The 6th annual Hot Docs festival will screen 50 Canadian films, culled from 300 submissions, which will compete for awards in 15 categories.

Set for May 5-9 in Toronto, the international doc fest will showcase over 70 films in four categories, but unlike recent years, only Canadian projects are eligible for competition.

And in an effort to increase public participation, for the first time this year evening gala screenings of recent international documentaries have been added. The Hot Docs program will include a lifetime achievement award and retrospective of an international documentarian and a national spotlight. An industry center and conference, micro-meetings and producer breakfasts are also on the agenda.

This year screenings will be held at the Royal Theatre in Toronto’s Little Italy. The awards gala will take place at the Royal York Hotel May 9.

Following are some of the nomination highlights:

Nominated for best feature are Paul Jay’s Hitman Hart: Wrestling With Shadows, Kevin McMahon’s Intelligence, Nettie Wild’s A Place Called Chiapas, Simcha Jacobovici’s Quest for the Lost Tribes and Richard Boutet’s Survivants de L’Apocalypse.

Vying for best history doc are Mala Rayner’s Deadly Seas, Patricio Henriquez’s The Last Stand of Salvador Allende, John Kramer’s The Man Who Might Have Been, Guo Fangfang’s Scarred By History and Brian McKenna’s War of 1812.

Best political doc nominees are Judy Jackson’s It Takes A Child, Rene Sioui Labelle’s Kanata, Anne Henderson’s Road from Kampuchea and Russell S. Bennett and Sarah Jane Flynn’s Stoned: Hemp Nation On Trial.

In the social issue – broadcaster category are Doll Hospital, directed by Donna Caruso, Indian Posse by Katerina Cizek, Loyalties by Lesley Ann Patten, Plaisir Honteux by Michelle Desauiniers and Street City by Bay Weyman.