North America’s largest documentary festival has announced its 2018 slate, and this year’s edition of Hot Docs marks a major milestone. Eighty-six of 171 features screening are directed or co-directed by women, amounting to 50 percent of the program. Hailing from 56 countries, the titles set to screen were chosen from over 3,000 submissions.
The Toronto-based fest will kick off with the world premiere of Maya Gallus’ “The Heat: A Kitchen (R)evolution,” an all-access look into the kitchens of the world’s top female chefs. Other Special Presentations include “The Fourth Estate,” Liz Garbus’ foray into the inner workings of The New York Times, Tribeca Film Fest opener “Love, Gilda,” Lisa D’Apolito’s portrait of late “SNL” star Gilda Radner, and Dana Nachman’s “Pick of the Litter,” a look into how service dogs are trained.
Among the women-helmed titles playing in other sections are Alba Sotorra’s “Commander Arian — A Story of Women, War and Freedom,” centering on a 30-year-old commander and her female battalion’s efforts to retake an ISIS-controlled city (International Spectrums), Paula Eiselt’s “93Queen,” the story of a Hasidic lawyer who launches the first all-female ambulance corps in her Orthodox Brooklyn community (World Showcase), and Yuqi Kang’s “A Little Wisdom,” about a five-year-old boy living in an isolated Buddhist monastery in Nepal (Canadian Spectrum).
The 25th iteration of the fest features a timely Silence Breakers program dedicated to “women speaking up and being heard,” according to a press release announcing this year’s lineup. The slate includes “‘Afghan Cycles,’ which tells the story of Afghan women breaking the country’s gender barriers by training on the Women’s National Cycling Team; ‘Netizens,’ which profiles women who are fighting back against online harassment; ‘Slut or Nut, the Diary of a Rape Trial,’ a horrifying story of a sexual assault survivor who resorts to bold activism to challenge rape culture in Canada; ‘Nothing Without Us: The Women Who Will End Aids,’ a film that follows brave women fighting the HIV/AIDS pandemic which disproportionately affects women; ‘Yours in Sisterhood,’ a revealing look at the progress of feminism through the hundreds of strangers who read and react to 40-year-old letters written to the editors of Ms. Magazine; and ‘Time For Ilhan,’ about a Muslim Somali-American seeking election to the Minnesota House of Representatives.”
“Netizens” is part of the Big Ideas series. The doc’s screening will be followed by a discussion with its director, Cynthia Lowen, Feminist Frequency co-founder Anita Sarkeesian, and victims’ rights attorney Carrie Goldberg.
“Formidable filmmakers, in unrelenting pursuit of the truth are a hallmark of this year’s Hot Docs Festival programming, and Toronto audiences have the chance to explore stories from around the world, and engage with the people who tell them,” said Shane Smith, director of programming for Hot Docs. “As we celebrate 25 years of Hot Docs, it’s exciting to see that documentary storytelling is as outstanding and outspoken as ever, a vital cultural force in connecting us to our world and to each other.”
As previously announced, “This Is Everything: Gigi Gorgeous” director Barbara Kopple will be honored with the Outstanding Achievement Award at this year’s fest.
Hot Docs runs from April 26 to May 6.
