Another great year at Hot Docs has come and gone. The wildly popular Canadian International Documentary Festival, running from April 26th to May 6th, has just wrapped up its 19^th year in Toronto; and what a year it was.

Photo by Joseph Michael

From films like The Imposter, focusing on the story of a young Frenchman who convinces a family in Texas that he is their 16-year-old son who has been missing for the past three years, to Jeff, a documentary focusing on the notorious serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer, critics and fans alike have hailed this years Hot Docs as its best ever.

With 165,000 people estimated to have attended the festival, it’s hard not to get excited for where the documentary format is going. In recent years we’ve seen documentaries by Morgan Spurlock take audiences by storm and become commercially viable while doing it.

In terms of the real winners of the festival, Call Me Kuchu, a documentary focusing on a proposed Ugandan anti-homosexuality bill, was named best international feature. On the Canadian front, The World Before Her, a film focusing on the conflict facing young Indian woman when it comes to traditional values and modern life, has won the prize for best Canadian feature.

If Hot Docs’ record breaking year and the amazing films screened at the festival in the last few days show us anything, it’s not to mess with documentaries. It seems that the medium is no longer something that should be a chore to watch and is instead moving into the realm of impeccably crafted and highly entertaining cinema.

If you didn’t get a chance to check out Hot Docs this year, be sure to track down the films that sound interesting to you and mark down your calendar for next year to be a part of something amazing.