Hot Docs has confirmed it will have a limited reopening of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema this month.

The documentary not-for-profit Hot Docs issued an update on Thursday (Sept. 19) about its plans for the coming months, which will include a limited reopening of its year-round headquarters and theatrical venue this fall in advance of a promised return of the annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival next year.

The Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto was temporarily shuttered in June in the wake of the tempestuous start to the organization’s year, which saw a mass walkout of members of its programming team in March, just weeks before the start of the 2024 festival, over allegations of a toxic workplace culture.

The next month saw the embattled organization take yet another hit when it was denied funds from the Canadian federal government’s $120 million allotment to arts bodies, despite Hot Docs president Marie Nelson’s public appeal for financial aid prior to the programmer exodus. Nelson subsequently stepped down from her post in July, a month after the theater’s closure.

As the organization announced at the time, the summer shutdown of the Hot Docs cinema was intended to both “address our immediate cash flow needs” while also providing time for the organization’s leadership team to “regroup and engage in critical strategic planning to address our deficit.”

As part of that regrouping, the Hot Docs board of directors was slimmed down from 14 members to a three-person “working board” comprising Nicholas de Pencier, co-founder of Mercury Films; Kevin Wong, COO of tech firm Nulogu; and Lydia Luckevich of Pemberley Investments Ltd.

According to the statement issued by Hot Docs interim executive director Janice Dawe and managing director Heidi Tao Yang, the summer hiatus has allowed the leadership team to accomplish “significant work” in stabilizing the organization and “establish a solid foundation for a sustainable path forward.” As part of this, the working board has “laid the groundwork to welcome new directors needed for effective future governance,” and will embark on a search to find a new executive director for the organization this fall.

On the financial side, Hot Docs says that it has been “actively addressing the organization’s deficit by implementing plans to right-size the organization, reducing operating costs and prioritizing core programming and initiatives in our future planning.”

The release also said that there has been regular engagement with “major sponsors, partners and funders at all levels of government, who’ve unanimously expressed their desire for the organization to survive and thrive, and many have confirmed their ongoing support.”

Hot Docs confirmed that it will reopen its cinema later this month, as per the original plan for a three-month closure, but on a more limited scale, with screenings restricted to third-party rentals and select partner events. The organization stated that it will “gradually welcome back members of our cinema team who were placed on temporary layoff with this summer’s closure.”

The limited resumption of operations at the theatre is also framed as a precursor for a more wide-ranging revitalization, as the statement promises further updates about a return to regular year-round programming and details of the 2025 Hot Docs Festival throughout the coming months.

A version of this story originally appeared in Realscreen

Image courtesy of Hot Docs