Other Films at Hot Docs

Other women-directed films at the Hot Docs Film Festival include:

The Parking Lot Movie, directed by Meghan Eckman

The Oath, directed by Laura Poitras

My Perestroika, directed by Robin Hessman

Joan Rivers - A Piece of Work, directed by Ricki Stern and Annie Sundberg

Budrus, directed by Julia Bacha

A Small Act, directed by Jennifer Arnold

12th and Delaware, directed by Rachel Grady and Heidi Ewing

These Girls

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: These Girls, directed by Tahani Rached

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

A girl rides a galloping horse through the middle of heavy traffic—a striking metaphor for the chaotic lives of homeless teenage girls in Cairo. Meet Tata, Reda, Maryam, Dunya, and Abeer (whose father wants to kill her because she is pregnant). Surrounded by a circus of activity, the girls fight, laugh, brag, sniff glue and pop pills to help them deal with assaults and danger. They confront the cops, argue with guys hanging out on the streets, nurse their babies, and sleep in derelict cars and alleyways to escape being beaten, kidnapped, or raped. Fiercely protective of each other, they confide in “big sister” Hind, a middle-class religious woman who visits them to provide non-judgmental love and advice. Rached’s respect for the girls’ courage and sassiness shines throughout the film. Alternately rowdy and tender, joyous and terrifying, the dangerous carnival of these girls’ lives resonates palpably in this masterful and compassionate film. - Lynne Fernie

Interview with Tahani Rached:


Interview With Tahani Rached - These Girls via Noolmusic.com

What’s in a Name

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: What's in a Name, directed by Eva Küpper

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

What’s in a Name is a riveting portrait of 52-year-old Jon Cory, a charismatic New York City body-art performer whose raw and provocative acts—and their meticulous preparations—challenge society’s limited views on gender. Jon, a carpenter by day, lives out of his small workshop. He uses a cramped closet to store his numerous costumes and wigs, to prepare for his performances, and to sleep. Jon’s artistic dedication to challenging current gender norms is portrayed by the laborious process of transformation he undergoes for one 2-1/2 minute show. From taping his testicles to his bum to combing out his wig, the film smartly zeroes in on intimate moments of body manipulation, giving us unique insight into Jon’s world. When Jon decides to get breast implants for one of his performances, he struggles again with his identity and his place in society. - Shannon Abel

The film's Facebook page is here.

The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: The Rainbow Warriors of Waiheke Island, directed by Suzanne Raes

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Waiheke Island, New Zealand, might as well be a Greenpeace retirement village, ever since members of the pioneering crew of the famous Rainbow Warrior ship settled there. Advancing age causes the “burnt-out greenies” to wonder what their activism has achieved for the world as they look back on their adventures aboard Greenpeace’s first vessel. From her maiden voyage to her burial at sea, the Rainbow Warrior was more than just a ship; she was the symbol for an entire movement. In the memories of those who served as her crew, she was also a living thing, a protectress, and a colleague in the fight for environmental justice. Archival footage and interviews reveal telling differences between protests of the past and contemporary campaigning. Have celebrity endorsements supplanted direct action? Have chipper telemarketers replaced risk-taking demonstrators? Is Greenpeace still a movement—or a multinational? - Angie Driscoll

The film's website is here.

The Day I Will Never Forget

Showing at Hot Docs Film Festival: The Day I Will Never Forget, directed by Kim Longinotto

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

A nine-year-old stands in a pristine white dress and recites a special poem she has written for her mother. The poem is not about her first day of school or the birth of her sister. It’s about the frightening and painful day she was lured by her mother, pinned to the ground, and forcibly circumcised. In this award-winning film, Longinotto travels to Kenya to explore the practice of female genital mutilation and the pioneering women who are bravely campaigning communities to reverse the tradition. Longinotto explores the issue from different points of view: a healthcare worker who gently persuades her patients to rethink the practice, a group of girls who obtain legal action to prevent their parents from circumcising them, and an elderly woman who’s been using inappropriate instruments to ply her trade as a circumciser. Ultimately, the film is hopeful as we see young women fighting for change, education, and understanding. - Shannon Abel

