The 21st annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival starts Thursday, April 24 and runs until May 4, 2014. This year’s slate features 197 titles from 43 countries in 12 screening programs.
So out of 197 films, what are we most excited about? Here are our five must see films for Hot Docs ’14:
Mug shot from photographer and artist Arne Svenson’s “Prisoners” collection.
1. Mugshot
Imagine someone snapping a photo of you on what’s likely the worst day of your life. Papers like The Slammer do just that. Director Dennis Mohr dives into the cultural significance of a mug shot and society’s ongoing fascination with them. Think Mayor Rob Ford and Justin Beiber. Best of all, the world premiere of Mugshot also features an accompanying art exhibition curated by Toronto’s Stephen Bulger. Mugshot the exhibition starts at the Isabel Bader then moves on to the Stephen Bulger Gallery for a month following the April 28 premiere.
Made famous by New York street photographer Ari Seth Cohen’s Advanced Style Blog, these fabulous and fashionable women complain about aches and pains but preach age is only a number. Their fantastic closets are colourful and their manic passion for fashion makes them irresistible.
Did you know the shock rocker Alice Cooper used to be an art nerd and a preacher’s son who got his stage name from a Ouija board? Super Duper Alice Cooper dives into the man behind the make up.
Image Brett MacFadyen
Kung Fu Elliot shows us sometimes people live the story they have in their minds and not the one that reality actually reflects. Elliot “White Lightning” Scott begins as an amusing story about a Canadian man who obsesses over becoming the next Chuck Norris. Then things seem to unravel, nothing is as it seems.
Five immigrant Muslim men are profiled in Amar Wala’s film, The Secret Trail 5. These men are detained in jail for years under Kafka-esque, a rarely used tool known as the Canadian government’s security certificates. The process is meant to counter any threat posed by non citizens, though all evidence is concealed from the detainees. The film chronicles the fight to obtain a fair trail for the men who have spent years in jail without ever actually being charged.
What Hot Docs film are you excited to see? Let us know in the comments below.
