#PantsWorthy: Hot Docs 2024 Highlights
Hot Docs 2024 // #PantsWorthy // Eno // Gondry // Scorsese // Magic
Yo…
You hear that? That’s the Rocky theme song playing, because the Hot Docs Film Festival starts today: 168 documentaries screening over the next 10 days.
As such this’ll be a local Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival dispatch for today’s proceedings and conversations.
The 2024 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival runs from Thursday, April 25 to Sunday, May 5 in downtown Toronto.
This year Hot Docs is celebrating it’s 31st anniversary. I’ve been gratefully media approved for about 10 of those years. Magnificent festival.
I’ve consumed astonishing docs and encountered some wonderful filmmakers.
Like, here’s my 2023 Hot Docs My Summer Lair interviews:
Satan Wants You
The Satanic Panic of the 1980s ignites when a psychiatrist and his patient write a memoir, in which recovered-memory therapy reveals the woman’s abduction by baby-stealing Satanists.
30 for 30: I’m Just Here For The Riot
A game seven Stanley Cup finals loss to the Boston Bruins sparked a massive riot in downtown Vancouver. Police cars were overturned and burned, windows shattered, stores were looted, and waves of young people were caught in the mayhem.
Praying For Armageddon
An influential movement of Christian fundamentalists in the US, who with millions of dollars in backing and threads into the government are fighting for the end of the world.
I got a type.
Documentaries are fantastic because you can be a tourist in a strange world. You can visit scary worlds and encounter strange people; hear outlandish tales and puzzle over the weird. Odd people lead odd lives.
Below, I’m offering 7 #PantsWorthy recommendations for this year’s festival.
Hot Docs Details:
The festival runs from Thursday, April 25, 2024 – Sunday, May 5, 2024.
Tickets:
Single tickets are $20 for regular Festival screenings and $23 to Special Presentations screenings ($18-$20 members)
A Festival 12-Pack is $209 and a Festival 20-Pack is $299.
Click on Tickets for options.
Now: some sweet Sammy Suggestions for Hot Docs 2024…they are worth putting on pants for. (Where there is no official trailer or authorized clip I’ve shared something to provide context.)
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: ENO
Director: Gary Hustwit
Screenings: Sat April 27 2:30 pm & Mon April 29 6:30 pm
Why Pants? This is fascinating. Brian Eno is a musician, record producer and visual artist. He’s worked with and produced records for The Talking Heads, David Bowie and U2. (His ambient music is outstanding.)
So, yeah: Eno has earned a documentary. I’m already IN. Only his issue was…he didn’t want a traditional chronological documentary: the birth and growing up chapter, the chapter working with Bowie etc. That’s…boring, right?
So what director
and his team have come up with is deploying generative AI as a documentary randomizer. Meaning viewers will yes get a documentary snapshot of Eno, but not everyone will get the exact same perspective.Apparently Gary Hustwit (he directed Helvetica and Objectified both highly recommended docs) funneled a whole bunch of Eno footage into this AI algorithm and it spits out a different documentary every single time.
You’re not going to see the same documentary twice. Rather this is more like a performance than a documentary. (There are only two Eno screenings yet that means 2 different documentaries and different emotional reactions. When people talk about this doc they’re not all talking about the same thing. I’m not sure how it’ll stream if it’s pick up by a distributor.)
And if you know Brian Eno you instantly get how perfect and impressive this all is. Eno has always been experimental. He’s a super restless and creative spirit. Because it’s Brian Eno, it all works. This is a fascinating AI experiment.
I would circle Eno, he’s a cool creator plus it adds needed nuance to the many the AI discussion and debates we’re having. And really it’s pretty dope.
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: THE CLICK TRAP
Director: Peter Porta
Screenings: Wed May 1 1:15 pm & Fri May 3 5:15 pm
Why Pants? Did you see The Beekeeper? It’s a Jason Statham action movie that came out this past January.
Clair Huxtable is a retired schoolteacher, she lives alone. Well mostly alone: she has a tenant in her barn on her property, Statham of course who is ah…well, a mild mannered beekeeper. One fateful day, Clair Huxtable falls for a phishing scam and is instantly robbed of over $2 million, the majority of which belongs to a charity organization she manages.
Devastated, she takes her own life. When he finds her body: Statham is furious and justice for Clair Huxtable means going after the digital scammers. Guns, bombs and even a grisly scene with a bandsaw all ensue. If you set aside the super fun Statham rampage: you get The Click Trap.
The last third of this documentary from Spain focuses on the phishing scams similar to the one that digitally robbed Clair Huxtable. In The Beekeeper she accurately took her own life and sadly, as The Click Trap confirms this is an awful response to being financially compromised. One deadly click results in the loss of finances, costly lawyers and even the loss of life. It’s horrible.
That’s the type of internet we want? For real?
This engrossing documentary is more than another Facebook is evil lecture. It’s a commentary on human nature. In The Beekeeper Jason Statham is the star and the hero but it’s disturbing the bad guys are an internet scam company…evil geeks. After all, somebody has to design The Click Trap, right?
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: MICHEL GONDRY, DO IT YOURSELF
Director: François Nemeta
Screenings: Sat April 27 8:15 pm & Sun April 28 2:45 pm & Sat May 4 5:30 pm
Why Pants? Have you seen Fell in Love with a Girl a White Stripes music video? All stop motion Lego animation. That was directed by Michel Gondry.