A Film Unfinished

Showing at Hot Docs Film Festival: A Film Unfinished, directed by Yael Hersonski

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Yael Hersonski’s haunting visual indictment masterfully deconstructs the now-infamous unfinished Nazi propaganda film about Jewish life in the Warsaw Ghetto. Discovered years after the war, without a soundtrack, the film has become a resource for historians and documentary filmmakers studying the Holocaust. Ironically, the film is entirely a Nazi fabrication of ghetto life: well-dressed Jews smile as they walk indifferently past the dead bodies of compatriots on the street. So wherein lies the truth? Hersonski screens each of the four reels for survivors who were in the ghetto at the time, scrutinizing each skewed or horrific scene as they recall actual events. These remembrances are layered with powerful testimonials from the original SS cameraman and a guilt-ridden Jewish commander who reveal the manipulations behind each deception. While the Nazis were innovators of propaganda, A Film Unfinished cuts through the film’s contortions and never loses sight of what is true. - Karina Rotenstein

The trailer is here.

The House of Suh

Showing at the Hot Docs FIlm Festival: The House of Suh, directed by Iris K. Shim

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Robert Dubaine is ambushed in the garage of his Chicago home. His fiancée and her brother are arrested for his first-degree murder. She flees to Hawaii while the brother admits to the crime. Catherine and Andrew Suh are sentenced to 100 years in prison. The media sensationalizes their story, with a made-for-TV movie and an appearance on America’s Most Wanted. The House of Suh paints Andrew as a boy who valued loyalty to his family, which would turn out to be his greatest downfall. He’s the good son, favoured by his father, protective of his mother. When he’s adopted by his sister, he becomes a star athlete and school president. He’s in his first year of college on a full scholarship when he commits the cold-blooded murder. Catherine is the key to the mystery of Andrew’s undoing. - Dannielle Dyson.

The film's website is here.

The Absence of Mr. or Mrs. B

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: The Absence of Mr. or Mrs. B, directed by Fima Emami and Reza Daryanoush

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Under social pressure, an infertile Iranian couple undergoes multiple in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments that drain both their finances and their marital bond. Both Mr. and Mrs. B take turns threatening divorce and then reconciling in a truly confusing dance of passion and punishment. The opinions of extended family, the mores of the outside world, and bad news from the hospital apply pressure to a relationship already on life-support. Is a baby really the answer to their prayers or a harbinger marking the end of their marriage? This family drama deals with Iran’s policy requiring married couples to have children and the social consequences for those who are less than successful. In a country where IVF treatments are customary and where the second-leading cause of divorce is infertility, Mr. and Mrs. B are not alone. A vivid look at an unstable marriage made worse by cheating, violence, and emotional blackmail. - Angie Driscoll.

Sona, the Other Myself

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Sona, the Other Myself, directed by Yang Yonghi

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Yang Yonghi’s Dear Pyongyang deeply moved audiences at Hot Docs three years ago, but eventually led to the filmmaker being banned from North Korea for reasons that remain unclear. Yang returns to the Festival with Sona, The Other Myself, another tender, bittersweet story from her father’s ideological homeland. Here Yang compiles a touching portrait of her niece, Sona, from footage shot over a 15-year period prior to Yang being denied entrance to visit her North Korean brothers. Through Sona, the film offers a glimpse into the lives of the generation that migrated from Japan to North Korea and their offspring who were born and raised in North Korea. Sona’s upbringing is quite typical of a North Korean child’s, but the special situation of her immigrant family—so closely connected to and supported by her Japanese relatives—makes its presence known in subtle ways. A simple story, honestly and intuitively told. Sean Farnel.

