Here are some of Hot Docs best offerings — whether you're in Toronto or not

Despite a bid of depressing headlines past year and a importantly scaled-back lineup successful 2025, Toronto's Hot Docs is backmost for different year.

The documentary festival, often described arsenic North America's biggest, has mostly been successful the quality implicit the past twelvemonth for its fund struggles, worker exodus and consequent existential crises. Still, the festival (which runs from April 24 to May 4) boasts a slate of 113 documentaries for 2025, covering everything from the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, to the Russia-Ukranian warfare to the often ridiculous realities of being raised successful the circus (that is, successful the adorable and contemplative Circusboy). 

To assistance you navigate the festival, we've enactment unneurotic a database of immoderate of the champion films on offer — arsenic good arsenic erstwhile and however those extracurricular of Toronto tin ticker them.

Shamed 

How bash you look evil when nary 1 seems to beryllium doing thing to halt it? And however galore rules volition you interruption to guarantee those liable are stopped?

Those are the questions that Windor, Ont., man Jason Nassr seemingly asked himself erstwhile mounting up Creeper Hunter TV, 1 of galore North American organizations promoting themselves arsenic grassroots bait groups chasing online kid predators. While it mightiness sound like the intro to a superhero movie, documentarian Matt Gallagher attempts to amusement however these groups tin sometimes pb to wanton cruelty, wide harm and adjacent criminality.

As Shamed documents, Nassr eventually recovered himself and his organization connected to a analyzable tribunal case, and much than 1 suicide. Speaking to relatives, instrumentality enforcement and Nassr himself, Gallagher pulls nary punches successful examining the evident motivations down online vigilantism, and the perchance tragic fallout of taking the instrumentality into your ain hands.

As of Thursday morning, determination were tickets disposable for its April 28 and May 2 showings.

If you're extracurricular Toronto: Shamed is scheduled to aerial online and broadcast connected TVO successful the fall.

The Track 

There is thing beautifully unusual astir Ryan Sidhoo's The Track. The meditative sports documentary is ostensibly astir a neglected Sarajevo bobsled, skeleton and luge way that was one of the less than 20 moving complexes successful the world. Now, it is simply a crumbling, bullet-marked testament to the Bosnian war, and Sidhoo documents erstwhile luge Olympian Senad Omanovic's determined effort to support it — and the athletics helium loves — from disappearing forever.

But arsenic Sidhoo follows Omanovic and the radical of Olympic hopefuls grooming nether him, The Track becomes thing more. The beautifully shot, majestically scored and professionally paced doc is arsenic overmuch an introspection of the indomitable quality of anticipation arsenic it is the wonderfully unusual athletics astatine its core. 

Tickets for its April 27 and April 30 showings were disposable arsenic of Thursday morning.

If you're outside Toronto: The Track is acceptable for a wide merchandise this fall, soon up of the 2026 Winter Olympics.

2000 Meters to Andriivka

The Associated Press warfare analogous Mstyslav Chernov enactment his beingness astatine hazard portion making 20 Days successful Mariupol, the Oscar-winning documentary focusing connected the archetypal days of Russia's penetration of Ukraine.

2000 Meters to Andriivka is, incredibly, much of the same. Embedded with a radical of Ukranian soldiers astatine the frontline, Chernov's newest documentary showcases the absurd quality outgo that indispensable beryllium paid simply to determination 2 kilometres toward a tiny Ukrainian village. Firefights interruption out, subject vehicles are bombed, and galore dice connected some sides arsenic Chernov's camera rolls. The effect is simply a harrowing documentary, that's arsenic captious arsenic it is hard to watch.

Tickets were disposable for some April 27 and April 29 showings arsenic of Thursday morning.

If you're outside Toronto: While 2000 Meters to Andriivka is a joint release by PBS Frontline and The Associated Press, producers say they program to show it theatrically aboriginal this year.

Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore

Depending connected her age, you whitethorn cognize her from Children of a Lesser God, playing a deaf schoolhouse janitor caught up successful a emotion matter with a proceeding coworker. Or Oscar champion picture-winner CODA, astir — arsenic the rubric suggests — Children of Deaf Adults. Or that occurrence of Seinfeld wherever Jerry had her work the lips of a mates breaking up astatine different table.

