Hot Docs 2025 - Dude I Watched That's Staff Picks
2024 was an incredibly challenging year for arts organizations across Canada, with Hot Docs being one of them.
Funding and interest for events like this one, which happens to be the largest documentary festival and market of its
kind in North America, is hard to come by. Through this adversary, the programmers at this integral event to
Toronto’s film community have put together a brilliant lineup. The collection is full of many stimulating, entertaining
and thought provoking films year after year, and 2025 is no different. Dude I Watched That is thrilled to be on the
ground at this year’s festival, and below are some of the films our team recommends you keep an eye on over the
next two weeks.
Holloway
- Daniel Azbel
Climate in Therapy
With the climate crisis appearing more drastic by the day, Nathan Grossman’s second feature-length documentary
asks the question: “How do the individuals who are continuously studying these often-terrifying results feel,
emotionally?” Repeatedly staring a grim fate directly in the eyes is an incredibly heavy responsibility, which is why
Grossman invites seven climatologists from various professional backgrounds, and a therapist who has considerable
experience working with victims of trauma, to work through these feelings— as well as further educate its audience
about the emotional and mental stakes related to this line of work. The film will screen alongside Fiona Otway’s Into The Dark, a short documentary which is a meditation on existentialism, featuring beautiful timelapses of fireflies and quiet roads at the brink of dawn. Grossman’s feature-length debut, I Am Greta, had its North American premiere at the 45th annual Toronto International Film Festival. The film remained on the festival circuit for the following year.
- Ben Scanga
Screening Times
- Saturday, April 26th, 4:45pm, TIFF Lightbox
- Monday, April 28th, 12pm, TIFF Lightbox
Deaf President Now!
One of the most lauded titles at this year’s Sundance Film Festival, documentary OR narrative, was this film. It
marks the return of Davis Guggenheim, one of America’s leading studio documentary filmmakers, Guggenheim has
collaborated with long-time deaf activist Nyle DiMarco to retell the story of the Deaf President Now protests, one
of the most significant pieces of history within the Disability Rights Movement. Those well-informed of the story as
well as those with no prior knowledge should be captivated by this portrayal of the event, especially with the
contribution of one of America’s greatest living documentarians - of notoriety for his past works It Might Get Loud,
He Named Me Malala and And Inconvenient Truth.
- Daniel Azbel
I Dreamed His Name
Has a long-lost relative ever appeared in a dream, asking you to find them? These are the circumstances that cause
debut director Angela Carabali and her sister to embark upon a journey across Colombia in an attempt to fulfill the
request of her father, who appears in a dream of Angela’s and asks him to find her. Three decades before this dream,
Angela’s father was a victim of forced disappearance, and has not been seen since. Throughout the duration of the
trip, we are treated to family photographs, books, and archived conversations that provide greater context for the story
of Carabali’s family– as the two sisters learn more about themselves and their father along the way. Fans of Jonas
Mekas are likely to enjoy the use of archival footage and recordings within a documentary template.
- Ben Scanga
The Flamenco Guitar of Yerai Cortés
Spanish hip-hop artist C. Tangana, who is no stranger to high-production value music videos and sporadic roles in the
odd indie movie (2022’s One Year, One Night immediately comes to mind), jumps in the director’s chair for his
feature debut— a documentary about Flamenco guitarist Yerai Cortés, as he embarks on a personal journey of
discovery in an attempt to heal old wounds and unravel the truth of his families history. The film will be characterized
by the two talented musicians' chance encounter, which spawned a massive creative project, as well as a personal
friendship. It’s a film about the ones we love, the ones we come from, and how we proceed into the future with the
knowledge we have. This most likely goes without saying, but beautiful music is bound to be present.
- Ben Scanga
Screening Times
- Saturday, April 26th, 5:30pm, TIFF Lightbox
- Monday, April 28th, 1:45pm, TIFF Lightbox
Endless Cookie
.jpeg)
This film by local filmmakers and brothers Peter and Seth Scriver takes an innovative approach to tell their own life
story. In a Drunk History esque fashion, audio clips of conversations between them about their lives, led by Peter’s
engaging storytelling, are bundled with very colorful and psychedelic animated reenactments, hand drawn by Seth.
This familial collaboration intrigues me not only for its willingness to break the rules of the medium, but for an
emotionally resonant, Canadian story told by these brothers who lived it.
- Daniel Azbel
Queer as Punk
Just like the genre of music Yihwen Chen’s debut feature seeks to observe and investigate, Queer as Punk boasts
an energetic and exciting atmosphere; a fast-paced and irresisitbly charming ode to music and the positive
changes that can be created when a determined community orchestrates it. Chen’s documentary will specifically follow a
Malaysian punk band – fronted by a trans man named Paris – as they play shows, demonstrate activism at protests,
and contemplate their relationships with each other and the music they create (most specifically, how the power of the
music/philosophies of the scene inspire people to be more aware of their contemporary social/political climate). For
fans of anything punk or rock and roll adjacent, movies and music alike, this is a must-see feature.
- Ben Scanga
The 2025 Hot Docs International Documentary Festival runs from Thursday, April 24th to May 4th. Tickets can be
bought for public screenings. which will be held at the Bloor Hot Docs Cinema and the TIFF Lightbox, at
hotdocs.ca. Stay tuned to Dude I Watched That’s socials & website for coverage throughout and following the event.
Comments
Post a Comment