us in the singer’s history through
beautiful scenes shot on location in Nine Mile and Trenchtown, rare
archival interviews and enough concert footage to satisfy even the most
devoted fans. Marley is a film that understands why Bob Marley’s influence still resonates with such strength today. - Lynne Crocker". More information here.
Fri, Apr 27 3:30 PM Bloor Cinema
Sat, Apr. 28 9:00 PM The ROM Theatre
Sat May 5 3:15 PM Bloor Cinema
"The Invisible War, the latest groundbreaking investigative
documentary by award-winning director Kirby Dick, is about one of
America’s most shameful and best kept secrets: the epidemic of rape
within the US military. Today, a female soldier in Iraq and Afghanistan
is more likely to be raped by a fellow soldier than killed by enemy
fire. The number of assaults in the last decade alone reached the
hundreds of thousands. Focusing on the powerfully emotional stories of
several young women, the film reveals the systemic coverup of the crimes
committed against them and follows their struggles to rebuild their
lives and fight for justice. The Invisible War features
hard-hitting interviews with high-ranking military officials and members
of Congress that reveal the perfect storm of conditions that exist for
rape in the military, its history of coverup and what can be done to
bring about much needed change." More information here.
Wed, May 2 9:30 PM Cumberland
Fri, May 4 3:00 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sun, May 6 1:15 PM The Revue
"Electrifying, never-before-seen archival footage pushes us into the
frontlines of early AIDS activism, one of the most empowering grassroots
movements in recent history. Two days after Larry Kramer’s 1987
passionate speech that warned the audience that, unless they fought for
change, half of them would die of AIDS within six months, a diverse
group of 300 men and women galvanized to form the radical, messy and
extremely effective umbrella of ACT UP and its affinity groups.
Motivated to the extreme, many had never protested before, but they
quickly mastered the art of headline-grabbing media actions that forced
attention from an apathetic government, made AIDS a national issue and
fought for fair access to treatment. United in Anger captures
the power, sexiness and irreverent energy of a movement that redrew the
map of AIDS politics, shook up the world and saved the lives of
millions. - Gisèle Gordon". More information here.
Wed, May 2 9:45 PM Isabel Bader Theatre
Thurs, May 3 7:00 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sat, May 5 9:00 PM Isabel Bader Theatre
"Uganda, a country where over 40 per cent of its citizens are Roman
Catholic, has become ground zero in an American evangelical war on the
“homosexual agenda.” Enter David Kato, a veteran activist who’s been
working tirelessly to repeal his country’s homophobic laws and liberate
his fellow gay and transgendered citizens—called “kuchus”—from
persecution. Kato’s mission is intensified when a new anti-homosexuality
bill proposing death for HIV-positive gay men is introduced. Meanwhile,
the country’s newspapers are outing kuchus under headlines such as
“HOMO TERROR! We Name and Shame Top Gays in the City.” Kato is one of
the few to publicly denounce these actions, insisting “if we keep on
hiding, they will say we are not here.” Call Me Kuchu documents
the courageous efforts of Kato and his team to overcome seemingly
insurmountable obstacles. The result is both a hard-won victory and a
devastating loss for the international gay community. - Shannon Abel". More information here.
_3.135x135.jpg)
Tues, May 1 11:30 PM Bloor Cinema
Wed, May 2 10:00 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox
Sat, May 5 9:45 PM The Royal
"A baby’s been stolen and Franco, the homicidal performance artist, is
the prime suspect. Actor James Franco’s behind-the-scenes take on his
guest stint on daytime soap opera General Hospital starts out
as an observational document of the production—rehearsal, take, break,
repeat—but quickly evolves into a wild stream-of-consciousness whodunit.
Franco the actor and Franco the character bleed into one another until
there is no discernable difference. Will the real Franco please stand
up? What you see is definitely not what you get in this film that could
be either documentary or fiction—or both. A collaborative experiment by
directors Franco and Ian Olds, this weird and wonderful psychological
thriller riffs on spectacle, suspicion and the interpretation of image.
Behold, the actor as madman caught in the throes of a mind-bending
Method meltdown. - Angie Driscoll". More information here.
