(February 27, 2018 – Toronto, ON) Organizers and programmers behind the 25th annual edition of Hot Docs have announced the titles of 15 documentary features that will screen in this year’s Special Presentations program. Special Presentations features a high-profile collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the recent international festival circuit and works by master filmmakers or featuring some star subjects.
Notable subjects featured as part of the Special Presentations program include actor and comedian Bill Murray (Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man), beloved children’s entertainer Mr. Rogers (Won’t You Be My Neighbor?), actor and comedian Gilda Radner (Love, Gilda), and musician and Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds (Believer).
Award winners from the recent international festival circuit include On Her Shoulders (Directing Award: U.S. Documentary at Sundance 2018), and Three Identical Strangers (U.S. Documentary Special Jury Award for Storytelling at Sundance 2018).
Special Presentation titles appear below, ordered alphabetically:
Amal
D: Mohamed Siam | Lebanon, Egypt, France, Germany, Norway, Denmark | 2017 | 83 min | North American Premiere
Filmed over six turbulent years following the Tahrir Square uprising in Egypt, a feisty 14-year-old activist grows before our eyes into a commanding young woman, searching for her identity in a tinderbox of political turmoil and patriarchal systems.
Anote’s Ark
D: Matthieu Rytz | Canada | 2018 | 77 min | Canadian Premiere
As rising sea levels threaten to swallow the Pacific Island nation of Kiribati, its president races against the clock to secure the future of a population doomed to be among the world’s first climate change refugees.
Believer
D: Don Argott | USA | 2017 | 101 min | Canadian Premiere
Imagine Dragons frontman and devout Mormon Dan Reynolds struggles to reconcile his faith with his church’s hardening stance on homosexuality, and finds himself on a mission to combat growing suicide rates among Utah’s LGBTQ youth. Produced by Live Nation Productions.
Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man
D: Tommy Avallone | USA | 2018 | 70 min | International Premiere
“Bill Murray crashed my karaoke party.” “Bill Murray photobombed our engagement 
pictures.” Everyone knows someone with a “Bill Murray” story, but this inspirational and drop-dead-funny detective doc hunts down the myths and the man.
Chef Flynn
D: Cameron Yates | USA | 2018 | 83 min | Canadian Premiere
When a 10-year-old prodigy launches a restaurant in his parents’ house, his culinary creations lead to collaborations with some of the world’s best chefs and a New York Times Magazine cover. But with his career set to take off, can he handle the heat?
The Cleaners
D: Hans Block, Moritz Riesewieck | Germany, Brazil | 2018 | 88 min | Canadian Premiere
Dive into the shadowy world of internet content moderators, where fingers hovering over the delete key judge within seconds the lines between art and pornography, journalism and propaganda, censorship and free speech—with far-reaching consequences both online and off.
Constructing Albert
D: Laura Collado, Jim Loomis | Spain, Estonia | 2017 | 82 min | Canadian Premiere
In the high-stakes world of haute cuisine, legendary Catalonian restaurant elBulli casts a long shadow—but when it closes, the head chef’s younger brother draws on his long-unrecognized creative genius to fight for his own culinary vision.
The Devil We Know
D: Stephanie Soechtig | USA | 2018 | 88 min | International Premiere
Citizen activists unravel one of the largest environmental scandals of our time when West Virginian residents discover DuPont has been dumping a toxic chemical into the water supply—one that’s now found in the blood of over 99% of the world’s population.
Inventing Tomorrow
D: Laura Nix | USA | 2018 | 105 min | Canadian Premiere
Roused by the issues faced by their own communities, brilliant young minds from around the globe gather in Los Angeles for the world’s largest high school science fair, tackling environmental crises with ingenuity, inspiration and hope.
Love, Gilda
D: Lisa D’Apolito | USA | 2018 | 84 min | International Premiere
The vulnerable and effusive spirit of beloved comedian Gilda Radner is brought to life through newly discovered audio recordings, home movies, interviews with friends and diary entries read by performers she’s inspired, including Melissa McCarthy, Amy Poehler and Maya Rudolph.
On Her Shoulders
D: Alexandria Bombach | USA | 2018 | 94 min | International Premiere
After surviving enslavement and genocide, a resilient young Yazidi woman is thrust onto the international stage as a spokesperson for those who’ve suffered at the hands of ISIS, where she must learn to navigate bureaucracy, fame and good intentions.
The Oslo Diaries
D: Mor Loushy, Daniel Sivan | Canada, Israel | 2018 | 98 min | Canadian Premiere
Once upon a time, Israel and Palestine almost made peace. Personal diaries and never-before-seen archival footage bring raw emotion and new insights to the secret, complex negotiations—and eventual failure—of the Oslo Accords peace process.
Playing Hard
D: Jean-Simon Chartier | Canada, USA | 2018 | 90 min | World Premiere
A powerhouse Montreal game studio finally greenlights its next potential blockbuster, but egos and artistry collide with the bottom line as everything rides on the epic battle game—featuring samurais, knights and Vikings—hitting the jackpot.
Three Identical Strangers
D: Tim Wardle | USA | 2018 | 96 min | Canadian Premiere
In 1980 in New York, three teenagers discover by chance that they’re triplets who were separated at birth. Despite disparate upbringings, they enjoy their newfound fraternity and fame until relationships unravel under the dark mystery surrounding their adoptions.
Won’t You Be My Neighbor?
D: Morgan Neville | USA | 2018 | 93 min | International Premiere
Mr. Rogers created a neighbourhood in which he connected with children through honesty, directness and love, while delicately introducing complex social issues. His work continues to resonate today, but have we failed to become the neighbours he hoped for?
Special Presentations will screen as part of the 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival, running April 26 to May 6. The complete Special Presentations program and the full selection of films to screen at Hot Docs 2018 will be announced on March 20 including the 2018 opening night film. Ticket packages and passes are now on sale online. Ticket package redemption and single ticket sales for Hot Docs members are available starting March 20. Single ticket sales open to the public on March 27. Tickets are available online and at the CraveTV Box Office, located at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, 506 Bloor Street.
