What to see at Hot Docs 2017: From Bill Nye to Internet hackers and bloggers

You're Soaking In It directed by Scott Harper

By Sonya Davidson

Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary film festival presents it's 24th annual edition from April 27 to May 7, 2017 in Toronto. There will be 230 documentary films from 58 countries at this year's festival. Hot Docs is known to feature thought-provoking, insightful and often infuriating titles to the city. Here are some titles that have caught my attention... Hot Docs 2017 box office is now open www.hotdocs.ca 

YOU'RE SOAKING IN IT: Directed by Scott Harper. World Premiere. The ad game’s “mad men” have become “math men,” rooting their decisions—which impact everything from consumer habits to political campaigns—on big data and hard science. Industry leaders share their secrets as their sector becomes more potent and personal.

PRE-CRIME: Directed by Matthias Heeder and Monika Hielscher. World Premiere. Science fiction turns into disturbing fact as forecasting software, algorithms and databases quickly become the new fortune-tellers for future crimes, driving us to ask: how much are we willing to abandon for the sake of security?

LET THERE BE LIGHT: Directed by Mila Aung-Thwin and Van Royko. Canadian Premiere. The most expensive and complex sicence experiment ever conducted is a current attemp to bulid an artificial sun on Earth. The idea is with this new technology, we could have cheap and clean energy. After many failed attempts, a massive push is now underway to crack the holy grail of energy. 

LIVING THE GAME: Directed by Takao Gotsu. International Premiere (Japanese with subtitles). The skillful Japanese gamers who play Street Fighter on the world stage match their technical precision against flashier, more memorable players in a game of large audiences and larger prize money. In this bigger-is-better world, can exacting compete with exciting?

WHO IS ARTHUR CHU? Directed by Yu Gu and Scott Drucker. Canadian Premiere (English Mandarin subtitles) This 11-time winner hacked Jeopardy! and won big, becoming one of the show’s most controversial contestants. Now, he’s using his newfound celebrity to battle dark forces on the Internet as a blogger and cultural pundit.

KIM DOTCOM: CAUGHT IN THE WEB:Directed by Annie Goldson. Canadian Premiere. This explosive biopic chronicles one of the world's most colourful and notorious Internet robbers, Kim Dotcom. The director gains access to the story about digital piracy, privacy, mega mansions and private jets as well as early morning police raids. Hacker or Robin Hood? This film leaves it to you to decide. 

EYE, CAMERA: Directed by Brittney Shephard. World Premiere (Short). In 2006, Tanya Vlach loses an eye in a horrific car accident. As an artist and photographer, she approaches the loss as an opportunity to explore the possibility of turning her prosthetic eye into an intraocular camera. This is how wearable tech changed her life, forever altering her perspective.

BILL NYE: SCIENCE GUY: Directed by David Alvarado and Jason Sussberg. International Premiere. Many of us are familiar with him, his bow tie, and his science shows for kids. He had a fun way of explaining everyday science and inspired many of us. But what's happening now? The science community is being questioned and are criticizing his legitimacy. Now Nye is taking every opportunity he can to call them out and educating people on the importance of science, not just kids. 

THE QUIET ZONE: Directed by Elisa Gonzalez and Daniel Froidevaux. World Premiere. The National Radio Quiet Zone in remote West Virginia, home to the world’s largest steerable radio telescope, is ironically both a centre for scientific discovery and a growing refuge for those suffering extreme electrical sensitivity who’ve fled technology.

RIVOLTA: Directed by Hubert Davis. World Premiere (Short). Discover the intoxicating world of hacking through the eyes of Michael “Mafiaboy” Calce, who, at 15, was involved in one of the most egregious and widely covered cybercrimes in North America. As hacking becomes more sophisticated and widespread, and information becomes synonymous with profit, can anyone remain immune to a breach of security?

