We’re excited to announce that 15 WMM films and filmmakers will have premieres at the 2026 Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival! Ten films from WMM’s Production Assistance Program and five new films from Program Alum will screen at the festival. WMM’s Executive Director Debra Zimmerman will be in attendance at the festival.
✦ LOVE APPTUALLY will have its world premiere at the festival.
Shalini Kantayya (director of WMM-acclaimed releases CODED BIAS and TIKTOK, BOOM) turns her lens on the multi-billion-dollar dating app industry, uncovering the hidden algorithms shaping modern intimacy. Drawing on expert insight, the film reveals how corporations extract enormous amounts of personal data from dating platforms and insert themselves into – and exploit – our most private and intimate relationships.
Director: Shalini Kantayya
Producer: Elizabeth Woodward
The following films, completed with the support of WMM’s Production Assistance Program, will also be at Hot Docs:
✦ AMERICAN DOCTOR
Following three US doctors working in Gaza, this unflinching documentary captures the moral and physical stakes of providing care in a war zone. Moving between frontline hospitals and political corridors, it probes the intersection of medicine, accountability, and conflict.
Director: Poh Si Teng
Producers: Poh Si Teng, Kirstine Barfod, Reem Haddad
✦ BARBARA FOREVER
A vibrant tribute to pioneering lesbian filmmaker Barbara Hammer, this film interweaves archival material and intimate moments from her final years to celebrate a life of radical creativity, love, and artistic defiance.
Director: Brydie O’Connor
Producers: Elijah Stevens, Brydie O’Connor, Claire Edelman
✦ BIRDS OF WAR
Spanning continents and conflict zones, this deeply moving film traces a love story between two journalists reporting on the Syrian uprising. Drawing from years of personal archives, it captures both the brutality of war and the enduring power of connection.
Directors: Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
Producers: Sonja Henrici, Janay Boulos, Abd Alkader Habak
✦ TO HOLD A MOUNTAIN
Set in the mountains of Montenegro, this lyrical and urgent film follows a mother and daughter whose pastoral life is threatened by military expansion. As resistance builds, the film becomes a meditation on land, legacy, and the fight to protect both.
Directors: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazic
Producers: Biljana Tutorov, Petar Glomazic, Quentin Laurent, Rok Bicek
✦ THE SANDBOX
In this urgent and visually striking debut, Kenya-Jade Pinto exposes the vast border industrial complex, revealing how surveillance technologies are used to control and endanger migrants. Grounded in frontline resistance, the film is a powerful examination of security, power, and human cost.
North American Premiere
Director: Kenya-Jade Pinto
Producers: Shasha Nakhai, Kenya-Jade Pinto
✦ WHAT COMES FROM SITTING IN SILENCE?
Inside a women-led Islamic court in Mumbai, this quietly powerful film reveals how justice can emerge through patience, listening and collective care. A thoughtful portrait of women reshaping tradition from within.
Director: Sophie Schrago
Producers: Pauline Tran Van Lieu, Lucie Rego, Heejung Oh, Sarah Kang
✦#WHILEBLACK
Through the story of Darnella Frazier and other witnesses to racialized violence, this searing documentary examines the personal toll of viral footage and the systems that profit from it. A powerful reflection on race, technology, and responsibility in the digital age.
Directors: Sidney Fussell, Jennifer Holness
Producers: Ann Shin, Mariam Bastani, Sidney Fussell
✦ WHISPERS IN MAY
Blending documentary and fiction, this poetic coming-of-age story follows a young girl’s search for a ceremonial skirt, capturing a fleeting moment between childhood and adulthood. A tender reflection on identity, tradition, and transformation.
Director: Dongnan Chen
Producers: Jia Zhoa, Kay Xu
✦ THE WOMAN WHO POKED THE LEOPARD
This bold and intimate portrait follows Ugandan activist Stella Nyanzi as she confronts state power with radical protest, navigating imprisonment, political ambition, and the personal toll of dissent. The film reveals both her fearless public defiance and the private cost borne by her and her family.
North American Premiere
Director: Patience Nitumwesiga
Producers: Rosie Motene, Patience Nitumwesiga, Phil Wilmot, Natalia Imaz, Menzi
New films from our program alum at the festival include: MAINTENANCE ARTIST (Dir. Judith Mizrachy, also a former WMM staff member!); STEAL THIS STORY, PLEASE! (dir. Tia Lessin and Carl Deal); TRACES (dir. Alisa Kovalenko, Marysia Nikitiuk); and WHEN A WITNESS RECANTS (dir. Dawn Porter).
Additionally, TALLAWAH, the latest project from award-winning WMM filmmaker Laurie Townshend (dir. WMM release A MOTHER APART), will participate in the Hot Docs Industry Forum, and NEW SPRING – NÛBIHAR by WMM filmmaker Benedetta Argentierri (dir. WMM release I AM THE REVOLUTION) will participate in Deal Maker. Congratulations to all the filmmakers!
