Hot Docs president warns this year's festival could be its last without more financial support

This year's Hot Docs Festi‐ val could be the last with‐ out more support from government funding part‐ ners, said the non-profit's president.

Marie Nelson said the or‐ ganization is still recovering from losses accumulated during the COVID-19 pan‐ demic, including the two-year shutdown of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema and the cancellation of the annual in‐ ternational documentary film festival, which returned in 2023.

"We are now turning back to [the] government to say, yes it was great to provide some support during the pandemic, but let's not think that the pandemic is over for us," Nelson told CBC Radio's Metro Morning on Monday.

The festival's government partners include the Canada Council for the Arts, the On‐ tario Arts Council and the Toronto Arts Council, ac‐ cording to the Hot Docs web‐ site. CBC News has reached out to all three for comment.

Simply re-opening the cin‐ ema doors was not enough after the pandemic, Nelson said, as audiences had to be rebuilt.

A significant part of the Hot Docs audience was peo‐ ple who were particularly vul‐ nerable during the pandemic and "maybe the last folks to decide to go back to their regular habits as far as turn‐ ing out for cinemas," she said.

LISTEN | Hot Docs presi‐ dent says festival's future at risk

Many of the donations Hot Docs receives support projects, rather than baseline operating costs, Nelson said. For example, she said there are a certain number of union roles that need to be occupied in the cinema at all times.

Though showing fewer films at the festival is one way to cope with funding constraints, Nelson said doing so would be a signifi‐ cant loss.

"For us to cede that terri‐ tory in a city that loves docu‐ mentary as much as Toronto does, enough that it support‐ ed the world's first documen‐ tary film cinema … would be an incredible loss," she said.

The organization also runs education programs for students across Canada and provides millions of dollars in funding to documentary film‐ makers, she said.

Arts council in 'close communication' with Hot Docs

The Canadian Council for the

Arts, one of the festival's gov‐ ernment partners, is carefully monitoring the situation at Hot Docs and is in "close communication" with the or‐ ganization, said Lise Ann Johnson, acting director gen‐ eral of arts-granting pro‐ grams at the council, in an email.

She said the council rec‐ ognizes the range of chal‐ lenges being faced by arts or‐ ganizations as they rebuild from the pandemic.

"While the pandemic may be receding for many Canadi‐ ans, the long-term impact of the pandemic on the arts sector continues to be felt," she said.

Johnson said Hot Docs re‐ ceives an annual grant of $63,000 through the council. In the past, the organization has received funding for market development, digital transformation projects and to acquire specialized equip‐ ment, she said.

"Unfortunately, the Coun‐ cil does not have the means to rescue individual organiza‐ tions in financial difficulty," Johnson said.

However, she added that the council is working closely with organizations like Hot

Docs "who find themselves in sudden financial difficulty, to provide flexibility and other kinds of support where pos‐ sible."

CBC News also reached out to the Ontario Arts Coun‐ cil and the Toronto Arts Council for comment. Both councils are partners of the festival.

Other festivals report fi‐ nancial issues

Hot Docs is not the only Toronto festival to report funding concerns in recent months. Programming for the Toronto Fringe Festival will be reduced by almost 25 per cent due to low atten‐ dance and a loss of financial support from a provincial grants fund, according to re‐ porting by the Toronto Star.

Last month, the Just for Laughs comedy festival an‐ nounced it was cancelling its 2024 event because of an "unsustainable" financial situ‐ ation, according to a com‐ pany spokesperson.

Nelson said she thinks Hot Docs and other strug‐ gling Canadian arts organiza‐ tions are likely facing com‐ mon issues. Fundamentally, she said all organizations that rely on live events for significant parts of their busi‐ ness are being impacted in a similar way.

"I think you could peel back the layers and say we are each facing very similar constraints," she said.

Despite funding concerns, Nelson said she is hopeful the festival will continue bey‐ ond its 31st edition, set to begin next month from April 25 to May 5.

"At moments like this, one of the things that distin‐ guishes Canada is their sup‐ port for arts and culture," she said.