Online Documentaries Library

Hot Docs is proud to announce the launch of its new Doc Library at http://www.hotdocslibrary.ca. Featuring hundreds of Canadian films and videos, the Doc Library offers free access to homegrown documentary work, with full-length features by some of the country’s leading non-fiction filmmakers. 

All films are directed by filmmakers whose works have screened at Hot Docs, and many of the titles themselves are works that have shown at the Festival or Doc Soup. Housing uniquely Canadian stories and perspectives on the world all housed within a bilingual user-friendly interface, the Doc Library is a treasure trove for film lovers and an indispensible resource for educators seeking thought-provoking content.

“Hot Docs at its core is all about the sharing of outstanding documentaries and stories with eager audiences,” says Hot Docs managing director Brett Hendrie, “and with the new Doc Library we will be able to further this sharing while focusing in on stories that are uniquely Canadian, stories that are largely by Canadians for Canadians but are also relevant to the rest of the world.  And we are able to share these remarkable stories with Canadians free of charge.”

In addition to works by celebrated Canadian directors such as Jennifer Baichwal, Allan King, Nettie Wild, Avi Lewis, Serge Giguère, Jean-Daniel Lafond, Alan Zweig, Kevin McMahon, Shelley Saywell and John Haslett Cuff, the Doc Library also features a number of film-specific educational packages, short films by young filmmakers from Hot Docs’ Doc Camp and Doc It! showcase, a selection of National Film Board of Canada titles spanning the 1950s to the 1980s, knowledge capture videos of sessions with key industry professionals, archival City Lights interviews with Brian Linehan and Canadian film personalities, and specially curated selections by partner festivals Rencontres internationales du documentaire de Montréal, imagineNATIVE Film + Media Arts Festival, Images Festival and Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

The Doc Library will include opportunities for user commentary, shared playlists and advanced searching, and will include links to filmmaker websites so that users can learn more and purchase works by the filmmakers they are discovering. The Doc Library will be accessible to all Canadians with internet access and will be available for use throughout the world.

The Doc Library is made possible with the support of the Department of Canadian Heritage through the Canadian Culture Online Strategy. The Doc Library website was built by ecentricarts inc.