Hot Docs Wraps with Awards
by Staff
(May 6, 2018 – Toronto, ON) The 25th annual Hot Docs Festival began to wind down yesterday with the Hot Docs Awards Presentation, which was hosted by Garvia Bailey from Toronto radio station Jazz-FM91. In all 13 awards and $85,000 in cash and prizes were presented to Canadian and international filmmakers, including awards for Festival films in competition and those recognizing emerging and established filmmakers.
Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award
A Little Wisdom (D: Yuqi Kang; P: Yuqi Kang, Maro Chermayeff; Canada)
Sponsored by the Documentary Organization of Canada and Telefilm Canada, the award includes a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “Best Canadian Feature goes to Yuqi Kang’s A Little Wisdom for her outstandingly crafted experience of young orphan monk, Hopakuli. This absorbing cinematic film captures the distinct and moving inner rhythms of a Tibetan monastery, welcoming us into a world that we never thought a mischievous child could reveal.”
In A Little Wisdom, Yugi Kang looks at the lives of orphaned young monks living in an isolated Tibetan Buddhist monastery in Lumbini, Nepal, the birthplace of the Buddha. In particular she trains her camera on a young novice monk named Hopakuli, and through him the film looks for transcendent insights on the relationships between brothers, between friends, between teachers and student, and perhaps most importantly, between the rough and tumble lives of adolescent boys and the austere religious environment they call home.
DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary
What Walaa Wants (D: Christy Garland; P: Anne Köhncke, Matt Code, Christy Garland, Justine Pimlott; Canada, Denmark)
Sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada and DGC Ontario, the award includes a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “We award the DGC Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary to What Walaa Wants for displaying an extraordinary bond between filmmaker and subject which then carries over to the audience. Christy Garland creates an exceptional emotional arc by focusing on Walaa’s growth and transformation.”
Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award
Michael Del Monte for Transformer (Canada)
Given to a first or second-time Canadian filmmaker with a feature film in the Canadian Spectrum program, the award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “The Jury awards Michael Del Monte with the Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award for Transformer, a film that formally and emotionally rises to the multidimensional nature of its subject, Janae Marie Kroczaleski, with great clarity of mind and with inner and outer beauty.”
Best International Feature Documentary Award
We Could Be Heroes (D: Hind Bensari; P: Bullitt Film/Vibeke Vogel and Cinetelefilms/Habib Attia; Denmark, Tunisia, Morocco, Qatar)
Supported by Panicaro Foundation, the award includes a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Panicaro Foundation.
Jury statement: “We award We Could Be Heroes with the Best International Feature Documentary Award for how it uses an intimate friendship to turn the sports film inside out, countering assumptions about masculinity, faith, and disability with warmth and affection.”
TIE! Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary
Sponsored by A&E, the award includes a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs, which will be split between the two winners.
Whispering Truth to Power (D: Shameela Seedat; P: Francois Verster, Shameela Seedat, Neil Brandt, Brechtje Smidt, Millan Collin; South Africa)
Jury statement: “For its timely portrait of a bad-ass public servant who uses her office for good at a pivotal moment in South African politics, we co-award the Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary to Whispering Truth to Power.”
Wind of Swabia (D: Corrado Punzi; P: Davide Barletti; Italy)
Jury statement: “With its epic sweep and personal details, this subtle exposé of environmental degradation wins viewers over with the unexpected power of elegant compositions and biting wit.”
Emerging International Filmmaker Award
Elan Bogarín and Jonathan Bogarín for 306 Hollywood (USA)
Given to a first or second-time international filmmaker with a feature film in the International Spectrum program, the award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “For its creative approach to issues of memory and legacy, exploring the universality of grief through the seemingly mundane relics left behind, we award the Emerging International Filmmaker Award to 306 Hollywood.”
In the Emerging International Filmmaker category, the jury acknowledged Jill Magid, director of The Proposal with an honourable mention.
Best Mid-Length Documentary Award
The Call (D: Enrico Maisto; P: Riccardo Annoni; Italy)
The award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “This deceptively simple portrait of the Italian criminal justice system at work demonstrated a formal rigor and quiet intimacy that opened up broad questions about civic duty, justice, democracy and human nature.”
Best International Short Documentary Award
Haunted (D&P: Christian Einshøj; Denmark)
The award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “With its stylized tableaux and dry, quirky sensibility, Haunted uniquely explores deeper universal truths about family, home, time and loss.”
In the Best International Short Documentary category, the jury acknowledged Zion (D: Floyd Russ; P: Carter Collins; USA) with an honourable mention.
Best Canadian Short Documentary Award
Prince’s Tale (D&P: Jamie Miller; Canada)
The award includes a $3,000 cash prize courtesy of Hot Docs.
Jury statement: “Prince’s Tale is the kind of documentary we don’t see enough of—an honest portrait in which the subject has agency to choose where his story begins and where it doesn’t end.”
In the Best Canadian Short Documentary category, the jury acknowledged Vika (D&P: Christian Borys, Marta Iwanek; Canada) with an honourable mention.
Hot Docs is an Academy Award qualifying festival for short documentaries and, as winners of the Best International Short Documentary Award and the Best Canadian Short Documentary Award respectively, Haunted and Prince’s Tale will qualify for consideration in the Documentary Short Subject category of the annual Academy Awards without the standard theatrical run, provided they comply with Academy rules.
Lindalee Tracey Award
Fazila Amiri and Tim Tracey
The award honours an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour. Each recipient will receive a $5,000 cash prize courtesy of the Lindalee Tracey Fund, $5,000 in post-production services from Technicolor, and a beautiful hand-blown glass sculpture by Andrew Kuntz, specially commissioned to honour Lindalee.
Hot Docs Outstanding Achievement Award
Presented by the Hot Docs Board of Directors to Barbara Kopple
Hot Docs Focus On retrospective
Canadian filmmaker John Walker was honoured during the presentation as the recipient of this year’s Focus On retrospective.
Don Haig Award
Montreal-based producer Ina Fichman of Intuitive Pictures
The award comes with a $10,000 cash prize courtesy of the Don Haig Foundation and Telefilm Canada.
Don Haig Award Pay It Forward Prize
Montreal-based producers Fanny Drew and Sarah Mannering from Colonelle Films
As part of the award, the recipient can name an emerging female documentary filmmaker to receive a $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of Telefilm Canada, and professional development opportunities at the Hot Docs Festival to further her career path.
Doc Mogul Award
On April 30, 2018, Cara Mertes, director of Ford Foundation’s JustFilms, received the 2018 Doc Mogul Award at a special luncheon.
AUDIENCE AWARDS
Scotiabank Docs For Schools Student Choice Award
On Her Shoulders (D: Alexandria Bombach; P: Hayley Pappas, Brock Williams; USA)
The winner was determined by audience ballot cast by students attending Docs For Schools screenings at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema during the Festival. Sponsored by Scotiabank, the award comes with $5,000 cash prize, courtesy of Scotiabank.
The Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary will be announced tonight, Sunday, May 6, at 7:00 p.m. at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema before a free encore screening of the winning film. Generously established by the Rogers Group of Funds and determined by audience ballot, the award comes with a $50,000 cash prize.
The Hot Docs Audience Awards, and top twenty favourite audience films of the 2018 Festival, determined by audience ballot, will be announced tomorrow, Monday, May 7.
