Academy Award winner Davis Guggenheim captures the life and work of Canadian actor Michael J. Fox in the inspiring documentary Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie. The film leads our issue full of highlights from the 2023 Hot Docs festival. 

Cover photo by Emily Assiran

Also inside this issue:
“The Way Back” by Nick Hector
-What changed when film editing went from analogue to digital? Industry veteran Hector explores the differences.

“10 Hidden Gems of the NFB” by Albert Ohayon
-Buried treasures from the Board are brought back to light by the former programmer of NFB.ca.

“AI and the New Realities” by Gesilayefa Azorbo
-How will the documentary community be affected by AI and deepfakes? Azorbo offers questions in a new terrain.

“Family Matters” by Connor Garel
-Contemporary artists find inspiration while reconsidering the portraits and candid amateur shots that form Black American visual history.

“Beyond the Photograph” by Laurence Butet-Roch
-Through “materializing” photographs into objects ranging from dresses to dioramas, Indigenous artists reclaim their ancestors’ legacies.

“Ethics and Accountability” by Tom White
-What are one’s moral responsibilities when holding the camera in a documentary? A view from the US.

“Ukraine’s Tragedy” by Jason Gorber
-A survey of docs from war-torn Ukraine that capture an unfolding crisis.

“Making Dreams a Reality” by Justine Smith
–Mother Saigon celebrates the fantasies of members of Vietnam’s LGBTQ community as they struggle to find a place in traditional society.

“Burgers on the Prairies” by Danita Steinberg
–The Lebanese Burger Mafia is an Alberta legend. Steinberg looks under the bun.

“Silvicola Hacks at the Forest Industry” by Madeline Lines
-Director Jean-Philippe Marquis offers an insider’s perspective on the destruction of Canada’s beloved forests. Lines speaks with the director.

“Palm Trees, Persian Myths, and Pageantry” by Marc Glassman
–Feet in Water, Head on Fire offers the oral history of the Coachella Valley, where people of diverse cultures play out a false Arabic mythology of dates, palms, and Scheherazade. Glassman tries to unravel it all.

“Freeze Frame: The Dostoyevsky of Documentary” by Marc Glassman
-Remembering John Kastner, for whom a new award is named at Hot Docs this year.