BEST OF HOT DOCS

Sudbury Showcase 2014

Sudbury Downtown Indie Cinema Co-op in association with BAM North Productions is delighted to announce the return of the Best of Hot Docs- Sudbury Showcase, a festival of documentary screenings, Thursday November 6 to Sunday November 9, at various venues in Downtown Sudbury. This is possible due to the support of Major Presenting Partners Downtown Sudbury & Greater Sudbury Public Library and our Major Presenting Sponsor Autumnwood Mature Lifestyles Communities, as well as our Major Media Sponsor CTV Northern Ontario.

The Best of Hot Docs - Sudbury celebrates the Northern Ontario premieres of 10+ outstanding stories including top awarded docs and audiences favourites from Toronto’s Hot Docs International Film Festival in 2014.

Film Descriptions download

Screening Times and Locations download

Tickets & Festival Pass Sale!

All-Access Festival Passes are on sale: Regular $75. EARLY BIRD (to Oct. 25th)
$60 Tickets: 5-Packs are $40 and single tickets are $10.

Passes and tickets can be purchased online at Eventbrite now and will be available by Wed. October 15th at the main branch of Greater Sudbury Public Library on MacKenzie St.- cash sales only.

OPENING NIGHT PREMIERE

Out of Mind Out of Sight - by John Kastner

Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award Winner, Hot Docs 2014

What happens to people who suffer from mental illness commit violent crimes? Kastner, with unprecedented access to the Brockville Mental Health Centre, filmed inside this facility for more than a year where patients and staff revealed themselves to him with stunning frankness.

SCREENING 7pm, Thursday Nov. 6
Doors Open at 6pm at Sheridan Auditorium, Sudbury Sec.

Finalists in NISA’s short doc contest precede the feature. Pre-Taped Q&A with Director John Kastner with NISA participants follows the screening. CASH BAR. Gen. Admission $10.

Hosted and Sponsored by Northern Initiatives for Social Action.

FRIDAY NIGHT PREMIERE

Ne Me Quitte Pas - par Sabine Lubbe Bakker, Niels van Koevorden

"Dutch Documentary 'Don't Leave Me' Is the Best Buddy Comedy In Years" IndieWire

A Belgian drama about life on the brink of society in all its beauty, modesty and irony. The authenticity of the main characters is painful and confronting, yet entertaining and utterly charming. It is a story about mortality in a place where time seems to stand still. (En Francais & Dutch with English subtitles)

SCREENING 7:30pm, Friday Nov. 7.
Doors Open at 6:45pm at Sheridan Auditorium, Sudbury Sec. CASH BAR. Gen. Admission $10.

Hosted by Regroupement des organismes culturels de Sudbury (ROCS).
Sponsored by Université Laurentienne.

SATURDAY NIGHT PREMIERE

Kung Fu Elliot - by Matthew Bauckman, Jaret Belliveau

SlamDance Film Festival Special Jury Prize 2014

Elliot "White Lightning" Scott plans on becoming Canada's first action hero with his low-budget karate epic, Blood Fight. This surreal documentary captures two years in the lives of a passionate amateur filmmaker, his supportive partner Linda, and their outrageous cast-all trying to realize their dreams. With everyone's hopes and dreams pinned on Elliot, this comedic-drama unfolds into a shocking and complex examination of how we lie to ourselves.

SCREENING 7:30pm, Saturday Nov. 8.
Doors Open at 6:45pm at Sheridan Auditorium, Sudbury Sec. CASH BAR. Gen. Admission $10. Co-Director Matthew Bauckman present to introduce & for Q&A.

Hosted by the Indie Cinema Co-op. Sponsored by Downtown Sudbury.

CLOSING FEATURE SUNDAY

The Backward Class by Madeleine Grant

Hot Docs 2014 Audience Award Winner

The students of Shanti Bhavan residential school in Bangalore, India, imagine a future that defies their “untouchable” caste. The young men and women in Grade 12 intend to break a cycle by becoming the first Dalit students in India’s history to undertake the national Indian School Certificate exams. Director Madeleine Grant will be available for a Skype Q&A.

VIEW TRAILER

SCREENING 4:15 pm Sunday - Library-Reading Room.
Hosted by Subdury Secondary Media Arts. Sponsored by Autumnwood.

Before The Last Curtain Falls - by Thomas Wallner

Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary Winner, Hot Docs 2014

Stunning cinematography and soaring music unite the tumultuous off-stage lives of six aging Belgian transvestite and transsexual performers with scenes from their European ballet Gardenia into a profoundly human portrait of love—and a masterpiece of documentary art and contemporary dance cinema.

SCREENINGS 12:30pm Saturday Open Studio & 12pm Sunday- Library downstairs
Hosted by TG Innerselves. Sponsored by RBC.

