Who will be here for HOT DOCS Toronto

TORONTO, April 23, 2009 – Hot Docs is honoured to welcome a number of guest subjects who are featured in films at this year’s upcoming Festival, April 30-May 10.  These guests represent many different fascinating backgrounds and in many cases served as inspiration for their respective films.

Featured guests are listed below. In most cases, the guests will be present at their film’s screening.

Fred Frith from Act of God (D: Jennifer Baichwal, Canada, 2009) – One of the subjects as well as composer of the film’s score, Fred offers a mysterious glimpse at the metaphysical and physical effects of being struck by lightening.

Peter Innituar, Alethea Amaquuq-Baril, and Zebedee Nangak from EXPErimental Eskimos (D: Barry Greenwald, Alethea Arnaquq-Baril, Canada, 2009) – In the 1960s, Peter, Alethea and Zebedee were 12-year-old Inuit boys taken from their families in the Canadian Arctic and sent to live with foster families in Ottawa as a part of a dubious government experiment that forced them to leave behind their culture and traditions.

Doug Collins from Laughology (D: Albert Nerenberg, Canada, 2009) – Through LAUGHOLOGY’s blend of science, history and humour, director Nerenberg ultimately comes across Doug Collins - the man with the most contagious laugh in the world.

Eva Markvoort from 65_Redroses (D: Philip Lyall, Nimisha Mukerji, Canada, 2009) – Eva is one of three young women in 65_REDROSES who desperately awaits a lung transplant.  The three share their pain, trials and emotions through their only means of communication – the web.

Joshua from Burma VJ (D: Anders Høgsbro Østergaard, Denmark, 2008) – The film follows the efforts of Joshua, the 27-year-old leader of the Democratic Voice of Burma, as he and a handful of others counter the propaganda of the military regime during the country’s 2007 political uprising.

Karnit Goldwasser from CHRONICLE OF A KIDNAP (D: Nurit Kedar, Israel, 2008) – Karnit becomes a national heroine when her husband, Israeli solider Ehud, is kidnapped on the Lebanese-Israeli border by Hezbollah forces, triggering the Lebanon war.  Karnit becomes the driving force behind a media campaign to generate international pressure on the Israeli government to negotiate the release of her husband.

George Brady and Fumiko Ishioka from Inside Hana’s Suitcase (D: Larry Weinstein, Canada, Czech Republic, 2009) - The delivery of a battered suitcase to Fumiko Ishioka at the Tokyo Holocaust Museum begins the true-life mystery that inspires Fumiko to discover the details of Hana’s life, which leads to the discovery of her brother George in Toronto.

Oyvind “Wind” Aamot from Hunting Down Memory (D: Thomas Lien, Norway, 2009) – Wind forgets the first 27 years of his life after an accident in China, forcing him to re-learn and re-explore social norms upon his return to Norway.

Simon Hutchins from The Cove (D: Louie Psihoyos, USA, 2009) – Simon leads an elite team of activists, filmmakers, and free-divers as they embark on a covert mission to penetrate a hidden cove in Japan, shining light on a dark and deadly secret.

Sofia Raab-Downs from 21 Below (D: Samantha Buck, USA, 2008) – Sharon (Sofia), pregnant with her first child, realizes she can’t start a family of her own until she confronts and mends the dysfunctional family she left behind in Buffalo, New York.

George Hardy from Best Worst Movie (D: Michael Paul Stephenson, USA, 2009) - In Best Worst Movie, Stephenson follows George and the rest of the cast of Troll 2 as they reunite to greet adoring fans at screenings in major cities across North America.

Joan Gaudet from The Way We Get By (D: Aron Gaudet, USA, 2009) – Joan, along with a small group of other senior citizens, has made it her duty to welcome and send off American soldiers returning and departing for Iraq and Afghanistan from Bangor International Airport in Maine.