The Hottest Docs As awards season heats up, Hot Docs brings you a selection of the most acclaimed and awarded documentaries of the year. Series runs December—January Saturday, December 7 & Sunday, December 8 Separated Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris incisively probes the darkest chapter in recent American history: family separations. D: Errol Morris USA, Mexico 2024 93 min More details Saturday, December 14 Daughters Daughters follows the lives of four young girls who prepare for the first ever father/daughter dance in a jail in Washington, DC. What unfolds is an intimate portrayal of childhood that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. D: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae USA 2024 108 min More details Saturday, December 14 & Sunday, December 15 Zurawski v Texas A group of women denied abortions, even at the brink of death, band together with a fearless attorney to sue the state of Texas in an extraordinary effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures—not only for themselves but millions of others. D: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault USA 2024 98 min More details Sunday, December 15 Will & Harper When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self. D: Josh Greenbaum USA 2024 114 min More details Friday, December 20 & Sunday, December 22 Hollywoodgate Immediately after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban occupied the "Hollywood Gate" complex, claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul. The Taliban finds countless aircrafts, weapons and pieces of military equipment. Over one year, HOLLYWOODGATE shows the transformation of an extremist militia into a military regime. D: Ibrahim Nash’at Germany, USA 2024 91 min More details Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 Black Box Diaries Journalist Shiori Ito takes on one of the most powerful institutions in Japan to prosecute her high-profile sexual assailant in a landmark legal case. Using personal footage and hidden cameras, Ito puts it all on the line for justice. D: Shiori Ito Japan, UK, USA 2024 104 min More details Friday, December 27 & Sunday, December 29 Porcelain War Why would anyone craft fragile ceramics in an active war zone? Three Ukrainians, fighting as both soldiers and artists, offer up an unexpected dispatch from the front lines. Creativity combats destruction in this gorgeous Sundance Best US Documentary award-winner. D: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev Ukraine, USA, Australia 2024 87 min More details Friday, January 3 & Sunday, January 5 Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Ernest Cole was the first Black freelance photographer in South Africa, whose early pictures laid bare the injustices of apartheid for a world audience. Cole was exiled to the US, where his experiences were far from his expectations of the American Dream. D: Raoul Peck France, USA 2024 105 min More details Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5 Queendom In defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism in this SXSW documentary. D: Agniia Galdanova USA & France 2024 More details Friday, January 10 & Saturday, January 11 A New Kind of Wilderness On a small farm in the Norwegian forest, a family seeks a wild free existence. However, after a tragic event changes everything, they are forced from their idyllic farm and into the expectations of modern society. D: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen Norway 2024 84 min More details Saturday, January 11 & Sunday, January 12 Union The Amazon Labor Union (ALU)—a group of current and former Amazon workers on New York City’s Staten Island—takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize. D: Brett Story, Stephen Maing USA 2024 104 min More details
Saturday, December 7 & Sunday, December 8 Separated Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris incisively probes the darkest chapter in recent American history: family separations. D: Errol Morris USA, Mexico 2024 93 min More details
Saturday, December 14 Daughters Daughters follows the lives of four young girls who prepare for the first ever father/daughter dance in a jail in Washington, DC. What unfolds is an intimate portrayal of childhood that is both heartbreaking and inspiring. D: Angela Patton, Natalie Rae USA 2024 108 min More details
Saturday, December 14 & Sunday, December 15 Zurawski v Texas A group of women denied abortions, even at the brink of death, band together with a fearless attorney to sue the state of Texas in an extraordinary effort to regain their rights and reproductive futures—not only for themselves but millions of others. D: Maisie Crow, Abbie Perrault USA 2024 98 min More details
Sunday, December 15 Will & Harper When Will Ferrell's good friend Harper comes out as a trans woman, they take a road trip to bond and reintroduce Harper to the country as her true self. D: Josh Greenbaum USA 2024 114 min More details
Friday, December 20 & Sunday, December 22 Hollywoodgate Immediately after the US withdraws from Afghanistan, the Taliban occupied the "Hollywood Gate" complex, claimed to be a former CIA base in Kabul. The Taliban finds countless aircrafts, weapons and pieces of military equipment. Over one year, HOLLYWOODGATE shows the transformation of an extremist militia into a military regime. D: Ibrahim Nash’at Germany, USA 2024 91 min More details
Saturday, December 21 & Sunday, December 22 Black Box Diaries Journalist Shiori Ito takes on one of the most powerful institutions in Japan to prosecute her high-profile sexual assailant in a landmark legal case. Using personal footage and hidden cameras, Ito puts it all on the line for justice. D: Shiori Ito Japan, UK, USA 2024 104 min More details
Friday, December 27 & Sunday, December 29 Porcelain War Why would anyone craft fragile ceramics in an active war zone? Three Ukrainians, fighting as both soldiers and artists, offer up an unexpected dispatch from the front lines. Creativity combats destruction in this gorgeous Sundance Best US Documentary award-winner. D: Brendan Bellomo, Slava Leontyev Ukraine, USA, Australia 2024 87 min More details
Friday, January 3 & Sunday, January 5 Ernest Cole: Lost and Found Ernest Cole was the first Black freelance photographer in South Africa, whose early pictures laid bare the injustices of apartheid for a world audience. Cole was exiled to the US, where his experiences were far from his expectations of the American Dream. D: Raoul Peck France, USA 2024 105 min More details
Saturday, January 4 & Sunday, January 5 Queendom In defiance of Russia’s anti-LGBTQ laws, a queer, 21-year-old artist risks her life performing in surreal costumes throughout Moscow. Jenna Marvin’s radical public performances blend artistry and activism in this SXSW documentary. D: Agniia Galdanova USA & France 2024 More details
Friday, January 10 & Saturday, January 11 A New Kind of Wilderness On a small farm in the Norwegian forest, a family seeks a wild free existence. However, after a tragic event changes everything, they are forced from their idyllic farm and into the expectations of modern society. D: Silje Evensmo Jacobsen Norway 2024 84 min More details
Saturday, January 11 & Sunday, January 12 Union The Amazon Labor Union (ALU)—a group of current and former Amazon workers on New York City’s Staten Island—takes on one of the world’s largest and most powerful companies in the fight to unionize. D: Brett Story, Stephen Maing USA 2024 104 min More details
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