Above All Else - by John Fiege

"outshines many eco-docs in its often dramatic account of their attempt to halt progress of the controversial Keystone Pipeline." SXSW Review

One man risks family and future to stop the tar sands of the Keystone XL pipeline from crossing his land. Shot in the forests, pastures, and living rooms of rural East Texas, Above All Else follows David Daniel, a retired high-wire artist, as he rallies neighbours and environmental activists to join him in a final act of brinkmanship: a tree-top blockade of the controversial pipeline.

SCREENING 12:30pm Saturday - Library downstairs.
Hosted by The Coalition for a Liveable Sudbury.

Secret Trial 5 - by Amar Wala

Top Ten Audience Favourite, Hot Docs 2014

The film tells the shocking story of Canada’s security certificates, an “immigration process” that allows for the indefinite jailing of non-citizens without charge. This policy has been used to imprison five Muslim men who, combined, have spent nearly 30 years in jail while the evidence against them remains secret.

SCREENING 5pm Saturday - Library upstairs-Reading Room.

Que Ta Joie Demeure - par Denis Cote (60 min.)

Des travailleurs, leurs machines, leurs tâches. La répétition de gestes quotidiens, la routine de la pause, de l'heure de lunch, de ces heures travaillées sans prononcer un mot, dans le bruit incessant des machines qui tournent, poussent, soulèvent, lavent et coupent de tout. Les rêves et les ambitions de ces travailleurs de toutes nationalités rencontrent ici leurs obligations. Certains d'entre eux discutent d'avenir, mais tous ont d'abord une journée de travail à terminer. Peintres, menuisiers, nettoyeurs, ouvriers. Leurs gestes sont répétitifs, mais les produits, eux, sont tout à fait concrets.

From machinists to garment makers, this cinematic essay captures the energies and rituals of labour that relies on routine and repetition. Director Denis Côté is a master craftsman in this philosophical study of our need to work.

SCREENING 11am Saturday - Library downstairs.
Hosted by Centre de santé communautaire du Grand Sudbury. Sponsored by Le Voyageur.

Ukraine Is Not a Brothel by Kitty Green

“... fascinating documentary offers a nuanced, thoughtful portrait of the Ukrainian feminist group Femen.” Variety

Outraged by the world's image of Ukrainian women as either brides for sale or commodities of sex tourism, Ukraine’s activist movement Femen has stirred up a press frenzy across Europe. A movement that began in the snow-filled streets of a corrupt, post-Soviet Ukraine, Femen’s topless war against patriarchy is gaining momentum across Europe. But before they take the world by storm, these women must first confront the contradictory forces that power their own feminist organization.

SCREENINGS 2:30pm Saturday - Open Studio & 12pm Sun.- Library downstairs

Rich Hill by Tracey Droz Tragos and Andrew Droz Palermo

Special Grand Jury Prize Sundance Film Festival

In rural communities such as Rich Hill, the plight of youth can be especially startling: the absence of resources can, and often does, limit young people’s vision for the future and keep them locked in abusive situations, prolonged states of dependence, and dysfunction. RICH HILL takes a hard look at the despair of these youths, as well as at their talents and potential, and at what is at stake when they do not get what they need and deserve.

SCREENING 2pm Sunday - Library downstairs

SPECIAL PRESENTATIONS

Local Filmmakers Short Docs Programme

The Clash by Martin Monette (24 min.)

Raising Hope - A Relay for Life Story by Paul Los and Nora Burns
(7 min.)

Into the Light Produced by APANO (Aboriginal Peoples Alliance Northern Ontario)

Filmed and Edited by Brent Wohlberg (10 min.) With Filmmaker/Audience Q and A.

SCREENING 11am Sunday - Library downstairs

Sin By Silence - by Olivia Klaus (50 min.)

“...a powerful, revealing and vital documentary for all who are impacted by the cycle of domestic violence.” The Independent Critic

From behind prison walls, we meet extraordinary women who advocate for a future free from domestic violence. Inside the California Institution for Women, the first inmate-initiated and led group in the U.S. prison system, shatters the misconceptions of domestic violence. Against the system and against the odds, the women of Convicted Women Against Abuse have risen to expose the stigma of the cycle of domestic violence.

SCREENING 11am Saturday - Open Studio.
Hosted and Sponsored by YWCA-Geneva House.

Cowspiracy - The Sustainability Secret by Kip Anderson (90 min.)

“pulls no punches and makes no apologies: "The future of our planet is being destroyed by this industry." HuffPost

This groundbreaking environmental doc uncovers the most destructive industry facing the planet today – and investigates why the world’s leading environmental organizations are too afraid to talk about it. As eye-opening documentary reveals the absolutely devastating environmental impact large-scale factory farming has on our planet, and offers a path to global sustainability for a growing population.