Hot Docs: Outstanding Storytelling from Around the World: April 26 - May 6

Screenshot: Festival Highlights: April 26 - May 6, 2018, Toronto

Hot Docs, Canadian International Documentary Festival

Credit: hotdocs.ca

Hot Docs Film Festival
April 26 - May 6, 2018

Please mark your calendars and get ready for the best showcase of documentary films in Toronto this year: April 26 - May 6, 2018. Hot Docs, Canadian International Documentary Festival and North America's largest documentary festival, conference, and market, celebrating its 25th annual edition and presenting over 247 documentaries from Canada and around the world, which will be screened at 13 venues around the city.

Braguino
Director: Clément Cogitore
France, Finland

Program: The Changing Face of Europe
Toronto Premiere

In this eerie, hazy fairy tale, two self-reliant families, isolated in the Siberian boreal forest, are locked in a perpetual feud that distracts them from the real threat looming: rapacious foreigners bent on profiting from the unspoiled landscape. Film recommended by EFP member UniFrance.

Fri, Apr 27 3:30 pm (with Q&A), TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Sat, Apr 28 10:00 am (with Q&A), TIFF Bell Lightbox 3

The Strange Sound of Happiness
Director: Diego Pascal Panarello
Italy, Germany

Program: The Changing Face of Europe
North American Premiere
A dumped, jobless musician returns home to Sicily looking for purpose. After a melodic vision of the mouth harp—one of the world’s oldest instruments—he scours the Siberian wilderness to study under its master in this funny, fantastical midlife crisis. Film recommended by EFP member Istituto Luce Cinecittà.

Mon, Apr 30 5:30 PM, Scotiabank Theatre 7
Wed, May 2 3:00 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4

The Distant Barking of Dogs
Director: Simon Lereng Wilmont
Denmark, Finland, Sweden

Program: The Changing Face of Europe
Canadian Premiere

Tue, May 1 3:15 PM, Hart House Theatre
Thu, May 3 9:30 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3

The Russian Job
Director: Petr Horký
Czech Republic
Program: The Changing Face of Europe
North American Premiere

When an ambitious Swedish manager is dispatched to revive a failing car manufacturing plant, he steps into an absurdist microcosm of modern Russia. His earnest but strict managerial style soon clashes with sleepy Soviet standards in this witty workplace satire. Film recommended by EFP member Czech Film Center.

Mon, Apr 30 8:45 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Wed, May 2 2:45 PM, Innis Town Hall

Dreaming Murakami
Director: Nitesh Anjaan
Denmark
Program: Artscapes
North American Premiere

Enchanted by Haruki Murakami's spellbinding novels, a devoted Danish translator has spent decades pursuing the perfect words to transcribe the renowned Japanese writer's enigmatic universe, in this dreamy love letter to the art of translation.

Fri, Apr 27 9:15 PM, Scotiabank Theatre 4
Sun, Apr 29 10:00 AM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2
Fri, May 4 4:15 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 2

Rezo
Director:  Leo Gabriadze
Russia
Program: Artscapes
North American Premiere

The surreal inner world of Georgian artist and puppeteer Rezo Gabriadze magically comes to life in this delicate and profound animated film, where post-WWII politics and totalitarianism are the backdrop of a humorous, heartfelt autobiographical tale.

Thu, Apr 26 9:00 PM TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Fri, Apr 27 3:45 PM Scotiabank Theatre 7
Sun, May 6 4:30 PM Innis Town Hall

King Lear
Director: Denis Klebleev
Russia
Program: Artscapes
International Premiere

Playing the iconic Shakespearean monarch is an enduring obsession for a retired Russian actor—but his longing takes on a darkly comic life of its own after his own drama-filled story brings him closer to the character than he ever imagined.

Thu, Apr 26 9:00 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Fri, Apr 27 3:45 PM, Scotiabank Theatre 7
Sun, May 6 4:30 PM, Innis Town Hall

Kolyma - Road of Bones
Director: Stanislaw Mucha
Russia, Germany
Program: World Showcase
North American Premiere

Black comedy meets dark history along a 2,000-km Siberian road literally built on the bones of Stalin's prisoners. Survivors live alongside those who've never heard the word "Gulag" in this sweeping trip into a not-so-distant past.

Wed, May 2 6:30 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Thu, May 3 2:45 PM, Innis Town Hall
Sat, May 5 8:30 PM, Innis Town Hall

Victory Day
Director: Sergei Loznitsa
Germany
Program: World Showcase
Canadian Premiere

Acclaimed director Sergei Loznitsa's acute eye dissects the strange choreography of one of Germany's most culturally fascinating events: the annual commemoration of the Soviet Union's victory over Nazism, celebrated for the last 72 years in Berlin.

Fri, Apr 27 2:45 PM, TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Sat, Apr 28 3:15 PM, Scotiabank Theatre 7
Sat, May 5 8:15 PM, Scotiabank Theatre 3

For more information, please check hotdocs.ca.