Scorching Docs, the internationally famend nonfiction movie competition in Toronto, introduced awards tonight for the 32nd version of the occasion.
Greatest Worldwide Function Documentary went to I, Poppy, written and directed by Vivek Chaudhary. The movie facilities on a son who “fights corrupt officers whereas his mom tends their poppy farm in India.” The award comes with a $10,000 money prize.
“A movie of negotiations – with household, with group, with the programs that restrict our selections and bind our fates,” famous the jury, comprised of Brett Story, Inti Cordera, and Shane Smith, describing I, Poppy as a “shifting and thoughtfully crafted chronicle of a household navigating conflicts, contradictions and uncomfortable truths.”
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
The Joan VanDuzer Particular Jury Prize-Worldwide Function Documentary was awarded to River of Grass, directed by Sasha Wortzel, “an ode to the Florida Everglades that explores its historic and ongoing challenges by means of the writings and testimonies of environmentalists, educators and present denizens.” That award comes with a $5,000 money prize, in reminiscence of Joan VanDuzer, a longtime Scorching Docs supporter.
Jurors saluted the movie’s “inventive imaginative and prescient and loving gaze,” writing, “Lyrical, contemplative and layered storytelling establishes a strong sense of place, whereas introducing us to the magnificent programs established by nature however positioned in peril by the hubris of humanity,”
Within the class of Particular Jury Prize-Worldwide Function Documentary, the jury additionally acknowledged I Dreamed His Identify, directed by Angela Carabalí. Scroll for full particulars on the Scorching Docs prize winners.
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
The Rising Worldwide Filmmaker Award was offered to Amilcar Infante and Sebastian González Mendez, administrators of Unwelcomed. Their movie “examines contrasting views across the migrant disaster in Chile following the nation’s most violent anti-immigrant protest, sparked by an unprecedented inflow of migrants from Venezuela.”
The award goes to “a world filmmaker whose movie in competitors is their first or second feature-length movie,” and features a $3,000 money prize, courtesy of Donner Canadian Basis.
Final June, Unwelcomed earned a pitch award at Sunny Facet of the Doc in La Rochelle, France. At Sunny Facet, Infante advised Deadline concerning the expertise of migrants fleeing Venezuela.
“It’s individuals which were traumatized already of their nation as a result of it’s important to be touring for a yr in go by means of Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia. And in anywhere you go, you obtain a kick within the butt. Who needs a poor migrant? No one!” he stated. “Our film, in comparison with different good films that discuss migration, it’s not the arc of the migrant, it’s additionally the individuals who obtain them and the way they face their very own humanity, their hate… This large migration generates a really large downside within the northern cities [of Chile]. This [led to] a parade the place over 5,000 individuals marched towards migrants they usually had been burning their tents, their belongings, and it was very robust.”
‘Agatha’s Almanac’
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
The award for Greatest Canadian Function Documentary went to Agatha’s Almanac, directed and produced by Amalie Atkins, “a cinematic portrait of easy seasonal residing wherein a fiercely impartial Mennonite girl lives alone on her ancestral farm in Southern Manitoba.” The winner receives a $10,000 money prize, courtesy of Telefilm Canada.
“Poetic and playful, but intensely political, and a movie – and a protagonist! – that places into observe what others solely preach, this one is a uncommon and valuable flower within the backyard of latest cinema,” wrote the jury, comprised of Mads Ok. Mikkelsen, Sarah Ouazzani, and Noland Walker. “Handcrafted with nice care in a really inventive spirit over a number of years, it’s a reminder that what may seem radically anti-conformist each as a lifestyle and of filmmaking might merely be essentially the most genuine.”
The DGC Particular Jury Prize-Canadian Function Documentary, together with a $5,000 money prize, was awarded to Paul, directed by Denis Côté. “To deal with despair and social anxiousness,” the movie’s logline says, “Paul finds consolation in doing home chores for dominant girls.”
‘Paul’
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
“Every so often you watch a movie that takes you utterly unexpectedly,” the jury stated. “A movie that zigs once you assume it should zag, a movie that drops you into the lives of people that you won’t think about figuring out with and but in some way do—powerfully so. For the members of this jury, Paul is that movie. From its deceptively easy opening scenes, we’re launched to Paul, a shy obese younger man who has a social media following, an obsessive penchant for cleansing, and the purpose of dropping pounds. But, scene by scene, we study that Paul has a set of deeper, extra difficult wishes—his purchasers are dominatrixes, and he’s their subordinate. By way of nuanced remark of complicated, hierarchical, boundaried, sexually charged punishment-reward relationships, we see Paul progressively study to navigate, advocate for and, finally, categorical himself. He learns to attach. In lesser palms, this movie might have been a large number; as an alternative, it’s a revelation.”
