A Times Square Dive, Frolicking Boys and 6 Days of Gambling Shine at 16th Hot Docs

A scene from Mads Bruegger’s “The Red Chapel. Image courtesy of Hot Docs.

”Ghost Bird”
The apparent sighting of a long-thought-extinct ivory-billed woodpecker sets off Scott Crocker’s investigatory film. While the fabled bird’s re-emergence is validated by authorities, leading to Woodpeckermania in the neighboring community, corroborating evidence proves elusive, sparking a debate encompassing science, commerce, hope, and conservation.

”The Sound of Insects - Record of a Mummy”
Experimental filmmaker Peter Liechti crafts a poetic exploration of life, full of evocative, haunting images, serves as the visual counterpoint to the meticulous diary entries of a man who intentionally starved himself to death over the course of months, before his mummified remains were discovered.

”Diary of a Times Square Thief”
Purchasing an unusual journal from eBay, Klaas Bense tracks down the people and places described within, centered around a 1980s Times Square dive hotel. Using clues from the journal’s frustrated author’s entries, he discovers what has become of them in the intervening years, constructing a bittersweet paean to a lost time and place, while at the same time bringing audiences along for an always-engaging bit of private detective work.

”The Wild Hearts”
Michael Noer follows an unusually tightly knit group of young male friends as they celebrate unabashed freedom and brotherly love on a moped journey from Denmark to Poland. They, and the film, are completely unselfconscious - these straight guys frequently run around naked, hug and kiss one another, while also branding each other and engaging in other “Jackass”-style shenanigans. Keeping a sense of whimsy and highlighting their shared experience, Noer creates a unique and refreshing look at male friendship.

”Jackpot”
A bingo hall and the various personalities who seek lady luck’s grace are at the center of Alan Black’s featurette. From the senior who would “die of boredom” if she didn’t come six days a week (she begrudingly stays home on the seventh to deal with her housekeeper), to the middle-aged couple who met playing bingo, each subject seeks a respite from their daily lives, and, just maybe, a chance to call out “bingo!” In less than an hour’s running time, Black succeeds in crafting a quiet, humanistic portrait of familiar, universal characters.

”Cooking History” Peter Kerekes mixes the Food Network with the History Channel to offer up a strangely delectable and wry view of past wars as seen through those responsible for feeding its combatants. With recipes accompanying its subjects’ recounting of preparing bread for German troops, or blintzes for Soviet soldiers, the film casts a unique glance on food during wartime.

[Basil Tsiokos is Programming Associate, Documentary Features for the Sundance Film Festival.]