Hot Docs 2015: Awards Announced

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Last Friday, at a reception hosted by Garvia Bailey, host of Good Morning Toronto! on Jazz.FM91, at the Shangri-La Hotel, 12 awards and $61,000 in cash and prizes were presented to Canadian and international filmmakers, including awards for Hot Docs festival films in competition and those recognizing emerging and established filmmakers.

Winners include:

Best Canadian Feature Documentary Award: HAIDA GWAII: ON THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
Special Jury Prize – Canadian Feature Documentary: THE AMINA PROFILE
Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award: Ryan Mullins, CHAMELEON
Best International Feature Documentary Award: THE CLOSER WE GET
Special Jury Prize – International Feature Documentary: THE LIVING FIRE
Emerging International Filmmaker Award: Evangelia Kranioti, EXOTICA, EROTICA, ETC.
Best Mid-Length Documentary: WARRIORS FROM THE NORTH
Best Short Documentary Award: TERRITORY

After the final screening last Sunday, audience votes were tallied for the Vimeo On Demand Audience Award. The winner is UNBRANDED (D: Phillip Baribeau, USA), the story of four young men on an adventure of a lifetime— traversing desert to mountain, they ride over 3000 miles from Mexico to Canada on adopted wild mustangs.

Toronto Arts and Culture — Still from Unbranded

The top 20 audience favourites as determined by audience vote are:

1. UNBRANDED (D: Phillip Baribeau, USA)
2. LOWDOWN TRACKS (D: Shelley Saywell, Canada)
3. THE MESSENGER (D: Su Rynard; Canada, France)
4. MY LOVE, DON’T CROSS THAT RIVER (D: Moyoung Jin, South Korea)
5. RADICAL GRACE (D: Rebecca Parrish, USA)
6. HOW TO CHANGE THE WORLD (D: Jerry Rothwell; UK, Canada)
7. FRACTURED LAND (D: Damien Gillis, Fiona Rayher; Canada)
8. OMO CHILD: THE RIVER AND THE BUSH (D: John Rowe, USA)
9. WHAT HAPPENED, MISS SIMONE? (D: Liz Garbus, USA)
10. FRAME BY FRAME (D: Mo Scarpelli, Alexandria Bombach; USA)
11. MAVIS! (D: Jessica Edwards; Canada, USA)
12. ATTACKING THE DEVIL: HAROLD EVANS AND THE LAST NAZI WAR CRIME (D: Jacqui Morris, David Morris; UK, Canada)
13. THE BARKLEY MARATHONS: THE RACE THAT EATS ITS YOUNG (D: Timothy Kane, Annika Iltis; USA)
14. SPEED SISTERS (D: Amber Fares; Palestine, USA, Qatar, Denmark, UK, Canada)
15. TRANSFATTY LIVES (D: Patrick O’Brien, USA)
16. TIE: MUSIC LESSONS (D: Michael Mabbott, Canada) and NO PLACE TO HIDE: THE REHTAEH PARSONS STORY (D: Rama Rau, Canada)
18. ALL THE TIME IN THE WORLD (D: Suzanne Crocker, Canada)
19. SURVIVORS ROWE (D: Daniel Roher, Canada)
20. FINDING MACPHERSON (D: Serge Giguère, Canada)

Also during this year’s festival, attending filmmakers with official selections in the festival were invited to vote for their favourite film. The winner of this year’s Filmmaker-To-Filmmaker Award is WELCOME TO LEITH (D: Michael Beach Nichols, Christopher K. Walker; USA), a real-life horror story that unfolds in the near-deserted town of Leith, North Dakota, when a dangerous white supremacist attempts to buy up land in a plot to establish a community of neo-Nazis.

What a great list of films and award winners! This year’s Hot Docs was definitely a success. I, for one, am already looking forward to next year’s festival. Where you at the festival? Share your festival hightlights in the comments section. I’d like to hear what were your favourite Hot Docs films and moments.