Ryan McNeil
You can tell that spring is on the way when amateurs crowd into bars to pretend they’re Irish for the night. Likewise when The Toronto Maple Leafs start making their golfing arrangements. But of course, one of the surest signs of spring from a Toronto moviegoing perspective is the announcement of Hot Docs’ festival line-up. So pack away that winter coat – the announcement came forth this morning!
For those of you new to the site (and if so, welcome!), every April things around here get pretty busy as we turn our attention to eleven wonderful days of nonfiction film. Hot Docs is North America’s largest documentary film festival, and this year it will be consuming this site’s attention from April 23rd to May 3rd.
In the past, Hot Docs has given Toronto moviegoers their first glimpse at nonfiction gems like SENNA, BEING ELMO, JIRO DREAMS OF SUSHI, MARLEY and BLACKFISH.
This year the crack team dedicated bringing the most outspoken and outstanding documentaries into town have outdone themselves yet again with selections dedicated to Saturday Night Live, the adopted children of gay couples, the very nature of lying, Mavis Staples, and what it means to be Canadian.
The Matinee will be covering the festival beginning opening day which is April 23rd, and I’m happy to report that for the third year in a row, there will be a few voices having their say. For the 2015 festival, Jess Rogers of Reel Insight will be checking out several docs and posting reactions on this space. Joining her again this year is Kate Bradford from Kate Has a Blog.
In addition to words from those two talented women, look for the usual onslaught of reaction pieces from yours truly, and hopefully two or three audio dispatches in the way of podcasts.
If you’re in the Toronto area, I highly recommend joining in on the fun. The festival’s site is your home base for what’s showing and how to see it, can be found here.
If you’re outside the Toronto area, stick with The Matinee and we won’t steer you wrong.
Truth is more interesting than fiction.
I look forward to your coverage! Especially if you catch The Hunting Ground. I think that one is supposed to be there.
The Hunting Ground isn’t part of the festival, but it’s playing in a theatre around the corner from my work right now. I should be seeing it this week, so expect a few words about it sometime soon.
Hope you enjoy the festival posts we have planned!