Following the success of its 1999 Australian Exchange Programme, the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is setting up another exchange for Canadian doc filmmakers, this year with Nordisk Panorama, an annual festival celebrating Nordic docs and shorts and taking place in a different Nordic country each year. The 2000 festival runs from Sept. 20-24 in Bergen, Norway.

As part of the exchange, Hot Docs will send up to 15 Canadian documentary producers/directors, emerging and established, to the festival and to the preceding, two-day, Nordisk Forum, a pitching forum for the cofinancing of docs.

Two of the forum’s pitching slots have been reserved for Canadian production teams and the Nordisk festival is considering mounting a sidebar screening program featuring current Canadian docs.

‘It’s like a trade mission,’ says Hot Docs executive director Chris McDonald. ‘It helps stimulate international partnerships and it’s also a way to promote our festival abroad.’

The hope is that the Nordic festival will send delegates to Hot Docs, which is considering doing a spotlight on Nordic docs as part of the program, adds McDonald.

Last year, Australia sent 40 delegates and Hot Docs launched a spotlight which screened 10 Australian works.

Hot Docs 2001 runs April 30 to May 6 in Toronto. *