The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is set to open with Ann Shin’s Artificial Immortality, a film about AI, robotics and biotech.
North America’s largest documentary festival, set for a virtual run from April 29 to May 9, will stream 219 films from 66 countries. There’s world premieres for Yung Chang’s Wuhan Wuhan, about life in the Chinese city during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic; Sol Guy’s The Death of My Two Fathers; Willemiek Kluijfhout’s The Taste of Desire, a film about oysters; Daniel Sivan’s doc about competitive bridge playing, Dirty Tricks; and John Daschbach’s Come Back Anytime.
There’s also international premieres for René Sascha Johannsen’s 7 Years of Lukas Graham; Glenn Kaino and Afshin Shahidi’s With Drawn Arms for Starz, about gold medal winner Tommie Smith’s black-gloved protest at the 1968 Summer Olympics; Who We Are: A Chronicle of Racism in America, a portrait of ACLU lawyer Jeff Robinson by directors Emily Kunstler and Sarah Kunstler; and Andrea Nevins’ Hysterical, a backstage look at popular female comics.
Elsewhere, the competive international spectrum program booked world premieres for Any Given Day, Magaluf Ghost Town, The Silence of the Mole, and Four Seasons in One Day. And there’s debuts for four National Film Board of Canada pics: Kimmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of Empathy, by director Elle-Máijá Tailfeathers; Sean Horlor and Steve J. Adams’ Someone Like Me; Sheona McDonald’s Into Light and Mary Two-Axe Earley: I Am Indian Again by director Courtney Montour.
