Hot Docs, the largest Canadian documentary festival in North America, has announced a “limited reopening” of its Toronto cinema as part of a financial restructuring, after the festival closed its flagship theater amid its troubles.
“Since the temporary closure of Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in June, the team has worked tirelessly throughout the summer to resolve the financial and governance issues that led to its closure,” Hot Docs said in a statement Thursday.
The Hot Docs Theater on Bloor Street will reopen on September 28 for third-party rentals and “selected partner screenings.” “We are also pleased to be able to gradually welcome back members of our film team who were temporarily laid off due to this summer’s closures,” the festival added in a statement.
Hot Docs also said it will provide details on resuming regular Hot Docs programming and hosting the 2025 festival in the coming months. In July 2024, president Mary Nielsen (a former ABC News and Disney executive who took over in June 2023) left Hot Docs after a chaotic 2024 edition.
When artistic director Hussain Currimbhoy and 10 programmers left the festival’s organizing team, interim executive director Janice Dawe and managing director Heidi Tao Yang stepped in to help run Hot Docs until 2024. Hot Docs has also significantly reduced the size of its board of directors in response to what the festival says is the Toronto organization’s post-pandemic financial struggles.
Dawe and Yang said on Thursday that a new permanent executive director of Hot Docs would be appointed, while adding: “Crucially, the team also works to right-size the organization through implementation, reduce operating costs and prioritize in our future planning Core programs and initiatives.
