When Hot Docs! wrapped Feb. 19 in Toronto with an awards dinner, the second annual documentary industry forum and public festival had doubled its number of delegates from just over 200 in ’94 to about 450 this year.

Industry sessions included a pitch session hosted by Pat Ferns, an examination of legal quandaries common to documentary films, and a session on form and process featuring L’Affaire Norman William director/producer Jacques Godbout and Hoop Dreams director Steve James.

Barri Cohen, cochair of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus and a member of the Hot Docs! steering committee, says response from filmmakers to the pitch session was very positive, although some complained that a few of the broadcasters on the panel were ‘arrogant and glib.’

Cohen says the session demonstrated ‘just how challenging it is to try and interest broadcasters in social and cultural issues and how difficult it is to try and give them a visual sense of your film.’

Some delegates expressed concern that the pitch session reinforced the power broadcasters hold in shaping documentaries. ‘There is no question filmmakers are shaping their films to suit the mandates of broadcasters,’ says Cohen. ‘But change doesn’t happen overnight.’

Broadcaster policy and the impact it has on documentaries is on the cifc agenda, says Cohen, and the caucus is planning a strategy this year to address the issue.

Gerry Flahive, head of the National Film Board Ontario Centre, says Hot Docs! resembles the Toronto International Film Festival Symposium more than its own predecessor, the Grierson Seminar, which focused on the art of documentary filmmaking.

‘It demonstrated how television-oriented documentary has become. The filmmakers didn’t talk about that before, but then most films were not finding their way onto television. It’s an essential difference.’

Cohen says there was obvious frustration among audience members that a lot of documentaries aren’t making it onto the small screen. She hopes Hot Docs! ‘is a good way to bridge the gap and hopefully to educate both the broadcasters and the viewers.’

At the awards gala, Peter Mettler’s Picture of Light came out in front with three awards, followed by Ali Kazimi’s Narmada: A Valley Rises with two awards and a special mention in the best of festival category. Mettler won for best science/technology/environment documentary, best cinematography and best writing, while Kazimi garnered best direction and best political documentary awards.

The Best of the Festival award went to A Brush With Life, produced by Glen Salzman and directed by Martin Duckworth, which also won for best social documentary.

Other winners were David Rimmer and Dennis Burke for best arts/culture documentary, Under the Lizards, and producer Mary Jane Patterson and director Paul Carriere for best history/ biography documentary, Laure Riese. A special mention in the science/technology/environment documentary category went to producer Issac Isitan’s L’Age de la Performance, directed by Carole Poliquin.

For docs produced by broadcasters for ongoing series, Through These Eyes from producer/director Sue Dando won for best arts/culture/biography; Great Lakes Alive: The Great Experiment by producer/director David Way took best science/technology/environment; and The Trouble with Evan, produced and directed by Neil Docherty was named best social/political documentary.

In the craft categories, Mark Korven won best musical score for Hearts of Hate, Glen Hodgins took best overall sound for Peacekeepers at War, and Howard Goldberg walked off with best editing honors for Longshots.