The Hottest Shorts of Hot Docs is back! Celebrating the best bite-sized documentaries of this year’s Festival, discover this specially curated selection of films that pack big ideas into a short runtime.

About Memory and Loss | D: Amélie Hardy | 2023 | Canada | 8 min

Capture, document, record, share, restart. In this exploration of the ever-growing digital archive, filmmaker Amélie Hardy invites us to consider the frequency with which we document every bit of our daily lives and the scale of information we've amassed. Mariam Zaidi

Pomological | D: Sebastian Ko | 2023 | Canada | 3 min

In 1886, the United States Department of Agriculture ambitiously commissioned watercolour illustrations of over 3,000 fruit cultivars. In 2019, this collection was digitized. Mesmerizingly detailed, these images now tell an incredible story about the little-known talent of botanical illustrators, and how their work planted the seeds for intellectual ownership over agricultural innovations. Mariam Zaidi

Shells | D: Marie-Magdalena Kochova | 2023 | Canada | 9 min

Jan Minarík, the greatest Czech dancer of the 20th century, gives us a powerful and moving performance in the confines of an elevator. This unexpected solo captures in detail how the body remembers—and when it awakens, it unleashes all the virility of youth. Eileen Arandiga

The Blake | D: Courtney Sposato, Mark Sposato | 2023 | Canada | 15 min

In this deeply touching memoir, filmmaker Courtney Sposato explores her childhood experience of her brother’s illness while learning about the wonders of the galaxy aboard a replica of the space shuttle Challenger, created by her elementary schoolteacher from a dilapidated bus. A love letter to teachers, a lesson about grief and a beacon of hope, The Blake is a revelation of connections wrapped in Saturnian rings. Angie Driscoll

White Grass | D: Justin Kim Woosok | 2023 | Canada | 16 min

In Mongolia, Munkhjargal dreams of following in both her father's and her ancestors' footsteps as a horse trainer. Unfortunately, her entire way of life is threatened by a once rare but increasingly common phenomenon of extreme and unrelenting cold known as dzuds, which is forcing Mongolian herders to rethink their nomadic way of life. Eileen Arandiga

Field Notes | D: Aisha Jamal | 2023 | Canada | 10 min

A woman discovers a passion for birdwatching during her pandemic isolation, which leads to an appreciation for the natural world that exists in the midst of the concrete jungle. As the birds—including a particular pair of plovers—fight for survival, she's committed to protecting their habitat and bringing awareness to their plight. Alexander Rogalski

Join director of Field Notes, Aisha Jamal for a special Q&A after the screening.

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