Jennifer Baichwal's Act Of God will have its world premiere as the opening night film of Hot Docs Toronto Documentary Film Festival. Baichwal's previous film, Manufactured Landscapes (2006), won the Best Canadian Feature prize at the Toronto International Film Festival, as well as a Genie Award for Best Documentary.

The new film explores the metaphysical effects of being struck by lightning through seven stories from around the world. The film is produced by Baichwal, her partner Nick de Pencier and Daniel Iron of Toronto-based Foundry Films.

In making the announcement, Hot Docs also revealed some Special Presentation titles, including several Sundance prize-winners: Afghan Star by Havana Marking, winner of the World Cinema Audience and Directing awards; Grand Jury Prize winner We Live In Public by Ondi Timoner; Kim Longinotto's Rough Aunties, winner of the World Cinema Jury Prize; and Danish filmmaker Anders Høgsbro Østergaard's Burma Vj - Reporting From A Closed Country, winner of World Cinema Documentary Editing Award. Another Special Presentation title is Heddy Honigmann's El Olivido, a Silver Dove winner at Leipzig. All five are Canadian premieres.

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