Christian Bauer'sCanada-Germany coproduction The Ritchie Boys, the story of German Jews who formed an eliteintelligence unit for the US Army during WWII, will make its world premiere atthe 11th Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.

The festival, North America'slargest film event devoted to non-fiction fare, will present the worldpremieres of a further eleven feature-length documentaries, including TheTake, a critique of globalizationbased on the experience of Argentina, written by political journalist NaomiKlein, author of No Logo, anddirected by her colleague and partner Avi Lewis.

Other world premieres areAlan Zweig's I, Curmudgeon, afilm about what it means to be considered a contrarian; John Kastner's Gert'sSecret, the story of a centenarianwith a penchant for betting on the ponies; Turbulent Waters, directed by Malcolm Guy and Michelle Smith, whichlooks at the murky world of international shipping; and What Remains Of Us, by Francois Prevost and Hugo Latulippe, about theeffort to smuggle a video message of the Dalai Lama to Tibetans living underChinese occupation. International titles making their world premieres are RuthLeitman's Lipstick & Dynamite, Piss & Vinegar, the pioneers of female professional wrestling inthe 1950s US, and Another Road Home, Israeli filmmaker Danae Elon's about her family's relationship withtheir long-standing Palestinian caregiver.

The adjoined TorontoDocumentary Forum, a pitch forum now in its fifth year, will see 36 projectsrepresenting 12 countries seeking co-financing from 80 key commissioningbroadcasters from around the world, including representatives from HBO and theBBC.

The festival's NationalSpotlight Programme features nine films from the Netherlands including theNorth American premiere of the controversial title Welcome To Holland, which explores that nation's programme for dealingwith underage refugees. The festival will also feature films from South Africain honour of the tenth anniversary of democracy there.

The festival's annual outstandingachievement award and retrospective will look at the work and career ofrenowned broadcaster Michael Maclear, with specially prepared selections editedfrom his major works.

Other well-regarded filmsscreening include Morgan Spurlock's Sundance hit SuperSize Me; Eric Chaikin and Julian Petrillo's Word Wars;Control Room, Jehane Noujaim's lookat broadcaster Al Jazeera and itsalternative coverage of the war inIraq; and Death In Gaza, directedby James Miller, who died in the process of shooting the film.

The festival, which willpresent a total of 106 documentaries, runs in Toronto from April 23 to May 2.