Sisters In Law

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Sisters in Law, directed by Kim Longinotto and Florence Ayisi

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Winner of the Prix Art et Essai at Cannes, and screened to acclaim at more than 120 festivals worldwide, Sisters In Law is one of Longinotto’s best known works. Sisters features the awe-inspiring work of two visionary women determined to change their community in Kumba, Cameroon. State Prosecutor Vera Ngassa and Court President Beatrice Ntuba help women fight difficult cases of abuse, battling against the fact that there have been no convictions in spousal abuse cases for 17 years in Kumba. Six-year-old Manka is covered in scars and has run away from an abusive aunt; Amina seeks a divorce to put an end to brutal beatings by her husband; pre-teen Sonita has daringly accused her neighbour of rape. With fierce compassion, the two feisty and progressive-minded women dispense wisdom, wisecracks, and justice in fair measure, handing down stiff sentences to those convicted. - Shannon Abel.

Pride of Place

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Pride of Place, directed by Kim Longinotto and Dorothea Gadzidis

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Pride Of Place is Longinotto’s first film, made with Dorthea Gazidis while studying camera and directing at England’s National Film School. For Longinotto, it was a revenge film. As a teenager, she was forced to attend a girl’s boarding school in an isolated castle in Buckinghamshire. At 17 she ran away, only to return years later to make Pride Of Place, an indictment of her alma mater. The film is dark and expressive. Longinotto gives us a look at the school from the students’ point of view—as a miniature fascist state with absurd rules, cruel punishments, and little room for individual expression. One year after the release of the film, the boarding school was closed down. With Pride Of Place, Longinotto explores a theme she returns to repeatedly in subsequent films: the individual’s revolt against oppressive authorities and stifling traditions. - Shannon Abel

Monica & David

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Monica & David, directed by Alexandra Codina

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Monica and David are a Down syndrome couple. They’re madly in love and can’t wait to get hitched. While such marriages are statistically rare, rarer still are the extraordinary families behind them, supporting the couple’s dream. Both Monica and David’s mothers struggle against incredible odds to insulate their children from an intolerant world, with great success. But the pair’s child-like spirits now have adult desires, including an independent married life together. They are aware of their need for assistance, but know they are capable beyond traditional—and maternal—expectations. As the emotional and practical realities of marriage unfold, both they and their protective families must negotiate new terms and unexpected change. First-time filmmaker Alexandra Codina charts an extraordinary year of life and the power of love. - Myrocia Watamaniuk

Made in India

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Made in India, written and directed by Rebecca Haimowitz and Vaishali Sinha

Synopsis from the film's website:

In San Antonio, TX, Lisa and Brian Switzer sell their house and risk their savings on a Medical Tourism company that has promised them an affordable solution after 7 years of infertility. Across the world in Mumbai, India, Aasia Khan puts on a burka – not for religious reasons – but to hide her identity from neighbors as she enters a fertility clinic to be implanted with this American couple’s embryos.

These are the scenes that unfold as we watch East meet West in suburbs and shanty-towns, in test tubes and Petri dishes, in surrogates and infertile couples.

“Reproductive Tourism” has become a booming trade, valued at more than $450 million in India, and it’s growing rapidly. Infertile couples in the U.S. pay up to $100,000 for a domestic surrogacy, but they can pay for the same in India for roughly $25,000 (this includes clinic charges, lawyer’s bills, travel and lodging, and the surrogate’s fee). But this growth is occurring within a complete legal vacuum: currently, there are no actual laws on surrogacy in India – only suggested guidelines. And yet the practice continues to expand without regulation or protection.

Made in India is the first feature documentary to show the personal stories of the real people involved — following their journeys throughout the entire surrogacy process. 
Aasia is a 27-year-old mother of 3 who lives in a one-room house in a slum in Mumbai. She laughs with disbelief when she first heard of surrogacy. “A child without a man?! How can that be? There has to be some kind of a… ‘relationship,’ right?!” Aasia’s decision to become a surrogate – to do so without her husband’s consent even – debunks any simplistic characterization of her as an exploited victim.

