March 25, 2025 – Toronto – National Film Board of Canada (NFB)
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) will be at Hot Docs in Toronto with a stellar selection of six NFB documentaries, including Winnipeg director Noam Gonick and Toronto producer Justine Pimlott’s feature doc Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance, presented Thursday, April 24, at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema as the festival’s opening night film.
NFB filmmakers will be attending select screenings. The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival runs from April 24 to May 4, 2025.
Parade: Queer Acts of Love & Resistance to kick off festival
A world premiere Special Presentation at Hot Docs, Parade captures pivotal moments that sparked Canada’s 2SLGBTQI+ movement, told through first-person accounts and rarely seen archival footage. Key milestones illustrate the power of taking it into the streets and underscore how easily the rights we’ve fought for can be revoked, making the documentary essential viewing for all Canadians. Unflinching, bold, enraging, hopeful; Parade is a vital new chapter in the queer canon.
Quotes
“With the attacks that are once again being faced by trans people and other members of our rainbow collective, it is urgently time for a refresher on the activist movements that got us this far. Queer archives shouldn’t be allowed to get dusty; those snapshots, video clips and film reels ought to see the light of day—so we can give flowers to those that made a difference. With Parade we wanted to put viewers on the street where our rights were won. To hear, see and feel the invigorating protests that moved the needle and opened up Canadian society. May this film act as a guidebook, lest those phalanxes need resurrecting in the days to come.” – Noam Gonick, director
“This is a history that many people are not even aware of, both among the general Canadian public and within 2SLGBTQI+ communities. So, the intention in bringing this film to the screen was to ensure that our histories are documented and that they’re also told by the activist/witnesses themselves, in their own words. It’s important to know whose shoulders we stand on and to pay our respects to them. We need to learn from history so that we don’t repeat the mistakes of the past. Having the platform of the opening night film of Hot Docs 2025 is an incredible gift and wonderful opportunity to get this story out into the world and to reach as wide an audience as possible.”
– Justine Pimlott, producer
Parade screening times
OPENING FILM: Thursday, April 24, 6:15 p.m. (industry) and 9:30 p.m. (public), Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Saturday, April 26, 11:15 a.m., Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema
Saturday, May 3, 10 a.m., TIFF Lightbox 1
More NFB premieres at Hot Docs
Ghosts of the Sea by Virginia Tangvald (micro_scope/NFB/Urban Factory; 97 min) – ONTARIO PREMIERE | CANADIAN SPECTRUM
Sunday, April 27, 10:30 a.m., TIFF Lightbox 1
Wednesday, April 30, 5:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 4
- While searching for clues about the death of her brother, who was lost at sea, Montreal-raised filmmaker Virginia Tangvald embarks on a fascinating investigation into her family’s dark secrets. Calling into question the idyllic life of her father, legendary sailor Peter Tangvald, her quest dismantles the myth of absolute freedom and offers the hope that a toxic cycle has been broken.
King’s Court by Serville Poblete (20 min) – WORLD PREMIERE | SHORTS PROGRAM
Thursday, May 1, 4:30 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 4
Saturday, May 3, 12:15 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 4
- A fast-paced look at friendship, family and the journey to manhood in modern society, King’s Court blurs the line between documentary and fiction, immersing viewers in the raw emotions and struggles of two lifelong friends of filmmaker Serville Poblete in Toronto’s Bleecker Street neighbourhood—one of Canada’s most diverse and densely populated areas.
The Nest by Chase Joynt and Julietta Singh (89 min) – WORLD PREMIERE | SPECIAL PRESENTATION
Sunday, April 27, 8 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 1
Wednesday, April 30, 11:15 a.m., TIFF Lightbox 1
- At the end of her mother’s life, decolonial writer Julietta Singh returns to say goodbye to her childhood home in Winnipeg. As she digs into the history of the house, she uncovers 140 years of forgotten matriarchs and political histories she never knew. In this genre-defying cross-community collaboration, a single home is transformed from a place of siloed stories into a site of radical potential.
- The filmmakers will take part in the Hot Take presentation Cross-Community Collaboration as Documentary Practice, Tuesday, April 29, at the Yorkville Royal Sonesta.
Night Watches Us by Stefan Verna (42 min) – WORLD PREMIERE | TIPPING POINT
Thursday, May 1, 2025, 5 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 2
Saturday, May 3, 2:45 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 3
- On August 21, 2018, a son lost his father, a mother lost her son, and a nephew lost his uncle. Nicholas Gibbs was a 23-year-old Black man plagued by mental health issues who was murdered by police. Montreal filmmaker Stefan Verna examines the systemic forces that lead to Nicholas’s tragic death, telling the story through the eyes of a family and community united in grief.
Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Man by Sinakson Trevor Solway (77 min) – WORLD PREMIERE | CANADIAN SPECTRUM
Saturday, April 26, 5:45 p.m., TIFF Lightbox 2
Monday, April 28, 11 a.m., TIFF Lightbox 2
- Siksika filmmaker Sinakson Trevor Solway intimately portrays the lives of Blackfoot men as they navigate identity, kinship and the complex expectations of manhood. Through unfiltered moments and revealing conversations set against the breathtaking landscape of the Prairies, the film reimagines what it means to be a Native man. Siksikakowan: The Blackfoot Manis a profound ode to strength, vulnerability and love across generations.
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French version here | Version française ici.