Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival is North America's largest documentary film festival

Documentary film festivals

Documentary film festivals are film festivals devoted solely to documentary film, which is a broad category of visual expression that is based on the attempt, in one fashion or another, to "document" reality....

, conference, and market, held annually in Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

. The 2011 edition of the Festival ran from April 28 to May 8, and had a record attendance of 151,000 featuring 199 films from 43 countries.

The Hot Docs festival was started in 1993 by the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, now the Documentary Organization of Canada

Documentary Organization of Canada

The Documentary Organization of Canada is a non-profit organization representing the interests of independent documentary filmmakers in Canada...

, a national association of independent documentary filmmakers mainly composed of film scholars from York University

York University

York University is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is Canada's third-largest university, Ontario's second-largest graduate school, and Canada's leading interdisciplinary university....

 in Toronto. Much of the festival's success can be credited to the logistical support rendered by scores of volunteers every year.

In addition to the Festival, Hot Docs also runs North America

North America

North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...

's essential documentary market the Hot Docs Forum.

Venues for the 2011 event included:

• The Winter Garden Theatre
  Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres
  The Elgin and Winter Garden Theatres are a pair of stacked theatres in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Winter Garden theatre is seven stories above the Elgin Theatre....
  
  
• The Bloor Cinema
  Bloor Cinema
  The Bloor Cinema is an independent theatre in The Annex district of downtown Toronto, Canada, located at 506 Bloor Street West, near its intersection with Bathurst Street and the TTC's Bathurst station....
  
  
• Innis Town Hall, part of the University of Toronto
  University of Toronto
  The University of Toronto is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, situated on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution of higher learning in Upper Canada...
  
  's Innis College
  Innis College
  Innis College is one of the constituent colleges of the University of Toronto. It is one of the University of Toronto's smallest colleges in terms of size and the second smallest college in terms of population with approximately 1870 registered students...
  
  
• The Isabel Bader Theatre, part of the University of Toronto's Victoria College
  Victoria University in the University of Toronto
  Victoria University is a constituent college of the University of Toronto, founded in 1836 and named for Queen Victoria. It is commonly called Victoria College, informally Vic, after the original academic component that now forms its undergraduate division...
  
  
• The ROM
  Royal Ontario Museum
  The Royal Ontario Museum is a museum of world culture and natural history in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With its main entrance facing Bloor Street in Downtown Toronto, the museum is situated north of Queen's Park and east of Philosopher's Walk in the University of Toronto...
  
   Theatre
• The Royal Cinema
• The Cumberland Cinemas
• The Revue
• The Regent
• Fox Theatre
• TIFF Bell Lightbox

See also

• Documentary Organization of Canada
  Documentary Organization of Canada
  The Documentary Organization of Canada is a non-profit organization representing the interests of independent documentary filmmakers in Canada...
  
  
• documentary (TV channel)
• Cinema of Quebec
• Cinema of Canada
• National Film Board
• Toronto International Film Festival
  Toronto International Film Festival
  The Toronto International Film Festival is a publicly-attended film festival held each September in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. In 2010, 339 films from 59 countries were screened at 32 screens in downtown Toronto venues...