Vivek Chaudhary’s Indian entry I, Poppy, has been named Hot Docs Best International Feature Documentary as the Toronto festival running April 24-May 4 entered its final weekend.
The film follows a son who fights corrupt officials while his mother tends their poppy farm in India and received a CAD $10,000 (USD $7,235) cash prize. Hot Docs is an Academy Awards-qualifying festival for feature documentaries and I Poppy will qualify for consideration in the category without the standard theatrical run, provided it complies with Academy rules.
The Hot Docs Emerging International Filmmaker Award went to Amilcar Infante and Sebastian Gonzalez Mendez for Unwelcomed, which examines contrasting perspectives around the migrant crisis in Chile following violent anti-immigrant protests targeted at Venezuelan migrants. It receives a CAD $3,000 (USD $2,170) cash prize.
The Hot Docs Best Canadian Feature Documentary, supported by Telefilm Canada, went to Agatha’s Almanac directed by Amalie Atkins for her “cinematic portrait of simple seasonal living” in which a fiercely independent Mennonite woman lives alone on her ancestral farm in Southern Manitoba. The film received a CAD $10,000 (USD $7,235) cash prize,
Shame Canadian producer Cornelia Principe earned the Hot Docs Don Haig Award for the film directed by Matt Gallagher about the self-styled ’Creeper Hunter’ vigilante, and collected a CAD $5,000 (USD $3,618) cash prize.
A total of 14 awards and CAD $90,000 (USD $65,116) in cash and prizes were presented at Friday’s ceremony at El Mocambo.
Other select awards appear below:
Hot Docs Best Mid-Length Documentary
Climate In Therapy (Swe-Nor) directed by Nathan Grossman and produced by Cecilia Nessen. The winner receives a CAD $3,000 (USD $2,170) cash prize.
The Lindalee Tracey Award
EmergingCanadian producer Regan Latimer was awarded CAD $5,000 (USD $3,618) and other prizes.
Hot Docs first look Awards for Works-In-Progress
The Blue Sweater with a Yellow Hole directed by Tetiana Khodakivska and produced by Elena Saulich and Tetiana Khodakivska, with Kevin Macdonald among the executive producers; Land Of No Pain directed and produced by Émilie Martel; and Untying the Knot directed by Chona Mangalindan and produced by Mangalindan and Maxime Spinga. Each filmmaking team received a CAD $5,000 (USD $3,618) cash prize courtesy of Suzanne DePoe.
Hot Docs Earl A. Glick Emerging Canadian Filmmaker Award
Damien Eagle Bear for #skoden. The film received a CAD $3,000 (USD $2,170) cash prize.
Hot Docs Bill Nemtin Award for Best Social Impact Documentary
Talal Afifi and Giovanna Stopponi for Khartoum. The film received a CAD $10,000 (USD $7,235) cash prize.
Hot Docs DGC Special Jury Prize-Canadian Feature Documentary
Paul directed by Denis Côté. The filmaker recieved a CAD $5,000 (USD $3,618) cash prize.
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