Hot Docs Announces Jury Members

TORONTO, March 7: Hot Docs
has announced the lineup of filmmakers, industry professionals and journalists
who will be a part of this year’s festival jury to select the winning films in
official competition.

The jury will decide the
winners in four categories: Best Canadian Feature Documentary (selected from
the Canadian Spectrum program), Best International Feature Documentary (selected from the
International Spectrum program), Best Short Documentary and Best Mid-Length Documentary
(selected from all programs). Jurors will also select special jury prizes in
each category. Award winners will be announced at the Hot Docs Award
Presentation on Friday, April 25, at 7 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre. The
15th edition of Hot Docs will take place from April 17-27.

For International
features, the jury members are: Elvis Mitchell, a U.S. film critic/radio talk
show host; Johanna Schneller, a freelance journalist from Canada; and Iikka
Vehkalahti, a commissioning editor for YLE TV 2 Documentaries in Finland.

The jurors for Canadian
Features are: Iranian filmmaker Massoud Bahkshi; Canadian producer Michael
Burns; and Rada Sesic, a programmer for IDFA Amsterdam in The Netherlands.

The members who have been
selected to determine the winning film in Short- and Mid-length Films are Molly
Dineen, a British filmmaker/producer; Elena Fortes Acosta, the festival
director of Ambulante Documentary Film Festival in Mexico; and Arturo Perez
Torres, a Canadian filmmaker/producer.

“This year’s jury promises
to be one of the strongest and most diverse in the Festival’s history,” said
Hot Docs’ executive director, Chris McDonald. “Given the exceptional line up of
films this year, the jury should look forward to some lively and interesting
deliberations.”

—By
Irene Lew