The Invoice Nemtin Award for Greatest Social Influence Documentary is offered to makers of a Scorching Docs movie “who discover and inform compelling tales that encourage social or political change, and encourage their audiences to vary their attitudes or behaviors or attempt for coverage change.” For that prize, jurors chosen the Sudan-themed Khartoum, directed by Phil Cox, Ibrahim Ahmed, Anas Saeed, Timeea Ahmed, and Rawia Alhag.
‘Khartoum’
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
“Taking note of the goals and reminiscences of the individuals within the movie, using distinctive and impressed techniques to visualise them involving participant-led reenactments and collaborative storytelling, we had been thrilled to observe this playful, charming, emotional and dynamic movie that shared with us the total vary of the human expertise throughout occasions of peace and conflict,” jurors stated. “This movie’s robust political assertion towards conflict comes by means of with readability and exemplifies the important significance of truth-telling in occasions of political turmoil, fulfilling important standards for the Invoice Nemtin Award.”
The $10,000 money prize from the Invoice Nemtin Legacy Fund will assist allow the profitable movie workforce to optimize the affect of the documentary by means of outreach and advertising and marketing actions.
Within the Greatest Social Influence Documentary class, the jury additionally acknowledged Writing Hawa, directed by Najiba Noori and co-directed by Rasul Noori.
Courtesy of Scorching Docs
Scorching Docs kicked off April 24 and runs by means of this Sunday. The Scorching Docs Rogers Viewers Award for Greatest Canadian Documentary might be introduced on Sunday at a particular encore screening at 7:00 pm at Scorching Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. The highest Canadian characteristic within the viewers ballot will obtain a $50,000 money prize, courtesy of Rogers. Winners of the Scorching Docs Viewers Award for characteristic/mid-length documentary and brief documentary might be introduced after the shut of the 2025 Pageant.
Beneath are full particulars on the juried prize winners for the 32nd Annual Scorching Docs competition:
Scorching Docs Betty Youson Award for Greatest Canadian Brief Documentary, supported by John and Betty Youson, was offered to Delta Daybreak (D: Asia Youngman | Canada | 26 min), which chronicles the electrical rise to fame of wrestling sensation Daybreak Murphy within the Nineteen Eighties and early Nineties. Referred to as Princess Delta Daybreak, she was the primary Indigenous and Canadian girl to compete professionally in Japan. The Award features a $3,000 money prize.
Jury assertion: “For expertly utilizing hybridity to create an area of reflection that enables for a dialogue between who the protagonist was and who she is in the present day, and for bringing the patriarchal world of wrestling right into a feminist perspective that features the nuances of id, empowerment and indigenous legacy, the jury awards Greatest Canadian Brief Documentary to Asia Youngman for Delta Daybreak.”
Scorching Docs Greatest Worldwide Brief Documentary, sponsored by TVO Docs, was offered to Alice (D: Gabriel Novis | Brazil | 17 min), wherein Alice, a trans girl, finds solace in browsing the waters of Maceió, Brazil. Scorching Docs is happy to current the winner with a $3,000 money prize, courtesy of TVO Docs.
Jury assertion: “For the delicate, nuanced and sensible method wherein the cinematography and script brings us into the expertise of the protagonist and transports us right into a actuality that’s each filled with kindness and sweetness, but in addition extraordinarily harmful and threatening for trans individuals all over the place, the jury awards Scorching Docs Greatest Worldwide Brief Documentary to Gabriel Novis for Alice.”
Scorching Docs is an Academy Awards® qualifying competition for brief documentaries and, as winners of the 2025 Scorching Docs Greatest Worldwide Brief Documentary and the Scorching Docs Betty Youson Award for Greatest Canadian Brief Documentary, respectively, Alice and Delta Daybreak will qualify for consideration within the Documentary Brief Topic class of the annual Academy Awards® with out the usual theatrical run, offered they adjust to Academy guidelines.
Canadian producer Cornelia Principe, producer of Shamed (D: Matt Gallagher | P: Cornelia Principe | Canada | 2025 | 90 min), wherein a web-based vigilante, self-described because the “Creeper Hunter,” seeks out potential sexual predators and ambushes them in videotaped confrontations, exposing them to the court docket of public opinion, obtained the Scorching Docs Don Haig Award, introduced earlier within the Pageant. The Award is given to an impressive impartial Canadian producer with a movie within the Pageant in recognition of their inventive imaginative and prescient, entrepreneurship and monitor document for nurturing rising expertise, and comes with a $5,000 money prize, courtesy of the Don Haig Basis.
