Hot Docs has announced the 15 features comprising this year’s Special Presentations program. Seven of the titles are directed by women, or 47 percent of the slate, which is described as “a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the recent international festival circuit, and works by master filmmakers or featuring star subjects.”
The fest will host the world premiere of Phyllis Ellis’ “Toxic Beauty,” an investigation into the cosmetics industry’s ties to cancer and diabetes, among other health concerns.
Other titles screening in the Special Presentations slate include Sundance winners “Knock Down the House” and “Always in Season.” Directed by Rachel Lears, “Knock Down the House” follows four working-class, progressive women running for Congress. Rising political star Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez features prominently in the doc. Jacqueline Olive’s “Always in Season” is an exploration of lynching and a mother’s fight for justice after her teenage son is found hanging from a swing set in rural North Carolina.
Overall, Hot Docs’ 2018 lineup was 50 percent women-directed. The full schedule for its 2019 edition will be announced March 19. Hot Docs will run from April 25-May 5 in Toronto.
Check out all of the women-directed films screening in the Special Presentations program below.
ADVOCATE
D: Rachel Leah Jones, Philippe Bellaiche | P: Joëlle Bertossa, Paul Cadieux | Canada, Israel, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Finland | 2019 | 105 min | Canadian Premiere
As one of the few Israeli human-rights lawyers willing to defend Palestinians, Lea Tsemel has been defying hostility and vitriol from the public and press for nearly 50 years to fight for clients in a stacked system.
ALWAYS IN SEASON
D: Jacqueline Olive | P: Jacqueline Olive, Jessica Devaney | USA | 2019 | 88 min | International Premiere
The unresolved case of a Black teen found hanging from a swing set in North Carolina in 2014 is the lens through which this searing doc examines the lingering trauma of more than a century of lynching and continued racial violence.
BUDDY
D: Heddy Honigmann | P: John Appel | Netherlands | 2018 | 86 min | Canadian Premiere
Master documentarian Heddy Honigmann turns her eye for authenticity and genuine interview to the complex relationships between service dogs and their owners. Witness canine humanity and life-altering trust at work in this observational marvel.
THE EDGE OF DEMOCRACY
D: Petra Costa | P: Joanna Natasegara | Brazil | 2019 | 112 min | Canadian Premiere
Featuring unprecedented access to former Brazilian presidents Dilma Rousseff and Lula da Silva, the personal and political brilliantly combine in this unflinching exploration of one of the most dramatic and polarizing periods in Brazilian history.
KNOCK DOWN THE HOUSE
D: Rachel Lears | P: Rachel Lears, Robin Blotnick, Sarah Olson | USA | 2019 | 85 min | International Premiere
This rollercoaster ride follows four progressive women—including Bronx bartender Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez—behind the scenes and in the streets as they grind through long-shot grassroots campaigns for Congress during the 2018 US midterms.
NOTHING FANCY: DIANA KENNEDY
D: Elizabeth Carroll | P: Elizabeth Carroll, Dan Braun, Gina Abatemarco | USA | 2019 | 82 min | International Premiere
Dubbed “the Mick Jagger of Mexican cooking,” a 96-year-old firebrand chef who’s spent her career celebrating the country’s regional cuisines rushes to solidify her hard-earned legacy in the face of her own mortality.
TOXIC BEAUTY
D: Phyllis Ellis | P: Peter Raymont, Barri Cohen | Canada | 2019 | 90 min | World Premiere
Cancer, diabetes, developmental delays and more—the cosmetics industry’s ugly secrets are exposed through exclusive interviews with scientists, whistleblowers and consumer survivors who raise pressing questions about risks, regulations and the true cost of beauty.
