There are stories at every turn in life, from the deeply intimate to the globe-spanning, from the universal to the inane. That’s the beauty (and sometimes unease) with the Hot Docs International Film Fest. It’s not enough to find a compelling story, but figure out the best way to tell.

So often too does one story in fact lead to something bigger, something better. There are no scripts and roadmaps when it comes to documentaries: the filmmaker and in turn the audience are subject to the whims of the unpredictable.

All this is to say, you never know what may surprise, affect, compel, or entertain when it comes to Hot Docs. One test of a successful doc is whether or not it gets you interested in something you might not have already known. With that in mind, we present to you no shortage of reviews on the ever-growing, wide-ranging, and never boring slate of films playing at this years Hot Docs Film Fest.

3 Still Standing
Written by: Reza Rad

Above and Below
Written by: Samantha Chater

The Amina Profile
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Beaver Trilogy Part IV
Written by: Samantha Chater

Best of Enemies
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Being Canadian
Written by: Rob Trench

Chameleon
Written by: Rob Trench

The Circus Dynasty
Written by: Danielle La Valle

Daughter of the Lake
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

A Different Drummer: Celebrating Eccentrics
Written by: R. Duval

Drawing The Tiger
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Dreamcatcher
Written by: Samantha Chater

Elephant’s Dream
Written by: Rob Trench

Hadwin’s Judgement
Written by: R. Duval

Help Us Find Sunil Tripathi
Written by: Danielle La Valle

How to Change the World 
Written by: Rob Trench

Kurt Cobain: Montage of Heck
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Mavis!
Written by: Charles Trapunski

Milk
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Missing People
Written by: Samantha Chater

On Her Own
Written by: Reza Rad

Original Copy
Written by: Rob Trench

Raiders!
Written by: Charles Trapunski

Rolling Papers
Written by: Charles Trapunski

The Sandwich Nazi
Written by: Charles Trapunski

Seth’s Dominion
Written by: Rob Trench

Shoulder the Lion
Written by: Reza Rad

The Shore Break
Written by: Andrew Hamilton

Stay Awhile
Written by: Charles Trapunski

Southern Rites
Written by: Anthony Marcusa

Survivors Rowe
Written by: Danielle La Valle

Warriors From The North
Written by: Andrew Hamilton

The Wolfpack
Written by: Rob Trench