116 CAMERAS: Directed by Davina Pardo. International Premiere (Short). Anne Frank's stepsister and Holocaust survivor Eva Schloss is the subject of an immersive interactive media proejct that seeks to preserve the history and the memory so that future audiences can learn what she lived through. 

CHASING CORAL & VR EXPERIENCE: Directed by Jeff Orlowski. Canadian Premiere.Coral reefs are home to millions of species and the underwater ecosystem is vital to ocean life. But they are vulnerable to coral bleaching, a deadly phenomenon caused by the warmer water temperatures of climate change. This stunning footage reveals the ecological dangers happening in the oceans. In the VR experience (Brookfield Place) follow a group of filmmakers and ocean scientists to provide visual proof of climate change. This underwater experience documents the unprecedented 2016 coral bleaching event at Lizard Island on the Great Barrier Reef of the coast of Australia. 

DocX: Fistful of Stars: Directed by Eliza McNitt. International Premiere  This is the world's first exploration of the cosmos alongside the Hubble Telescope that transports you inside of the Orion Nebula and reveals the cosmic connections between humans and stars.

DocX: THE FASTEST RIDE: Directed by Jessica Edwards. World Premiere. How fast can a person pedal a bicycle? In September 2016, cyclist Denise Mueller tried to answer that question. Mueller traveled to the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah with a customized bike and a supercharged Range Rover. Her support team, made up of a professional race-car driver and her mentor, a 69-year-old former Olympic cyclist, shared one goal: to help her become the fastest person on a bicycle. Filmed in cinematic virtual reality, The Fastest Ride is an immersive exploration of one woman's quest for speed.

DocX: DREAMS OF 'O': Directed by Felix Lajeunnese and Paul Raphael. Canadian Premiere. Submerge yourself in a universe of aerial acrobatics, daring dives, fire and the surreal amphibious characters of Cirque du Soleil's 'O'. 

DocX: THE PEOPLE'S HOUSE; INSIDE THE WHITE HOUSE WHITE BARACK AND MICHELLE OBAMA: Directed by Felix Lajeunnese and Paul Raphael (VR Experience at Brookfield Place) An intimate tour of the White House that gives the viewer extraordinary access to explore the iconic institution's profound history—from the past eight years of the Obama administration to defining events of the last two centuries.

DocX: A TRIBE CALLED RED: INDIAN CITY 360: Directed by Jon Riera. (VR Experience at Brookfield Place) Remix a track by A Tribe Called Red, using only your eyes. Produced in collaboration with SESQUI and Pinnguaq and filmed at Toronto’s Fort York, this interactive video from the acclaimed Indigenous DJ collective uses gradient audio to mix traditional and contemporary sounds, and features a throw down between hip-hop and pow-wow dancers.

DocX: UNREST VR: Collaboration Diana Barrett (Fledgling Fund), Arnaud Colinart (Ex Nihilo), Lindsey Dryden (Little By Little Films). This visceral personal virtual reality project based on the feature film Unrest gives audiences a better understanding of chronic illness through an artistic and informative sensory experience.

DocX: WELCOME TO WACKEN: Directed by Sam Dunn. World Premiere. (VR Experience at Brookfield Place) an interactive virtual reality documentary from Secret Location and Banger Films. Told in five parts, the film takes viewers deep inside Germany’s Wacken Open Air, the biggest heavy-metal festival on Earth.

DocX: POLARMAN: Directed by Ryan Oliver and Polarman. World Premiere. Polarman is a real-life superhero. This piece tells the origin story of Iqaluit’s beloved masked anti-bullying crusader through an interactive mix of 360° video and comics drawn by Canadian artists Daniel Day, Leisha-Marie Riddel and Andrew Qappik.

*DocX is an interdisciplinary section of the Festival celebrating documentary work that lives outside the traditional format. This year, there are a number of virtual reality experiences available at Brookfield Place, Sam Pollock Square (181 Bay Street). All experiences are free and open to the public, running Friday, April 28 to Saturday, May 6 from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and Sunday, May 7 from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m.