The eighth annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival wrapped with an awards ceremony on May 6, where East Coast survivor docs rang in strong for Canada.

Capturing the gold award for best Canadian documentary was My Left Breast, Newfoundland director Gerry Rogers’ courageous and life-affirming diary of her experiences with breast cancer. Rogers was also presented with a cash prize of $5,000 courtesy of Telefilm Canada.

The silver award for best Canadian doc went to Out of the Fire, Toronto producer/director Shelley Saywell’s compelling portrait of photographer Fanya Schulman and her dramatic reunion with fellow WWII Russian resistance fighters.

Internationally acclaimed Canadian arts documentarian Larry Weinstein was honored with the best direction award for Ravel’s Brain, an expressionistic reconstruction of the life of French composer Maurice Ravel. He also received a sound editing/mixing package worth $3,000, courtesy of Tattersall Casablanca.

The Humanitarian Award was given to Breakaway – A Tale of Two Survivors, Nova Scotia director Mathew Welsh’s complex and intimate account of an unusual relationship between two brain injury survivors.

Also at the ceremony, hosted by Canadian film critic Cameron Bailey, Hot Docs co-chairs Louise Lore and Anne Pick presented a special achievement award to Don Haig (Warrendale) for his contribution to more than 500 films, through his production house Film Arts, and as executive producer at the National Film Board.

The gold award for best international doc was seized by Southern Comfort, U.S. filmmaker Kate Davis’ intimate film about the final days of transgendered Southerner Robert Easds. The film was also the winner of Hot Docs’ first audience award.

100% White, British director Leo Regan’s unflinching view of a group of former neo-Nazis, was awarded the silver for best international doc.

The best documentary in the National Spotlight Programme, this year featuring the Nordic countries, was awarded to Vision Man, Sweden-based filmmaker William Long’s portrait of an aging Inuit hunter reflecting on his illustrious past.

Finally, the best first documentary award was shared by two French films: Daniele Arbid’s Alone With War, which follows a young Lebanese woman’s journey back to her homeland 10 years after the civil war; and Living Afterwards, Laurent Becue-Renard’s account of three Bosnian women attempting to recover from their wartime trauma. *