Still don't know what to watch at Hot Docs? Here's a last-minute guide, whether you're in Toronto or not
CBC
Late to look up what's hot at Hot Docs this year? Or are you unable to attend the Ontario festival that cut out its popular at-home streaming option?
Have no fear. CBC News has compiled some of the the best documentaries at the festival that are most worth your time.
That includes some films that, as of Wednesday morning, still have tickets available — and information on when and where moviegoers outside of Toronto can see them at home or elsewhere later this year.
The festival runs April 25 to May 5.
An inimitable trans R&B performer born in Nashville found her stage, and her spiritual home, in 1960s Toronto. Then, she disappeared.
That's the plot of Michael Mabbott and Lucah Rosenberg-Lee's Any Other Way: The Jackie Shane Story, a fascinating and well-researched profile uncovering the true story of a woman forgotten and let down by an industry she helped revolutionize.
While showings initially sold out, an additional screening was added for May 4 — which, as of Wednesday morning, still has tickets available.
If you're outside Toronto: The film will also close Vancouver's DOXA film festival on May 11. It will then receive a theatrical run this spring and summer, and stream on Crave in the fall.
Canadian director Larry Weinstein has always been fascinated with classical music. His documentary Beethoven's Nine: Ode to Humanity aimed to focus on the composer's Symphony No. 9, and the people who most reflected its ode to joy and humanity.
But as international conflicts and personal tragedies intersected, it became something very different. The result is equal parts war documentary, memoir and social commentary, and is affecting the whole way through.
The documentary's three showings on April 28, April 30 and May 4 are sold out, but worth an attempted rush.
If you're outside Toronto: The film will be broadcast on TV and online through TVO, likely late summer or early fall.
Like a real-life Captain Fantastic, A New Kind of Wilderness charts a few seasons in the life of a Norwegian homesteading family. With a microscope on the lives of its subjects, the tender, detailed introspection — and unparalleled cinematography — that its director Silje Evensmo Jacobsen achieves makes it a clear standout at this year's festival.
This gorgeous, sad and compelling film still has tickets available for both its showings on May 3 and 5.
