Some stats about the festival:
- 11 days
- 165,000 audience
- 395 screenings of 189 films
- 17 theatres across Toronto, plus two films simulcast to 37 theatres across Canada
- 143 films went rush
- nearly 200 film makers and film subjects participated in Q&A
The refurbished Bloor Cinema was a delightful place to see a movie and was filled to its capacity of 727 seats for all the films I attended there. Hot Docs has taken on a major commitment with this theatre and I wish them well in screening great docs throughout the year. I missed many of the films that made the Audience Favourites list or earned Jury awards, but I hope that some of them might find their way onto the screen at the Bloor. I've also always yearned for a chance to catch the winners from past years. I hope the Bloor might be a home to show those films.
Yesterday I attended the second-to-last screening in the Cumberland Theatre, one of the mainstays of the Hot Docs festival. It's sad to see it go, because while TIFF Lightbox is a fantastic venue, it's not in the wonderful cluster that let film goers walk easily from film to film in the Bloor/Avenue Road area. It underlines the difficulty in keeping open smaller theatres screening excellent films that aren't necessarily top box-office. All the more reason to support the Bloor Cinema.
Congratulations to all those at Hot Docs for a great festival. See you next year.
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