But wherever you've seen her, histrion Marlee Matlin's enactment has astir apt made its people connected you. In Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore, she details what it took for her to marque it. That involves the hard narration with her parents, what she explains was an abusive narration with histrion William Hurt, and the agelong roadworthy to spot different deaf histrion (her CODA co-star Troy Kotsur) travel successful her footsteps to triumph an Oscar.

Tickets were disposable for each 3 showings connected April 27, April 30 and May 4.

If you're extracurricular Toronto: Marlee Matlin: Not Alone Anymore volition person a theatrical tally starting June 20. 

Saints and Warriors

Haida Gwaii's Skidegate Saints are the squad to bushed successful the All Native Basketball Tournament. And if you listen to their players — aged hands nearing their 40s who are now hardly hanging connected to their ascendant tally of title wins — hoops is much than a athletics to them. It's a mode of life.

Saints and Warriors does rather a batch much than conscionable amusement the roadworthy to a title. Weaving unneurotic Canada's assemblage past with idiosyncratic stories of Indigenous resilience, manager Patrick Shannon some documents a assemblage and the analyzable transportation its residents person to it. It's 1 of a fig of unthinkable Indigenous-made documentaries astatine the festival — including the societal media exposé #skoden, and the astir unbelievably gorgeous masculinity survey Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man — that are each much than worthy your time.

Tickets for Saints and Warriors were inactive disposable for April 28 and April 30 showings arsenic of Thursday morning.

If you're outside Toronto: Saints and Warriors will look astatine Vancouver's DOXA movie festival successful May earlier its theatrical merchandise connected Sept. 30, coinciding with the National Day of Truth and Reconciliation. After a theatrical run, it volition watercourse connected Crave.

Mr. Nobody against Putin

Already a Sundance Film Festival grant winner, Mr. Nobody Against Putin focuses connected what whitethorn beryllium the ascendant taxable of this year's festival. Pavel (Pasha) Talankin is simply a videographer astatine a Russian simple school, tasked with signaling what are — astatine archetypal — cute, if unremarkable, goings connected among the students. That rapidly shifts aft Russia's penetration of Ukraine, erstwhile helium is tasked with documenting progressively disquieting events: Record new lessons astir Europe's inferiority to Russia. Record students speechmaking from pre-written scripts astir their knowing of the ongoing invasion. Record a grenade-throwing contention betwixt teenagers.

In Mr. Nobody, Talankin documents the dilatory descent toward authoritarianism connected show astatine the school, and his eventual determination to fly Russia to amusement his footage to the world. The effect of this program is the documentary itself, which is simply a harrowing relationship of a antheral astatine likelihood with his country and his family.

Tickets were disposable for April 27 showing arsenic of Thursday morning. The April 26 showing is down to unreserved access.

If you're extracurricular Toronto: Mr. Nobody Against Putin is showing astatine DOXA successful May.

Antidote

Christo Grozev was the antheral chiefly down Bellingcat, the Netherlands-based investigative journalism radical that, among other things, researched and identified an assasination squad moving for Russian President Vladimir Putin. In Antidote, Grozev has the publication flipped on him. After ostensibly upsetting members of the Russian authorities with his articles, determination whitethorn oregon whitethorn not beryllium a squad of hitmen tracking Grozev and his family. This each plays retired while Grozev is attempting to aid a defecting subordinate of Russia's chemic weapons program, and working to escaped a prominent Russian activistic connected proceedings for treason. 

In telling these interwoven stories, Antidote is thing if not precocious stakes. It's besides an incredibly important, and timely, representation of investigative journalism and the dangers of modern-day activism.

Tickets were disposable for Antidote's April 28 showing arsenic of Thursday morning. Its April 26 showing is down to unreserved access.

If you're extracurricular Toronto: Antidote is owed to for an American release on PBS Frontline connected May 6, disposable connected their website and Apple TV+. Availability times tin disagree somewhat for Canadian audiences.