hot docs films 2020

10 movies getting the biggest advance buzz at the Hot Docs online film festival

This year's selections for the 2020 Hot Docs documentary film festival are jam-packed with eye-opening explorations of the world around us. With the festival moving online, you can snuggle up and let these films take you on a journey through the art of visual storytelling.

Here are the top 10 films getting the biggest buzz ahead of the festival.

#BLESSED

Part of the Canadian Spectrum series, this film takes a look inside the ultra-connected evangelical newcomer church C3 in Toronto that employs hip tactics to attract millennial followers.

9/11 Kids

The children inside the classroom where President George W. Bush received news of 9/11 tell their stories of where they went from there and the impact that moment had on their lives.

Bulletproof

Shootings in America have become all too common, so much so that fear and anxiety have changed the school system drastically.

Dark City Beneath the Beat

Issa Rae helps to co-produce this film that captures the subculture of Baltimore's legendary club scene from the DJs, producers, dancers, creators and activists who are part of it.

The Dilemma of Desire

Women's desires have been long overlooked by Western medical science and now doctors and activists alike hope to help everyone become a bit more "cliterate."

Meat the Future

Food security and sustainability are hot topics right now and this documentary looks at one possible solution: lab-grown meat.

Softie

When Kenyan photojournalists and activist Boniface “Softie” Mwangi enters into politics to challenge corruption and colonialism, he is forced to re-examine what is truly important.

There’s No Place Like This, Anyplace

Director Lulu Wei tells the story of the now-demolished iconic Toronto landmark Honest Ed's place in her community and the gentrification it's undergone.

Transhood

This film follows four transgender youth in Kansas City while they move into adolescence and begin to redefine ideas around coming of age and "the family next door."

Walrus and the Whistleblower

Former Marineland trainer Philip Demers goes on a quest to help his friend, a walrus named Smooshi, as he seeks to expose the park's treatment of its animals.

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