From a “Village” to a “City”: Hot Docs Awards Their Best

A scene from Hubert Davis’s “Invisible City,” winner of Best Canadian Feature at Hot Docs. Photo courtesy of Hot Docs.

The Don Haig Award, presented annually to an emerging Canadian documentary filmmaker, was awarded to Montreal’s Brett Gaylor (“RiP! A Remix Manifesto”). The Don Haig Jury also named Montreal’s Tracey Deer (“Club Native”) a runner up for the Award. Each filmmaker received a $10,000 cash prize. Meanwhile, The Lindalee Tracey Award, which honours “an emerging Canadian filmmaker with a passionate point of view, a strong sense of social justice and a sense of humour,” was presented to two filmmakers: Montreal’s Laura Bari and Ottawa’s Will Inrig. Each filmmaker received a cash prize of $3000 from the Lindalee Tracey Long-Term Fund and $1500 in film stock, courtesy of Kodak Canada.

The Hot Docs Board of Directors presented this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award to Alanis Obomsawin, who’s latest film, “Professor Norman Cornett - Since When Do We Divorce The Right Answer From An Honest Answer?” - is its world premiere later this evening. 

The Hot Docs Festival Jury consisted of:

Canadian Features: Nahid Persson Sarvestani, filmmaker; Sky Sitney, director of programming, SILVERDOCS; Geoff Pevere, columnist, The Toronto Star.

International Features: John Greyson, filmmaker; Cara Mertes, director of the Documentary Film Program, Sundance Institute; Esther van Messel, CEO, First Hand Films.

Short and Mid-Length Films: Sara Diamond, president, Ontario College of Art and Design; Marie-Anne Raulet, director, Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal; Jean Marie Téno, filmmaker.

An additional award, the Hot Docs Audience Award, along with Hot Docs top ten audience favourites, will be announced on Monday, May 11.

Check out indieWIRE‘s coverage of Hot Docs below:
A Times Square Dive, Frolicking Boys and 6 Days of Gambling Shine at 16th Hot Docs
Hot Docs ‘09: Subjects on the Margins
Hot Docs ‘09: Growing Up, Confronting Reality
Buyers Be Aware: Notable Projects From Toronto’s Doc Forum