Hot Docs is hoping to help independent cinemas across Canada with the debut of its Hot Docs Independent Cinemas Relief Fund.

The donation-based fund will distribute 14 grants of $2,000 each towards selected applicants, the not-for-profit organization announced today (April 6). Intending to provide urgent financial relief to support independent cinemas in order to better prepare them for their eventual reopening, the fund will see all donations made to Hot Docs through its checkout process or donation form from March 23 to May 9 put towards it.

Cinemas are able to apply through Hot Docs’ website and all donations are eligible for a tax receipt.

“While we realize that $2,000 is not a huge amount of money, right now cinemas are skating on very thin ice and every dollar helps them sustain through the end of this pandemic and will help them rebuild as they try to get audiences back to the cinema. There will be new incremental costs related to changing operations, new safety requirements, and just turning the lights back on that $2,000 will help to cover. We wish we could do more, but this is a start, and we hope that this will raise awareness and encourage others to support,” Hot Docs managing director Alan Black told Playback Daily in a statement.

Developed and administered in consultation with the Network of Independent Canadian Exhibitors (NICE) – which describes itself as an alliance of  Canadian independent cinemas, festivals and professional programmers offering film programming to the public and includes 25 members such as the Vancouver’s Rio Theatre and the Royal Cinema in Toronto – funding will be awarded based on a juried process, which will consider the greatest need as well as geographic representation, according to Hot Docs’ site.

It also noted that submission of an application does not guarantee an applicant will receive a grant and that if fundraising exceeds expectations, the number of grants will increase.

Further, the eligibility criteria identifies that applicants must be located in Canada; be an independent cinema and must not be publicly traded or have more than four locations; operate a physical space that has the primary purpose of year-round film exhibition for public audiences; and have exhibited at least three feature-length documentaries in the 12 months prior to pandemic closures.

The website also notes that if an applicant receives a grant, funding must be used towards eligible costs such as rent, utilities, payroll, insurance, repairs and maintenance required as a result of closures and loan payments, for example.

The application process for the Hot Docs Independent Cinemas Relief Fund will close on May 9.

As reported by Playback Daily yesterday (April 6), cinemas have once again been forced to temporarily shutter across Ontario with the new “emergency brake” implemented by the Ontario government.

Additionally, a Hot Docs spokesperson also told Playback Daily that Hot Docs has been participating in NICE since the beginning of the organization.