Scorching Docs Greatest Mid-Size Documentary, sponsored by Mubi, was offered to Local weather In Remedy (D: Nathan Grossman | P: Cecilia Nessen | Sweden, Norway | 2025 | 64 min), wherein seven local weather scientists collect to debate a taboo topic of their discipline: feelings. What emerges is a transformational dialogue that humanizes the enormity of the local weather disaster, powerfully voicing the unspeakable. Scorching Docs is happy to current the winner with a $3,000 money prize, courtesy of Mubi.
Jury assertion: “The Scorching Docs Greatest Mid-Size Documentary goes to a daring and emotionally resonant experiment in documentary filmmaking. Nothing is staged—what unfolds on display is uncooked, unscripted, and profoundly genuine. This unfiltered strategy is exactly what made us chortle, cry, and really feel so deeply linked to the characters. The enhancing is phenomenal, permitting moments of silence to ring with that means and even laughter, whereas refined glimmers of hope emerge in an issue that’s typically overwhelming and disheartening. The movie breaks down partitions with its intimate and deeply human portrayal of its individuals. Their vulnerability, braveness, and spontaneous interactions create a gaggle dynamic that feels totally pure and unscripted, but artfully formed by the director’s delicate lens. This improvisational spirit brings a uncommon freshness to the display and raises considerate questions concerning the ethics of filmmaking, illustration, and shared house. What actually struck us was how shut we felt to the individuals on this movie—they felt like our pals, relations, neighbours, or lecturers. Their tales and struggles stayed with us lengthy after the credit rolled. We might have watched them for hours. For its authenticity, artistry, and emotional energy, we’re honored to current Local weather in Remedy with this award.”
The Lindalee Tracey Award, which honours an rising Canadian filmmaker with a passionate standpoint, a robust sense of social justice and a way of humour, was offered to Regan Latimer. The winner might be awarded $5,000 from the Lindalee Tracey Fund, a $5,000 in type voucher from Image Store for tools leases and providers, and a good looking hand-blown glass sculpture by Andrew Kuntz.
Scorching Docs Docs for Faculties Pupil Alternative Award was offered to Writing Hawa (D: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (co-director) | P: Christian Popp, Hasse van Nunen, Renko Douze | France, Netherlands, Qatar, Afghanistan | 2024 | 85 min), wherein, after releasing herself from a constraining 40-year organized marriage, the filmmaker’s mom hopes for a brighter future, not just for herself but in addition her daughter and granddaughter, however her goals are decimated by the Taliban’s return to energy in Afghanistan. The winner will obtain a $5,000 money prize, courtesy of Scotiabank.
Scorching Docs first look Awards for Works-In-Progress had been offered to The Blue Sweater with a Yellow Gap (D: Tetiana Khodakivska, P: Elena Saulich, Tetiana Khodakivska, Govt Producers: Josh Penn, Kevin Macdonald, Maxym Asadchyi); Land of No Ache (D: Émilie Martel, P: Émilie Martel), and Untying the Knot (D: Chona Mangalindan, P: Chona Mangalindan, Maxime Spinga, Govt Producer: Félicie Roblin). Every of those works will obtain a $5,000 money prize courtesy of Suzanne DePoe , Peter Goring and Richard Sugarman. Scorching Docs first look is a curated entry program for philanthropic and documentary-loving supporters that grants them behind-the-scenes entry to new tasks in growth and the world of documentary pre-production and manufacturing financing. This yr Scorching Docs first look individuals have awarded a complete of $15,000 as a part of Scorching Docs’ Works-In-Progress business occasion.
Scorching Docs Earl A. Glick Rising Canadian Filmmaker Award is given to a Canadian filmmaker whose movie in competitors is their first or second feature-length movie. The Award, which features a $3,000 money prize courtesy of the Earl A. Glick Household, was offered to Damien Eagle Bear, the director of #skoden (D: Damien Eagle Bear | P: Damien Eagle Bear | Canada | 2025 | 75 min), wherein an iconic Indigenous meme sparks a poignant exploration of the unhoused Alberta man behind the viral phenomenon.
Jury Assertion: “We’re honoured to current the Scorching Docs Earl A. Glick Rising Filmmaker Award to #skoden directed by Damien Eagle Bear. The movie presents a poignant exploration of id, reclamation, and group by means of the lens of a viral meme. Centred on Pernell Unhealthy Arm, a homeless Indigenous Blackfoot man from Lethbridge, Alberta, whose picture, initially appropriated and misused by on-line trolls rooted in racist stereotypes, was subsequently recontextualized and embraced by the filmmaker.”