Lisa & Brian see themselves as fighters: “In the US, if you’re struggling to have a child, you have to be a lawyer or a doctor to afford this. It’s not fair.” They believe hiring an Indian surrogate is their only chance to have a child of their own, and they are sure that they will help Aasia just as she helps them. But when facing accusations of exploitation, Lisa and Brian must defend their choices. “Walk a mile in my shoes before you judge me,” Lisa commands, staring into the camera.

As Aasia and the Switzers’ stories grow increasingly tied together, the bigger picture behind the globalization of the Reproductive Industry begins to unfold, revealing questions of citizenship, human rights, global corporate practices, choice, reproductive rights, commodification of the body, legal accountability and notions of motherhood.

Throughout the film, scenes of America and India are juxtaposed, charting out the obstacles faced by the US couple, and giving an intimate understanding of the surrogate’s life story and motivations. Made in India explores the impact of the decisions of one person on the other. This film reveals the legal and ethical implications behind their choices, and presents the conflict between the personal and the political dilemmas of international surrogacy.

Ito - Diary of an Urban Priest

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Ito – Diary of an Urban Priest, directed by Pirjo Honkasalo

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

From the director of the award-winning The 3 Rooms of Melancholia, this visually stunning piece follows the intimate journey of Yoshinobu Fujioka, a young, guitar-playing former boxer turned Buddhist priest on his fervent search for meaning among the disenchanted and troubled denizens of Tokyo. The film subtly evokes Fujioka’s quest through a series of hypnotic conversations he has with various confessors, bar patrons, and religious colleagues: a convicted killer at a women’s penitentiary, his former boxing coach, and a man who lost his faith after the death of his mother, to name a few. Fujioka is earnest and open during these encounters; his longing for personal connection is tangible. Dark and expressive, Ito is as mesmerizing as it is emotionally compelling. - Shannon Abel

In the Name of the Family

Showing at Hot Docs: In the Name of the Family, written and directed by Shelley Saywell

Synopsis from the film's website:

In the Name of the Family, the latest documentary from Toronto-based Shelley Saywell, continues her list of hard-hitting films that deal with human rights issues. Winner of an Emmy Award for Crimes of Honour and a UNESCO Gandhi Medal for Kim’s Story: The Road from Vietnam, her latest documentary is similarly incisive and unsettling. The death of 16 year old Aqsa Parvez, strangled by her father in Toronto, compelled Saywell to return to the terrain she covered in Crimes of Honour: the murder of young women by their own families. She began filming at Aqsa’s vigil, planning to focus on her story. Three weeks later, teenage sisters Amina and Sarah Said were shot to death by their father in Dallas, Texas. Five months later, 19-year-old Fauzia Mohammed of Rochester NY was stabbed 11 times by her brother. She miraculously survived.

In the Name of the Family tells their stories: examining the escalating tensions that led to their death and how the community reacted to it. In eerie parallel, we meet other girls who continue to live in anxiety and fear. From South Asian and Middle Eastern immigrant families, these girls are caught between two cultures where parent-teenage clashes can lead to a specific form of domestic abuse.

Known as honour killing, this form of violence is not sanctioned by any religion, but has been culturally entrenched in some parts of South Asia, and the Middle East. In post-911 North America, this topic has become polarizing – either silenced or sensationalized. The tragedy is, there are very few safety nets here for girls in danger.

In the Name of the Family viewers meet the girls, their families and friends, and enter a normally closed world where young women wanting to bridge two worlds are victimized by the men who claim to love them the most.

