Standard Operation Procedure and Man On Wire Make Their Canadian Premeire at Hot Docs
Posted by Jay C on March 12th, 2008
Filed under: News
It’s almost that time again. This years Hot Docs festival will take place April 17-27 in the magical metropolis of Toronto, Ontario. I hope to catch a few more films than I did last year, and it looks like there’s going to be some great stuff to choose from thanks to the ’special presentations’ list just released on the official Hot Docs website. Some stand out films include Errol Morris’ ‘Standard Operating Procedure’ and James Marsh’s ‘Man on Wire’. Check out the full list below and let us know what films you are interested in.
ALL TOGETHER NOW
D: Adrian Wills | 85 MIN | Canada | World Premiere
World Premiere
This not-to-be-missed, behind-the-scenes story of the Cirque du Soleil’s latest spectacle, Love, inspired by the Beatles’ music, features fabulous stock footage of the Beatles and cameos by Ringo Starr, Paul McCartney and Yoko Ono.
BETRAYAL (NERAKHOON)
D: Ellen Kuras, Thavisouk Phrasavath | 95 MIN | USA | Canadian Premiere
Filmed over 20 years, this epic story of one family’s incredible journey from war-torn Laos to the mean streets of New York City offers a poetic, deeply personal look at the hidden, human face of war’s “collateral damage”.
BIGGER, STRONGER, FASTER
D: Christopher Bell | 106 MIN | USA | International Premiere
Is it still cheating if everyone’s doing it? This engaging and provocative examination of America’s steroid culture offers illuminating insight into the ethical and health issues of this current worldwide phenomenon.
THE BLACK LIST
D: Timothy Greenfield-Sanders | 87 MIN | USA | International Premiere
The term “blacklist” gets poignantly redefined. African-Americans, including Chris Rock, Rev. Al Sharpton, Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Toni Morrison, share directly with the camera their vividly personal and politically controversial views on black America.
CITIZEN HAVEL
D: Pavel Koutecky, Miroslav Janek | 118 MIN | Czech Republic | North American Premiere
An absorbing and unprecedented study, this masterful observational film follows Vaclav Havel from 1992, on the cusp of his election as president of the newly formed Czech Republic, through his return to civilian life in 2003.
FOOTBALL UNDERCOVER
D: David Assmann, Ayat Najafi | 86 MIN | Germany | International Premiere
Winner of Berlin International Film Festival’s Teddy Award!
The first official friendly match between the Iranian women’s soccer team and a local Berlin team is the background for incredible bureaucracy, hypocrisy, irony and personality…but it’s the girl power - Iranian style - that prevails.
THE FORGOTTEN WOMAN
D: Dilip Mehta | 90 MIN | Canada, India | World Premiere
Shot entirely in India, this visually stunning and powerful call for human rights exposes the dire situation of millions of widows who are forced into isolation and poverty by age-old traditions. Co-presented with Filmi - South Asian Film Festival.
GREEN PORNO
D: Jody Shapiro, Isabella Rossellini | 6 MIN | USA | Canadian Premiere Isabella Rossellini gets buggy and vividly enlightens us on the sex life of insects. Selections from the GREEN PORNO series will screen prior to opening night presentations as well as with select Special Presentations.
HER NAME IS SABINE
D: Sandrine Bonnaire | 85 MIN | France | Canadian Premiere
Winner of Cannes’ FIPRESCI Award (Director’s Fortnight)!
French actress Sandrine Bonnaire uses intimate home movie footage to create a loving portrait of Sabine, her 38-year-old autistic sister, and to trace her behavioural decline while living in institutional care.
HOLD ME TIGHT, LET ME GO
D: Kim Longinotto | 100 MIN | UK | Canadian Premiere
Winner of Britdoc’s Best British Feature Documentary!
For the 40 trouble children who call it home, Mulberry Bush is their last chance. Expelled from school for extreme behaviour, they are given three years at the Oxford boarding school to turn their lives around.
MAN ON WIRE
D: James Marsh | 90 MIN | UK | Canadian Premiere
Winner of Sundance’s World Cinema Jury Prize (Documentary)!
Grand Jury and Audience awards winner at Sundance, MAN ON WIRE grippingly recounts the incredible and inspiring “art crime” committed by Philippe Petit, who conspired to tightrope walk between the Twin Towers in 1974.
STANDARD OPERATING PROCEDURE
D: Errol Morris | 118 MIN | USA | Canadian Premiere
Winner of Berlin International Film Festival’s Jury Grand Prix – Silver Bear!
Hot Docs Outstanding Achievement alumnus Errol Morris offers an elegant, penetrating analysis of the incidents of abuse and torture of suspected terrorists at the hands of U.S. forces at the Abu Ghraib prison.
STRANDED, I’VE COME FROM A PLANE THAT CRASHED IN THE MOUNTAINS
D: Gonzalo Arijon | 123 MIN | France | Canadian Premiere
Winner of IDFA’s Joris Ivens Award!
October 1972: A plane carrying 45 members of the Uruguayan rugby team crashes into the Andes. Thirty-five years later, all 16 survivors reunite at the crash site to tell one of the greatest survival stories of all time.
TRIAGE: DR. JAMES ORBINSKI’S HUMANITARIAN DILEMMA
D: Patrick Reed | 88 MIN | Canada | Canadian Premiere
TRIAGE chronicles the return of the former president of Médecins Sans Frontières/Doctors Without Borders to Somalia and Rwanda, where he confronts his past and the tragedy he faced in choosing who would live and who would die. Co-presented with Dignitas International.
Trip on 