Scorching Docs Invoice Nemtin Award for Greatest Social Influence Documentary, sponsored by the Invoice Nemtin Legacy Fund, which acknowledges the producers of a Scorching Docs 2025 official choice movie who discover and inform compelling tales that encourage social or political change, and encourage their audiences to vary their attitudes or behaviours or attempt for coverage change, went to Talal Afifi and Giovanna Stopponi of Khartoum (D: Phil Cox, Ibrahim Ahmed, Anas Saeed, Timeea Ahmed, Rawia Alhag | P: Talal Afifi, Giovanna Stopponi | UK, Germany | 2025 | 80 min), wherein a gaggle of displaced Sudanese filmmakers empower 5 of their fellow residents to re-enact dramatic testimonies of their nation’s descent into civil conflict and their journeys to neighbouring East Africa in search of refuge. The $10,000 money prize from the Invoice Nemtin Legacy Fund will assist allow the profitable movie workforce to optimize the affect of the documentary by means of outreach and advertising and marketing actions.
Jury Assertion: “Scorching Docs Invoice Nemtin Award for Greatest Social Influence Documentary is awarded to a documentary that captivated us with its inventive and modern portrayal of a difficult subject. The filmmakers started documenting the lives of 5 totally different individuals residing in a rustic they cherished previous to the outbreak of conflict, and when the state of affairs on the bottom meant filming on location was now not secure or tenable, an impressed and ingenious strategy was borne out of necessity in addition to the filmmakers’ dedication to proceed telling these tales. Taking note of the goals and reminiscences of the individuals within the movie, using distinctive and impressed techniques to visualise them involving participant-led reenactments and collaborative storytelling, we had been thrilled to observe this playful, charming, emotional and dynamic movie that shared with us the total vary of the human expertise throughout occasions of peace and conflict. This movie’s robust political assertion towards conflict comes by means of with readability and exemplifies the important significance of truth-telling in occasions of political turmoil, fulfilling important standards for the Invoice Nemtin Award. We’re delighted to award Khartoum with the Scorching Docs Invoice Nemtin Award for Greatest Social Influence Documentary for its distinctive method of celebrating the human spirit on movie and for drawing our consideration to the primary hand lived experiences of these affected by probably the most pressing points on the earth in the present day.
Within the Greatest Social Influence Documentary class, the jury additionally acknowledged Writing Hawa (D: Najiba Noori, Rasul Noori (co-director) | P: Christian Popp, Hasse van Nunen, Renko Douze | France, Netherlands, Qatar, Afghanistan | 2024 | 85 min).
Scorching Docs DGC Particular Jury Prize-Canadian Function Documentary, sponsored by DGC Nationwide and DGC Ontario, was offered to Paul (D: Denis Côté | P: Karine Bélanger, Hany Ouichou | Canada | 2025 | 87), wherein, to deal with despair and social anxiousness, Paul finds consolation in doing home chores for dominant girls. The award comes with a $5,000 money prize, courtesy of DGC Nationwide and DGC Ontario.
Jury Assertion: “We’re honoured to current the Particular Jury Prize to Paul, directed by Denis Côté. Every so often you watch a movie that takes you utterly unexpectedly. A movie that zigs once you assume it should zag, a movie that drops you into the lives of people that you won’t think about figuring out with and but in some way do—powerfully so. For the members of this jury, Paul is that movie. From its deceptively easy opening scenes, we’re launched to Paul, a shy obese younger man who has a social media following, an obsessive penchant for cleansing, and the purpose of dropping pounds. But, scene by scene, we study that Paul has a set of deeper, extra difficult wishes—his purchasers are dominatrixes, and he’s their subordinate. By way of nuanced remark of complicated, hierarchical, boundaried, sexually charged punishment-reward relationships, we see Paul progressively study to navigate, advocate for and, finally, categorical himself. He learns to attach. In lesser palms, this movie might have been a large number; as an alternative, it’s a revelation.”
Scorching Docs Greatest Canadian Function Documentary, supported by Telefilm Canada, was offered to Agatha’s Almanac (D: Amalie Atkins | P: Amalie Akins | Canada | 2025 | 86 min), a cinematic portrait of easy seasonal residing wherein a fiercely impartial Mennonite girl lives alone on her ancestral farm in Southern Manitoba. The winner will obtain a $10,000 money prize, courtesy of Telefilm Canada.