Grace, Milly, Lucy…Child Soldiers

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Grace, Milly, Lucy…Child Soldiers, written and directed by Raymonde Provencher

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

“It’s very easy to create a killing machine. Just imagine. You’re seven years old and taken away from your family…your parents are killed in front of you or you’re forced to kill somebody. Through all that you’re beaten…then you’re given a gun and you’re told, ‘This gun is your life.’” – Grace Akallo


Grace, Milly, and Lucy are three of thousands of young girls violently abducted from their villages in Uganda and forced to become soldiers as well as wives to rebel commanders. With babies strapped to their backs and guns in their hands, they are forced to maim, burn, and kill. Many girls have escaped, but they and their children are shunned and the road to self-forgiveness and community acceptance is painful. In this powerful call for justice and peace, these girl soldiers are becoming activists who raise their voices and organize to prevent other children from experiencing the same hell. - Lynne Fernie

Gaea Girls

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Gaea Girls, directed by Kim Longinotto

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Gaea Girls, Longinotto’s last film shot in Japan, takes us deep inside the gruelling and often humiliating training regime of female Japanese professional wrestlers. The lives of the trainees are Spartan; they train in a corrugated warehouse and sleep in a tiny shack. And the training is intense, with workouts that could easily rival Rocky’s "Eye of the Tiger" montage. The film focuses largely on young trainee Takeuchi as she prepares to become an official Gaea wrestler. Takeuchi is subjected to beatings and ritual humiliation by the team’s top wrestler and charismatic mentor, Nagayo. Gaea Girls is an intensely emotional and complicated experience, a testament to Longinotto’s formidable filmmaking skills. In the end, you can’t help but wonder which path would be better for Takeuchi—to succeed and enter the brutal, unforgiving world of wrestling, or to fail and be spared? - Shannon Abel

A clip:

Dish: Women, Waitressing & the Art of Service

Showing at Hot Docs: Dish: Women, Waitressing & the Art of Service, directed by Maya Gallus

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

Dish delves into Toronto’s diners, Montreal’s “sexy restos,” Paris’ haute eateries, and Tokyo’s fantasy “maid bars” in an insider’s look at gender, power, and the art of service. Former waitress and Gemini award-winning director Maya Gallus dines out and dishes the dirt with waitresses, restaurant owners, and maître d’s about the demands of the job. What’s revealed are the fantasies, desires, and prejudices projected onto women servers—including those of substitute wife, girlfriend, and personal servant. She discovers that as prices on the menu rise and serving acquires the respect and salary of a vocation, the number of women servers declines; the most sophisticated eateries employ only men to serve their well-heeled patrons. From the hustle of a busy truck stop to the discreet hush of a Parisian house of fine dining, Dish serves up a delicious and illuminating look at the lives of women in the restaurant biz. - Lynne Fernie

Anne Perry - Interiors

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: Anne Perry - Interiors, directed by Dana Linkiewicz

Synopsis from the film's website:

With more than 50 books written and sales exceeding 25 million copies worldwide, Anne Perry is one of the premier crime fiction authors of our time.

In 1994, the film Heavenly Creatures revealed a secret about Anne Perry: The celebrated author was involved in a murder at the age of 15.

Anne Perry - Interiors accompanies the writer and offers a uniquely intimate insight into the world of one of the most intriguing figures of the mystery writing genre.

The documentary tells a story about the burden of guilt–not just as part of the past but as part of present-day life.

The Devil Operation

Showing at the Hot Docs Film Festival: The Devil Operation, directed by Stephanie Boyd

Synopsis from the Hot Docs website:

A gripping David and Goliath tale of corporate espionage unfolds in this exposé of torture, intimidation, and murder of Peruvian eco-activists and indigenous farmers. Shocking video footage, horrifying photos, and meticulous reports compiled by private security firms working for U.S. and British-owned gold mines are co-opted by the filmmakers to reveal the truth in this real-life political thriller. The charismatic Father Marco Arana, named a Hero of the Environment in 2009 by TIME Magazine, has been so effective in advocating against the US-owned Yanacocha mine that he’s code-named “the Devil” and targeted in a campaign of harassment and terror. When one colleague is threatened with rape and another is killed, the activists fight back, capture a spy, and uncover a military-scale operation of surveillance and violence that shocks even them. When billions of dollars are at stake, just how far are corporations willing to go to protect their bottom line? - Gisèle Gordon