ONE COULD ARGUE that the Documentary Organization of Canada’s greatest achievement in its 40 years is the creation of Hot Docs in 1993. Ask veteran DOC members about the early days of Hot Docs, which has operated as an independent entity since 1996, and they’ll tell you about a “scrappy” bunch of filmmakers who’d gather in Toronto cafés, share their films, and network. Cut to 2023 and Hot Docs is the largest documentary film festival in North America. Massive crowds fill screenings to see documentaries from around the world from morning to night. Pre-COVID, the fest hit a record 228,000 attendees in 2019, and attendance for the 2023 festival indicated a healthy return. Outside the public view, the industry side of Hot Docs now transforms the way that documentaries are pitched, financed, produced, and received worldwide.
While “scrappy” might not
