The Cinema Appreciation Society of Toronto has announced their awards for the 2016 edition of the Hot Docs Film Festival. Fourteen individuals contributed their picks for the top documentaries of the festival, with David Farrier and Dylan Reeve‘s stranger than fiction investigation story Tickled coming out on top. The other top films include Jay Cheel’s How to…
Another edition of Hot Docs has come to an end. This was a record-breaking year for the festival, with the estimated audience reaching 211,000. As always, this was an incredibly busy festival for me and I am happy to putting my coverage to rest until next year. Without further ado, here is my full wrap-up…
Filmmaker Joe Berlinger documents one of Tony Robbins’ six day self-improvement seminars in Tony Robbins: I Am Not Your Guru. Tony Robbins is one of the world’s top motivation speakers, with him having provided self-improvement advise in books and seminars for over three decades. For the first time ever, cameras are allowed inside Robbins’ annual…
Actor David Gulpilil talks about the treatment of Australia’s indigenous population in Another Country. Ramingining is an isolated indigenous community 500 kilometres east of Darwin, Australia. The area was once the centre of Yolngu culture, where the people lived a self-sufficient lifestyle in the bush. However, the Australian government came in and built the community, forcing the Yolngu to…
The worst cheerleading team in Finland is inspired to improve themselves in Cheer Up. The Arctic Circle Spirit Ice Queens are a Finnish cheerleading squad, who almost always place last in their competitions. Desperate for improvement, coach Miia travels to Dallas to receive tips from the world champions. However, it turns out the cheerleaders on…
A tailoring company specializes in suits for gender-nonconforming and transgender clients in Suited. Bindle & Keep is a tailoring company in Brooklyn run by Daniel Friedman and Rae Tutera, which specializes in making suits for transgender or gender non-conforming clients, who might not be comfortable with getting suits from a conventional tailor. The story of a number of these…
Climate change is just one part of a complex web of consequences in The Age of Consequences. Climate change has an impact on every aspect of life, including some ways that we do not expect. Award-winning filmmaker Jared P. Scott breaks down how climate change has contributed to an increase of conflict, poverty, and migration, which…
Metaphor is used to break down humanity’s impact on the planet in Spaceship Earth. There is a quote by Marshall McLuhan stating that there are no passengers on the metaphorical Spaceship Earth, only crew. The many parts of this concept of Earth as a spaceship are broken down to describe the effect humanity has one the…
Graphic designer Stefan Sagmeister explores his own happiness in The Happy Film. For his latest graphic design project, Stefan Sagmeister has decided to find out what is the best path towards happiness. Sagmeister sets off to try meditation, therapy, and meditation for three months each and record the results of each trial. There is a title…
An improv troupe puts an an annual comedy event in honour of their mentor in Thank You Del: The Story of the Del Close Marathon. When he died in 1999, Del Close was a mostly unknown figure in comedy, even though he influenced and mentored multiple comedy superstars, such as Bill Murray, Amy Poehler, Robin Williams, Tina…
