When Hot Docs was in its infancy more than a decade ago, a key objective, according to one of the festival’s founders, Rudy Buttignol, was engaging the public in documentary film, and, 11 years later, the festival has exceeded expectations in this regard.

Last year, despite international delegates dropping out like flies as a result of the SARS scare, box-office sales continued to grow and early ticket sales suggest audience numbers will be up again this year.

The eleventh annual Hot Docs International Documentary Festival kicked off 10 days of screenings, parties and industry events in Toronto April 23, and, according to the festival organizers, 20 days after Hot Docs’ box office opened for early-bird purchase, sales had doubled from last year over the same period.

Hot Docs’ executive director Chris McDonald says that although this does not mean overall sales will double this year, it is a good indication that the festival is continuing to attract bigger audiences.

‘It’s almost an antidote to the vision of people being alone and isolated with their computers. Instead, I think there’s an increasing number of people who want to watch a feature-length or short documentary in a theater with other people,’ says Canadian Spectrum programmer Lynne Fernie.

This year’s Canadian Spectrum will showcase 29 films, fewer in number than last year, but with an increase in programming hours, which reflects the growing number of feature-length docs in the lineup. According to Fernie, the number of features submitted was up 60% over last year.

Fernie notes a strong selection of Canadian films taking up issues of globalization, but says the same trend was not as strong in the selection of international films submitted to the festival. She says Canadian docs are typified by ‘a strong sense of commitment to politics, both our own and global, as well as a strong commitment to irony.’

There will be 14 world premieres and four Canadian premieres showcased in the program, which Fernie says contains a good mix of films from established and emerging filmmakers.

The Canadian Spectrum’s opening-night film, The Take, for example, comes from first-time filmmaker Avi Lewis, previously host of CBC’s counterSpin. The film, written by author Naomi Klein, examines how a group in Buenos Aires is taking innovative action to confront Argentina’s economic collapse in 2001. The Take screened April 24 at 7 p.m., with a repeat screening April 26 at 4 p.m.

And veteran broadcast journalist and filmmaker Michael Maclear is being honored with Hot Docs’ Outstanding Achievement Award. Screenings include a retrospective of Maclear’s work from his early days as CBC’s Far East correspondent to the theatrical premiere of his recent POV documentary, Vietnam: Ghosts of War.

‘I don’t know any other event that is so uniquely a gathering of one’s peers so I couldn’t be more delighted,’ Maclear says. ‘I’m honored because Hot Docs has become the worldwide festival for documentaries and it attracts such a global interest.’

Part of Hot Docs’ international success is due to the festival’s premiere industry event, the Toronto Documentary Forum, a pitch session that connects filmmakers with commissioning editors from around the world.

This year, according to TDF director Michaelle McLean, there are a surprising number of arts-inflected projects in the lineup. A total of 350 delegates will attend this year with 35 preselected projects pitching as well as three wildcard slots.

Although the majority of international participants backed out of the 2003 TDF because of SARS, two of last year’s pitches have been completed and are showing this year: the festival’s opening-night film The Ritchie Boys, a Germany/Canada coproduction directed by Christian Bauer, and Army of One from Canadian director Sarah Goodman.

In addition to helping projects in development secure broadcaster funding, the TDF is also an important educational event as observers are given the opportunity to hear different commissioning broadcasters respond to individual projects.

‘Market intelligence is as much what the TDF is about as it is finding broadcast partners,’ says McLean.

Out of more than 1,300 films submitted to the festival, 10 programmers selected just over 100 to screen this year. In addition to the Canadian Spectrum and International Showcase, this year’s programs include Made in… South Africa, a lineup of six docs that celebrate 10 years of democracy in the country through the eyes of emerging filmmakers, and Spotlight on the Netherlands, which includes nine diverse films from Holland.

-www.hotdocs.ca