The Hot Docs festival wrapped 10 days of pitching, parties and a record number of sold-out screenings on May 2, making 2004 the festival’s most successful year to date.

According to festival director Chris McDonald, the public and industry turned out in record numbers for the 11th annual Hot Docs, held in Toronto April 23 to May 2. Last year, public attendance increased despite the festival being hit by the SARS scare and this year the trend continued with audiences growing by more than 25% to 40,000 and the number of industry delegates increasing to 1,600, about 500 more than last year.

In addition to attracting a growing number of commissioning broadcasters from around the world, the festival also provides an important venue for regional producers to meet with Canadian broadcasters.

Vancouver-based Paperny Films, for example, conducted a slew of business while in Toronto for the festival, including securing development funding for Gay Before God, the tentative title of a one-off on gays in religious communities for VisionTV, pushing its doc series My Fabulous Gay Wedding into preproduction with Global and finalizing production plans for the fourth season of Kink, to be shot in the Prairies.

The festival’s top films and talent were honored at Hot Docs’ awards ceremony, held at the Isabel Bader Theatre April 30. Sarah Goodman’s Army of One, which provides a glimpse into the life of three young people who join the U.S. military, won best Canadian feature.

Peter Chappell and Catherine Peix won for best feature direction in Hot Docs’ Canadian Spectrum for The Origins of AIDS, an investigation into the medical profession. Marilu Mallet took the award for best director in the Canadian Spectrum program for her short doc La Cueca Sola, which also won best Canadian short.

This year’s Audience Award went to Death in Gaza, a story about Palestinian youth, for which U.K. director James Miller gave his life. Miller was shot by an Israeli soldier while making the film. For a full list of winners, visit the Hot Dos website.

-www.hotdocs.ca