The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has moved ahead with the announcement of the full lineup for its 31st edition.

The lineup includes 168 documentaries across 16 programs. The films represent 64 countries and include 51 world premieres. The festival also said the official selection is composed of 54% women directors.

The news comes one day after a mass exodus within its programming team was confirmed, including the departure of artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy.

A number of Canadian documentaries are making their world premiere at Hot Docs, with several selected for the Canadian Spectrum Competition.

They include Jérémie Battaglia’s A French Youth (pictured), produced by Montreal’s Extérieur Jour and France’s Les Productions du Lagon and 13 Prods. The doc follows two young men from North Africa who compete in the Camargue races in the south of France. The film is distributed by Les Films du 3 Mars.

Curl Power is a Telus original, written, directed and produced by Josephine Anderson, who produced with Mike Johnston of Vancouver-based Studio 104 Entertainment. The doc depicts the journey of five high school girls pursuing their dream of becoming Canadian National Curling Champions.

Karuara, People of the River follows a group of Indigenous women from Peru who file a lawsuit to demand the government recognize the Marañón River as a person with human rights.

The film is partially animated, with Miguel Araoz Cartagena serving as co-director, cinematographer and animator. Stephanie Boyd is a co-director and co-producer. Additional producers are Leonardo Tello Imaina and Mariluz Canaquiri Murayari, with the latter serving as the main voice of the doc.

My Dad’s Tapes is directed by Kurtis Watson and produced by Rob Viscardis of the Peterborough, Ont.-based prodco Outsideinside. The film shows Watson investigating his father’s suicide after discovering a trove of home video tapes.

Fire Tower is written, directed and produced by Tova Krentzman under the Yukon-based banner Underwire Films. The doc looks at the use of fire towers in the Rocky Mountains to detect wildfires before they spread.

Rounding out the world premieres in the Canadian Spectrum Competition is Me, Michael and I, produced by Avanti-Toast. The doc is written and directed by Nicolas-Alexandre Tremblay and Régis Coussot and follows a Quebecois man obsessed with the late Michael Jackson and wants to resurrect him.

Making its world premiere in the Pop/Life program is Beethoven’s Nine from director Larry Weinstein. The doc is produced by Riddle Films and follows Weinstein in a personal look at understanding the legacy of Ludwig van Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony 200 years after it was composed. Also debuting in the program is Toronto-based Elevation Pictures’ first documentary production Disco’s Revenge, which is directed by Omar Majeed and Peter Mishara. The film posits the question: did disco ever really die?

Debuting in the Persister program is A Mother Apart from director Laurie Townshend. The film is produced by Oya Media Group’s Alison Duke and Ngardy Conteh George and the National Film Board of Canada’s Justine Pimlott. It follows a woman who has been searching for the mother who abandoned her while being a single mother herself.

Another world premiere is Ari’s Theme, which is bowing in the Emergence program. The doc follows a music composer with a rare genetic condition that causes his muscles to deteriorate, and who found his life’s purpose through creating music. The film is directed and produced by SALAZAR duo Nathan Drillot and Jeff Lee Petry.

The full lineup is available on the Hot Docs website. The special presentations were announced earlier this month.

Hot Docs will run from April 25 to May 5.

Image courtesy of Hot Docs