27/04/2023 - North America's largest documentary film festival opens today with Twice Colonized, and features 70 world and 33 international premieres

The 30th edition of the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, North America’s largest documentary festival, conference and market, takes place from 27 April-7 May and includes 214 films from 72 countries across 13 programmes. It will boast 70 world and 33 international premieres.

The festival will open with Lin Alluna's Twice Colonized [+see also:
film review
interview: Lin Alluna
interview: Lin Alluna
film profile] (Denmark/Greenland/Canada), which also opened CPH:DOX in March. The film is part of the Special Presentations programme, which showcases high-profile films, festival-circuit heavy hitters and renowned subjects, and also includes the world premieres of Joe Piscatella's Who's Afraid of Nathan Law? (USA/Hong Kong/UK) and Benoît Bringer's The Rise of Wagner (France), as well as North American premieres of Jialing Zhao's Total Trust [+see also:
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film profile] (Netherlands/Germany), Lukasz Konopa and Emil Langballe's Theatre of Violence (Denmark/Germany), Tonje Hessen Schei's Praying for Armageddon [+see also:
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film profile] (Norway), Greta Stocklassa's Blix Not Bombs [+see also:
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film profile] (Czech Republic/Germany/Sweden) and Regina Schilling's Igor Levit - No Fear (Germany). The full selection can be found here.

International Spectrum, a competitive programme offering engaging stories from around the globe, includes eight European (co-)productions among the total of ten entries. These include world premieres of Marianna Kaat's The Last Relic [+see also:
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film profile] (Estonia/Norway) and Everardo González's A Wolfpack Called Ernesto [+see also:
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film profile] (Mexico/France), international premieres of Chloé Aïcha Boro's Al Djanat, the Original Paradise [+see also:
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film profile] (France/Burkina Faso/Benin), San San F Young's Hong Kong Mixtape (UK), Christian Einshøj's The Mountains [+see also:
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film profile] (Denmark), Edward Lovelace's Name Me Lawand [+see also:
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trailer
film profile] (UK), Valentina Cicogna and Mattia Colombo's Pure Unknown [+see also:
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film profile] (Italy/Switzerland/Sweden), and Peter Hammer's Revir - Everything You Hold Dear (Denmark). The full programme is here.

The World Showcase line-up features revelatory stories that span the globe, including 22 documentary features, and seven short and mid-length films. Among these, three European (co-)productions will enjoy their world premieres: Davide Rizzo and Marzia Toscano's After the Bridge (Italy), Kordo Doski's Allihopa: The Dalkurd Story (Canada/Iraq/USA/Sweden) and Tuki Jencquel's Jackie the Wolf (Germany). Other European titles in the selection include Martín Benchimol's The Castle [+see also:
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interview: Martín Benchimol
film profile] (Argentina/France), Tatiana Huezo's The Echo [+see also:
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film profile] (Mexico/Germany), Farnaz Jurabchian and Mohammadreza Jurabchian's Silent House (Iran/France/Canada/Philippines/Qatar), Juha Suonpää's Lynx Man [+see also:
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interview: Juha Suonpää
film profile] (Finland) and Pau Faus's Fauna [+see also:
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interview: Pau Faus and Sergi Cameron
film profile] (Spain). The full selection can be found here.

A showcase of recent works from Ukraine will make up the Made In programme, highlighting stories being captured on the ground by filmmakers since the war began, including Mila Teshaieva and Marcus Lenz's When Spring Came to Bucha (Ukraine/Germany), Alisa Kovalenko's We Will Not Fade Away [+see also:
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film profile] (Ukraine/Poland/France) and Roman Liubyi's Iron Butterflies [+see also:
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interview: Roman Liubyi
film profile] (Ukraine/Germany). The full programme is here.

Partnering with European Film Promotion for the sixth year running, Hot Docs will present The Changing Face of Europe programme, which includes world premieres of Sona G Lutherová's A Happy Man [+see also:
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interview: Soňa G Lutherová
film profile] (Slovakia/Czech Republic) and Elena Kairyte's Roberta [+see also:
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interview: Elena Kairytė
film profile] (Lithuania), North American premieres of Erik Gandini's After Work [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Erik Gandini
film profile] (Sweden/Italy/Norway), Niki Padidar's All You See [+see also:
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film profile] (Netherlands), Lisa Gerig's The Hearing [+see also:
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film profile] (Switzerland), Brenda Akele Jorde's The Homes We Carry [+see also:
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film profile] (Germany), Sasha King's Vicky [+see also:
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film profile] (Ireland), Yannick Kergoat's Tax Me If You Can [+see also:
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film profile] (France) and Liis Nimik's Sundial [+see also:
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film profile] (Estonia), as well as the Canadian premiere of Veronika Lišková's The Visitors [+see also:
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film profile] (Czech Republic/Norway/Slovakia).

Once again, Hot Docs will show many other intriguing films in its Artscapes, Deep Dive, Markers, Nightvision, Human Kind, Persister and Canadian Spectrum sections.