Jean-Simon Chartier’s Playing Hard is among the 15 features slated to screen as part of the Special Presentations program at Hot Docs 2018.

The program features a collection of world and international premieres, award winners from the international festival circuit and “works by master filmmakers or featuring some star subjects.”

Playing Hard will have its world premiere at the Toronto festival. Produced by Montreal’s MC2, the 90-minute film documents a Montreal game studio’s efforts to roll out a potential blockbuster while navigating internal and industry strife.

Also headed to the fest are EyeSteelFilm’s Anote’s Ark (pictured), which premiered at Sundance. Directed by Mathieu Rytz, the film documents the crisis faced by the low-lying nation of Kiribati, which is in danger of disappearing in the coming decades due to rising sea levels.

Meanwhile, Israel/Canada copro The Oslo Diaries, which also debuted at Sundance, will have its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs. The film, by Hilla Medalia from Israel’s Medalia Productions’ and Ina Fichman from Montreal-based Intuitive Pictures, details the secret peace talks between the Israelis and Palestinians held in Norway’s capital in 1992. HBO recently picked up U.S. linear and streaming rights to the doc, which will air in Canada on CBC’s documentary Channel.

Other notable projects heading to the Toronto-set festival include Morgan Neville’s Won’t You Be My Neighbor?, which provides an intimate portrait of Fred Rogers; Tommy Avallone’s Bill Murray Stories: Life Lessons Learned from a Mythical Man, an investigative doc in search of the acclaimed actor; Lisa D’Apolito’s Tribeca-opening documentary Love, Gilda, about the late, legendary comedian Gilda Radner; and Don Argott’s Believer, which follows Imagine Dragons frontman Dan Reynolds as he struggles with his faith.

The 2018 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival Hot Docs runs April 26 to May 6.

The complete Special Presentations program and the full selection of films to screen at Hot Docs will be announced on March 20, including the 2018 opening night film.

From Realscreen