Hot Docs Audience Awards

The Hot Docs Audience Awards are annual film awards, presented by the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival to the most popular films as voted by festival audiences. There are currently two awards presented: the Hot Docs Audience Award, presented since 2001 to the most popular film overall regardless of nationality, and the Rogers Audience Award, presented since 2017 to the most popular Canadian film.

The Rogers Audience Award comes with a CA$50,000 prize from the Rogers Group of Funds, and is considered the most important award at the festival. Although the festival releases a preview list of the Top 20 contenders in audience award voting while the festival is underway, the Canadian films in the list are identified only as a film that is eligible for the Rogers Award rather than by title, so as not to give away the Rogers Award contenders in advance of the final announcement. The festival concludes with a repeat screening of the Rogers Audience Award winner.

If a Canadian film wins the overall award, then the Canadian award is not given to a different film in lieu, but instead the same film wins both awards. This practice was diverged from for the first time at the 2023 festival, where Philippe Falardeau's documentary television series Lac-Mégantic: This Is Not an Accident was the overall winner of the Audience Award; although a Canadian project, it comprised episodes of a television series rather than a feature film, and thus was not deemed eligible for the Rogers Award, which instead went to the film Someone Lives Here.[1]

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic in Canada, in both 2020 and 2021 the festival opted to split the Canadian award and its associated prize money among all of the five highest-ranked Canadian films of the year instead of singling out only the top-ranked Canadian film.[2] In 2022, the festival split the Canadian award among three films instead of five, and returned to naming a single winner in 2023.[1]

Hot Docs Audience Award
YearFilmDirector(s)Ref
2001Southern ComfortKate Davis[3]
2002The Last Just ManSteven Silver[4]
2003War BabiesRaymonde Provencher[5]
2004Death in GazaJames Miller[6]
2005Street FightMarshall Curry[7]
2006A Lion in the HouseSteven Bognar, Julia Reichert[8]
2007War/DanceSean Fine, Andrea Nix Fine[9]
2008Taking Root: The Vision of Wangari MaathaiLisa Merton, Alan Dater[10]
2009The CoveLouie Psihoyos[11]
2010Thunder SoulMark Landsman[12]
2011Somewhere BetweenLinda Goldstein Knowlton[13]
2012Chasing IceJeff Orlowski[14]
2013Muscle ShoalsGreg "Freddy" Camalier[15]
2014The Backward ClassMadeleine Grant[16]
2015UnbrandedPhillip Baribeau[17]
2016Angry InukAlethea Arnaquq-Baril[18]
2017Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the WorldCatherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana[19]
2018TransformerMichael Del Monte[20]
2019MaximaClaudia Sparrow[21]
2020The Walrus and the WhistleblowerNathalie Bibeau[22]
2021Dear Future ChildrenFranz Böhm[23]
2022Eternal SpringJason Loftus[24]
2023Lac-Mégantic: This Is Not an AccidentPhilippe Falardeau[1]

Rogers Audience Award

From 2020 through 2022, due to the COVID-19 pandemic the festival split the Rogers Audience Award and its associated prize money among all of the top five (2020, 2021) or three (2022) films instead of naming only the top film as in other years. For those years, the film that was the overall top Canadian film in audience voting is denoted in the table below with a †.

YearFilmDirector(s)Ref
2017Rumble: The Indians Who Rocked the WorldCatherine Bainbridge, Alfonso Maiorana[19]
2018TransformerMichael Del Monte[20]
2019PreyMatt Gallagher[21]
20209/11 KidsElizabeth St. Philip[22]
First We EatSuzanne Crocker
The Forbidden ReelAriel Nasr
There's No Place Like This Place, AnyplaceLulu Wei
The Walrus and the Whistleblower †Nathalie Bibeau
2021Fanny: The Right to Rock †Bobbi Jo Hart[23]
Hell or Clean WaterCody Westman
Kímmapiiyipitssini: The Meaning of EmpathyElle-Máijá Tailfeathers
Someone Like MeSteve J. Adams, Sean Horlor
Still MaxKatherine Knight
2022Eternal Spring †Jason Loftus[24]
Okay!: The ASD Band FilmMark Bone
Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten ChildrenBarri Cohen
2023Someone Lives HereZack Russell[1]

See also

References
  1. "‘Someone Lives Here’ takes home top prize at Hot Docs film festival". Toronto Star, May 8, 2023.
  2. Daniele Alcinii, "Hot Docs, Rogers to honor five Canadian filmmakers with 2020 Audience Award". RealScreen, May 12, 2020.
  3. Brenda Bouw, "My Left Breast wins gold award at Hot Docs festival". National Post, May 8, 2001.
  4. "Hurley's cavalcade of calamity continues". Toronto Star, May 7, 2002.
  5. "En bref: War Babies a été primé aux Hot Docs". Le Devoir, May 7, 2003.
  6. "Hot Docs announces audience favourites". The Globe and Mail, May 4, 2004.
  7. Laura Bracken, "Hogtown, Little Jesus lead pack at Hot Docs". Playback, May 9, 2005.
  8. "Hot Docs pulls record crowds with 13th fest". Toronto Star, May 9, 2006.
  9. Guy Dixon, "Hot Docs' attendance spikes by 33 per cent". The Globe and Mail, May 1, 2007.
  10. "Hot Docs film fest posts big gain in audience". The Globe and Mail, April 29, 2008.
  11. "'The Cove' wins audience award at Hot Docs film festival". Canadian Press, May 11, 2009.
  12. Nick Aveling, "Hot Docs festival posts record year". National Post, January 28, 2011.
  13. "Hot Docs flocks pick adoption tale". Toronto Star, May 10, 2011.
  14. Linda Barnard, "Record crowds pick Chasing Ice as top film". Toronto Star, May 8, 2012.
  15. "Hot Docs boasts record audience numbers". Windsor Star, May 8, 2013.
  16. Linda Barnard, "Canadian film an audience favourite: The Backward Class tops list as fest wraps with record numbers". Toronto Star, May 6, 2014.
  17. Linda Barnard, "Cowboy tale wrangles Hot Docs audience award: An estimated 200,500 people attended this year's festival, watching 210 films in 11 days". Toronto Star, May 5, 2015.
  18. "Hot Docs wraps with record attendance". Toronto Star, May 10, 2016.
  19. Peter Howell, "Rumble takes two top prizes at Hot Docs 2017 film festival". Toronto Star, May 8, 2017.
  20. Garnet Fraser, "Transformer wins Rogers Audience Award for Best Canadian Documentary at Hot Docs Festival". Toronto Star, May 7, 2018.
  21. Pat Mullen, "‘Maxima’ Wins Hot Docs Audience Award, ‘Prey’ is Top Canadian Doc". Point of View, May 7, 2019.
  22. Katie Scott, "Marineland documentary takes top prize at Hot Docs 2020". Global News, June 8, 2020.
  23. Pat Mullen, "Dear Future Children Wins Audience Award at Hot Docs". Point of View, May 10, 2021.
  24. Jennie Punter, "‘Eternal Spring’ Takes Rogers Audience and Hot Docs Audience Awards". Variety, May 9, 2022.
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