Have you seen The Matrix? When Neo is yoga-bending backwards dodging bullets that was known as Bullet Time. That comes from Michel Gondry’s music video work.
Have you seen Dave Chappelle’s Block Party with musical performances by The Fugees, The Roots and Kanye? That was directed by Michel Gondry.
Have you seen Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind? Fantastic movie. Yes, that was directed by Michel Gondry.
You know Michel Gondry even if you don’t know Michel Gondry. (My favourites are his work with Björk, Daft Punk and Chemical Brothers.) His stylish creativity means he’s earned this Last Dance documentary.
This doc is gonna be popular; look who is interviewed in it: Kylie Minogue, Beck, Jack White, Spike Jones, Jack Black.
This documentary is a bit more TIFF like than Hot Docs because it’s Gondry. Gondry can be a little classy: you have to tuck in your shirt but only a little bit.
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: LOST IN THE SHUFFLE
Director: Jon Ornoy
Screenings: Mon April 29 5:15 pm & Wed May 1 3:15 pm
Why Pants? “A deck of cards: that’s something special. Simple yet adaptable. Familiar and yet mysterious. It’s like the Swiss Army Knife of magic.”
That’s magician Shawn Farquhar; his insight opens the documentary. A deck of cards is an ordinary household item that we simply take for granted.
For example the King of Hearts is known as the Suicide King due to the sword embedded in his skull. Yeah, go look. 4 King cards…yet only Hearts is stabbing himself in the head. Why?!
Magic is known for what it conceals but magic is known for what it reveals. A magician breaking down playing cards, investigating the origins of these strange symbols is so compelling.
I dig magic. Shawn Farquhar is the magician in this documentary; that’s usually my sweet spot. I’m IN.
But I also don’t know anything about playing cards or where these strange symbols came from. This is not only magic, it’s also exploring a mystery trying to decipher what these hieroglyphs mean.
Typically children have an interest in in magic, because you know, they’re children. Yet adults benefit from magic: it’s wonderful when you can disrupt your life with some much needed wonder and delight. I hope that doesn’t get Lost In The Shuffle, you know.
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: MADE IN ENGLAND: THE FILMS OF POWELL AND PRESSBURGER
Director: David Hinton
Screenings: Sat April 27 1:00 pm & Tue April 30 5:00 pm & Sun May 5 6:45 pm
Why Pants? Martin Scorsese is in Made In England talking about the movies of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. That’s fresh when he talks movies. It’s a master class.
And that’s the entire hook of this documentary.
If you don’t know Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s work that’s cool: you know Scorsese. Brew a tea and chill with this documentary.
If you know Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s work that’s cool: you know Scorsese. Brew a tea and chill with this documentary.
Scorsese is 81 years old; I dunno how much longer we’ll have him so enjoy him and take every opportunity you get to hang out with him.
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: DISCO'S REVENGE
Director: Omar Majeed & Peter Mishara
Screenings: Thu May 2 8:30 pm & Fri May 3 8:00 pm
Why Pants? Disco’s Revenge features interviews and performances by Nile Rodgers and Chic, Billy Porter, Nona Hendryx and LaBelle, Grandmaster Flash, Fab Five Freddy, Nicky Siano, Earl Young and The Trammps, Jellybean Benitez, Kevin Saunderson, Sylvester and Martha Wash and many others. Yo. Now that’s a party.
Netflix recently added Morgan Neville’s Saint of Second Chances documentary which references Disco Demolition Night. PBS disco double dipped: back in October 2023 they broadcast American Experience: The War on Disco. And on June 18th (#SetTheVCR!) they’ll broadcast a three-part docuseries: Disco: Soundtrack of A Revolution.
Collectively this is truly Disco’s Revenge.
Disco Stu was always a one-note joke on The Simpsons. Yet he represents how things constantly fall in and out of fashion. Disco Stu was a dumb joke in the ‘90s now…he’s cool again. Because Disco is cool again. This is Disco’s Revenge. Check this out on behalf of Disco Stu because he’s right.
🎥 SAMMY SUGGESTION: BEETHOVEN’S NINE
Director: Larry Weinstein
Screenings: Sun April 28 5:15 am & Tue April 30 11:30 am
Why Pants? If you’ve watch Die Hard you know Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony aka Ode To Joy.
Larry Weinstein the director interviewed in Variety said: “It was Beethoven’s love letter to humanity, and I was doing my own love letter at the same time. It affected the depth of my interviews. What are the chances that you’re doing a film about humanism and humanity, that you’re asking if we are better off now than we were in the past?”
The description of this documentary asks: “Can a work of art remain relevant 200 years after its creation?” Beethoven is funny…he’s rarely if ever trending yet he remains popular. You know Beethoven and you know Ode To Joy. Classics are classics for obvious reasons.
There’s lots more documentaries to check out:
The Conquest of Space
American Cats: The Good, The Bad, And The Cuddly
Secret Mall Apartment
A Photographic Memory
TR(ol)L: New Kids on the Block, Total Request Live and the Chain Letter that Changed the Internet
It’s an outstanding line up this year! If none of these suggestions stand out, there’s comments below…hit me up with what you’re curious about and I can Tinder match you to a sexy documentary.
Hot Dog! It’s Hot Docs Time…
Sammy Younan
-28-
Sammy Younan is the affable host of My Summer Lair podcast: think NPR’s Fresh Air meets Kevin Smith: interviews & impressions on Pop Culture.