9 The must-see films at Hot Docs

film Hot Docs April 25 to May 5, Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema Gordon Lightfoot: If You Could Read My Mind

Gordon Lightfoot’s “If You Could Read My Mind” was inspired by an empty house and a broken marriage. Veteran directors Martha Kehoe and Joan Tosoni (who helped produce

Canadian Idol) use the title track—and the hardships that prompted it—as inspiration for their tribute to Lightfoot’s half-century career, from his humble beginnings in small-town 1950s Ontario to his battle with alcoholism and rise to fame as one of the country’s greatest songwriters.

Assholes: A Theory

For millennia, our most celebrated thinkers have asked what it means to be good. But in our time of Trump and Twitter trolls, the opposite question seems far more relevant. For this philosophical deep dive, Canadian director John Walker breaks away from his usual coverage of national issues to present a film inspired by Aaron James’s bestselling book on the most grating subtype of human being: the asshole.

Human Nature

In his directorial debut, Adam Bolt examines CRISPR, the cutting-edge biotechnological breakthrough that allows scientists to edit human DNA with precision and ease, paving the way to miraculous cures for genetically rooted medical conditions. But the film also raises the dystopic spectre of CRISPR’s less laudable ends, such as interfering with nature, taking evolution into our own hands and designing custom children.

nîpawistamâsowin: We Will Stand Up

In August 2016, Gerald Stanley shot Colton Boushie, a young Cree man from Saskatchewan, in the head at point-blank range. Stanley was later acquitted by an all-white jury, sparking widespread outrage aimed at both the Canadian legal system and the pervasive anti-Indigenous racism of the prairies. Directed by Gemini Award–winning Cree scholar and filmmaker Tasha Hubbard, this chronicle of the Boushie family’s fight for justice is a searing take on inequality and institutional discrimination.

Push

Swedish director Fredrik Gertten enlists a cast of journalists and economists to answer a question that’s become all too familiar to Torontonians: why is city living so expensive? The resulting exposé looks at metropolises around the world—from Barcelona to Toronto—to unpack how private equity firms, unethical developers and the international housing market have manufactured a global homelessness crisis.