Multicultural newborns and aging Canadian rockers will be in the spotlight at next month’s Hot Docs, which will open with French director Thomas Balmes’ Babies and the story of one of Canada’s biggest bands, Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage.

Babies, which follows the growth of four infants — from Namibia, Mongolia, Tokyo and San Francisco — will make its Canadian debut as the festival’s opening night film on April 29, followed by the Canadian-made Rush doc by Scot McFadyen and Sam Dunn, the duo behind the celebrated Global Metal and Metal: A Headbanger’s Journey.

‘They got the biopic they deserved,’ said Sean Farnel, director of programming at the Toronto festival, of the iconic rock band. Members of Rush will be in attendance for the screening on April 29.

The Hot Docs lineup also includes Steven Soderbergh’s And Everything Is Fine, a tribute to the late Spalding Gray; Bhutto from filmmakers Duane Baughman and Johnny O’Hara, on Pakistan’s former prime minister; Alex Gibney’s Casino Jack and the United States of Money, which looks at fraudster Jack Abramoff; and Kings of Pastry from documentary legends D.A. Pennebaker and Chris Hegedus, who follow the battle to become France’s top pastry chef.

The 23 films in the Canadian program include Maya Gallus’ Dish – Women, Waitressing and the Art of Service and Shelley Saywell’s In the Name of the Family, which looks at an alleged honor killing in Mississauga, ON. John Zaritsky’s Leave Them Laughing takes a look at one woman’s comedic approach to Lou Gehrig’s disease.

A spotlight on South America will include a screening of Nicolas Entel’s Sins of My Father about Pablo Escobar’s son and his deceased father’s legacy.

Kim Longinotto, award-winning director of Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go, Divorce Iranian Style and Rough Aunties, is the winner of this year’s outstanding achievement award and the subject of a retrospective. Also receiving a retrospective is Canadian filmmaker Tahani Rached.

Farnel thinks there might be a few Oscar nominees in this year’s mix — last year’s included best doc winner The Cove as well as Rabbit in Berlin, which won best mid-length doc at the fest and was later nominated for an Academy Award.

Attendance at Hot Docs continues to rise as docs gain popularity with the public.

‘Documentaries can be and do a little bit of everything. They are the Swiss Army knives of film form,’ says Farnel.

Hot Docs runs from April 29 to May 9.

From Realscreen Online