Sun, Apr. 29 11:30 PM Bloor Cinema
Mon, Apr. 30 9:00 PM Cumberland
Sun, May 6 9:00 PM Bloor Cinema
"In a world in which living women are increasingly surgically modified
and artificial love dolls become more realistic every year, the age-old
fantasy of creating a “perfect” woman drives a thriving industry. The
best erotic dolls are manufactured with the same high-tech materials
used for corpses in Hollywood film productions. The crème de la crème is
the RealDoll, completely customizable for $6,000. To the men who own
them, they are more than articulated skeletons and seamless silicone
bodies. From the sweet technosexual who unabashedly loves his RealDoll,
taking her out on dates and keeping her photo in his wallet, to the
widower who bought a “divorcée” on eBay so as not to burden a real woman
with his failing health, filmmaker and media scholar Allison de Fren
takes a provocative, incisive world tour of the history, culture and
future of fabricated female companions, silicone sex dolls and humanoid
robots. - Gisèle Gordon". More information here.
Fri, May 4 7:00 PM Innis Town Hall
"Cinéma vérité reaches a new level of reality in this film-within-a-film
as director William Greaves dares to break the accepted rules of cinema.
It is 1968 and Greaves and his crew are in New York’s Central Park
ostensibly filming a screen test. The drama involves a bitter break up
between a married couple, but this is just the cover story. The real
story is happening off camera as the enigmatic director pursues his
hidden agenda. The growing conflict and chaos—accompanied by moments of
uproarious humour—explode on screen, producing the energy and insights
the director is searching for. The director uses multiple cameras, mixes
cinéma vérité and conventional shooting styles, and experiments with a
variety of other cinematic techniques. The result is a film with
multiple levels of reality that reveals and comments upon the creative
process." More information here.
Tues, May 1 9:30 PM Isabel Bader Theatre
Thurs May 3 9:30 PM The ROM Theatre
Fri, May 4 11:00 AM Isabel Bader Theatre
"Who do we trust to influence what goes into our school textbooks? In
Texas, it’s Don McLeroy, an unabashed creationist who chairs the Texas
Board of Education. Up for re-election, he has a fervent mission to put
his version of history and science into every textbook in America. As a
leader in the textbook market, the Texas Board of Education has powerful
sway. Once every decade, the highly politicized board rewrites the
teaching and textbook standards for its nearly five million
schoolchildren. As McLeroy’s campaign begins and the 15-member board
goes head to head, historical and scientific fact blur with opinion, and
the confidence one might have had in the board to make educated
contributions plummets to an almost amusing yet certainly terrifying
low. Revisionaries is a must-see documentary that takes you to
the frontlines of a battle between the theory of evolution and
creationism in a rewriting of US history. - Heather Haynes". More information here.
Wed, May 2 6:45 PM Cumberland
Thurs, May 3 4:00 PM The ROM Theatre
Sat, May 5 4:15 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox
"Winner of the World Cinema Documentary Grand Jury Prize at Sundance, The Law in These Parts
is an opportunity to hear from the legal minds who worked in the
Occupied Territories in the Gaza Strip creating a framework that has had
a profound impact around the world. Since 1967 the Israeli military has
devised numerous laws, established courts, sentenced hundreds of
thousands of Palestinians and enabled half a million Israeli settlers to
move to the Occupied Territories. In constructed testimonial
interviews, the men who architected the system that defined the
boundaries and laws reveal their feelings about their decisions. An
important insight into just how much of a political and social impact a
legal system can have. - Charlotte Cook". Screening in 3D. More information here.
Tues, May 1 9:45 PM The Royal
Thurs, May 3 9:00 PM Cumberland
Sun, May 6 7:00 PM The Revue
“Sigurdur Hjartarson has devoted four decades to curating the Icelandic
Phallogical Museum. As its founder, he’s collected a penile specimen
from every mammalian species except one—a human. With over 3 billion on
earth there’s no shortage, but Hjartarson guides us on an incredible and
comical journey to procure that elusive penis. As eccentric as
Hjartarson’s character appears, the potential donors really raise the
stakes. At 95, Icelander Páll Arason can think of no better way to
enshrine his Casanova lifestyle than contributing his well-worn love
gun. His stiff competition comes from Tom, a patriotic American who
feels strongly that the stars and stripes should shine with his penis
named Elmo. He’d even donate it while alive to ensure it’s the first.
Avoiding cheap jokes and double entendres, The Final Member says much about the male psyche while attempting to answer the age old question, Does size really matter? - Alex Rogalski". More information here.
0 comments:
Post a Comment