The Hot Docs Forum, Hot Docs’ key international co-financing market event, and Hot Docs Deal Maker, Hot Docs’ curated one-on-one pitch meeting program, wrapped after two days of brisk pitching, networking and deal-making. At the Hot Docs Forum, 20 projects – with 12 female directors and 27 female producers attached – representing 17 countries were presented to a room of over 300 key funders and other decision makers, while at Hot Docs Deal Maker, 70 projects were pitched to 65 buyers at approximately 625 meetings.
“We were overwhelmingly impressed by the stature of the projects that pitched and excited for the enthusiastic responses from the decision makers around the table,” says Hot Docs industry programmer and Forum producer Dorota Lech.
Over $10,000 in cash prizes were awarded to projects at this year’s Hot Docs Forum.
The Corus-Hot Docs Forum Pitch Prize (formerly Shaw Media-Hot Docs Forum Pitch Prize) was awarded to Nomad Film’s Showgirls of Pakistan, which looks at the difficult lives of dancers in the Punjab’s smut theatres and strip shows through the perspective of the brave women. Disbursed from the Corus-Hot Docs Funds, the $10,000 CDN cash prize is awarded to the best Canadian pitch at the Forum as voted on by attending international buyers. Corus’ Andrew Johnson and Hot Docs’ Dorota Lech presented the award to pitch team members Saad Khan, Anam Abbas and Mark Johnston.
The Cuban Hat Award, which offers “real cash, no strings attached” support for powerful and unique projects, was presented to Happy Winter (Indyca, Zenit Arti Audiovisive), directed by Giovanni Totaro and pitched by Simone Catania. Established in 2024 in an impromptu display of collegial support, the Cuban Hat Award is decided from ballots collected from Hot Docs Forum Observers, and the cash prize is raised by passing the hat. This year’s collection brought in $611.75 CDN, which was matched dollar-for-dollar by Hot Docs, bringing the total cash prize to $1,223.50 CDN. The prize also includes two 2024 Hot Docs industry passes, one IDFA accreditation, two passes to Dok Leipzig, as well as consulting sessions with various industry experts. The Cuban hat in which the prize money was collected was presented to Marie Nelson of PBS, named favourite commissioning editor also by Observer ballot. The founders of the Cuban Hat Award, Diego Briceno (Cuibafilms/Pimiento, Montreal) and Giulia Frati (Zelectra Productions, Montreal) announced the winner at the Hot Docs Forum’s closing reception.
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