Jury Assertion: “Poetic and playful, but intensely political, and a movie – and a protagonist! – that places into observe what others solely preach, this one is a uncommon and valuable flower within the backyard of latest cinema. Handcrafted with nice care in a really inventive spirit over a number of years, it’s a reminder that what may seem radically anti-conformist each as a lifestyle and of filmmaking might merely be essentially the most genuine. We’re very comfortable to present the 2025 HotDocs Greatest Canadian Function Documentary award to Agatha’s Almanac by Amalie Atkins.”
Scorching Docs Rising Worldwide Filmmaker Award, supported by Donner Canadian Basis, was offered to Amilcar Infante and Sebastian Gonzalez Mendez, administrators of Unwelcomed (D: Amilcar Infante, Sebastian Gonzalez Mendez | P: Sebastian Gonzalez Mendez | Chile | 2025 | 68 min), which examines contrasting views across the migrant disaster in Chile following the nation’s most violent anti-immigrant protest, sparked by an unprecedented inflow of migrants from Venezuela. The award is given to a world filmmaker whose movie in competitors is their first or second feature-length movie, and features a $3,000 money prize, courtesy of Donner Canadian Basis.
Jury assertion: “A movie that introduced residence one of many defining problems with our period – the query of who has the correct to maneuver, and the way borders come to outline the boundaries of our solidarity with others. Informed with care, braveness and ambition, Unwelcomed is the winner of the Scorching DocsEmerging Worldwide Filmmaker award.”
Scorching Docs Joan VanDuzer Particular Jury Prize-Worldwide Function Documentary, in reminiscence of very long time Scorching Docs supporter Joan VanDuzer, was given to River of Grass (D: Sasha Wortzel | P: Danielle Varga, Sasha Wortzel | USA | 2025 | 83 min), an ode to the Florida Everglades that explores its historic and ongoing challenges by means of the writings and testimonies of environmentalists, educators and present denizens. Scorching Docs is happy to current the winner with a $5,000 money prize, in reminiscence of Joan VanDuzer.
Jury assertion: “Lyrical, contemplative and layered storytelling establishes a strong sense of place, whereas introducing us to the magnificent programs established by nature however positioned in peril by the hubris of humanity. For its inventive imaginative and prescient and loving gaze, the Scorching Docs Joan VanDuzer Particular Jury Prize-Worldwide Function Documentary goes to River of Grass.”
Within the class of Particular Jury Prize-Worldwide Function Documentary, the jury additionally acknowledged I Dreamed His Identify (D: Angela Carabalí | P: Sandra Tabares Duque, Angela Carabalí | Colombia | 2025 | 86 min).
Scorching Docs Greatest Worldwide Function Documentary was awarded to I, Poppy (D: Vivek Chaudhary | P: Vivek Chaudhary, Xavier Rocher | India | 2024 | 81 min), wherein a son fights corrupt officers whereas his mom tends their poppy farm in India. Scorching Docs is happy to current the winner with a $10,000 money prize.
Jury Assertion: “A movie of negotiations – with household, with group, with the programs that restrict our selections and bind our fates. For its shifting and thoughtfully crafted chronicle of a household navigating conflicts, contradictions and uncomfortable truths, the jury presents the Greatest Worldwide Function award to I, Poppy.”
Scorching Docs is an Academy Awards® qualifying competition for characteristic documentaries. The winner of Scorching Docs Greatest Worldwide Function Documentary, I Poppy, will qualify for consideration within the Greatest Documentary Function class of the annual Academy Awards® with out the usual theatrical run, offered the movie complies with Academy guidelines.
The 2025 awards for movies in competitors had been decided by 4 juries.
Canadian Function Documentary Jury:
Mads Ok. Mikkelsen, Head of Programme, CPH:DOX; Sarah Ouazzani, Creative Director, DOXA Documentary Movie Pageant; Noland Walker, Principal Content material Advisor/Co-Curator, Unbiased Lens (ITVS)
Worldwide Function Documentary Jury:
Brett Story, Director/Producer; Inti Cordera, Govt Director, DocsMX; Shane Smith, TVO Docs Programmer
Mid-Size Documentary + Invoice Nemtin Award For Greatest Social Influence Documentary Jury:
Alison Duke, Author/Director/Producer; Sabine Lange, Commissioning Editor, ARTE; Ali Weinstein, Filmmaker
Brief Documentary Jury:
Aeyliya Husain, Filmmaker; Yvonne Ashley Kouadjo, Collection Producer, Op-Docs (The New York Occasions); Ruth Somalo, Filmmaker / Programmer & Unbiased Curator
