Hot Docs 2008

Would it surprise you to know that sex change operations are legal in Iran, a theocratic state with strict social mores and fundamentalist values? More than 20 years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (religious edict) making sex changes permissible for "diagnosed transsexuals." Yet homosexuality remains punishable by death. Forced to live in secret for fear of retribution, a generation of young Iranian men are adopting an identity legally allowed to them-transsexual. In pursuit of what one man simply calls "a decent life," they flock to the country's best-established gender reassignment surgeon, where they are counselled by 24-year-old Vida, an eloquent post-op woman who claims to be "reborn" but warns the men of the dangers they face. Intimate and unflinching, Be Like Others accompanies several young men through their transformations. Capturing the complexities of Iranian society, it's a fascinating portrait of people on the fringes of Iranian life looking for acceptance through the most radical of means. Co-presented with Xtra!

During the U.S. military's covert operations in Laos in the early 1970s, Thavisouk Phrasavath's father was recruited to help the CIA. But when the Americans withdrew and the communist regime gained power, Phrasavath's father and thousands of others were declared enemies of the state and imprisoned. At the age of 12, Phrasavath made a harrowing escape from Laos to Thailand and eventually to New York City, where the hardships of an immigrant's life forced him, his eight siblings and his resilient mother to face an entirely different kind of war. The directorial debut of acclaimed cinematographer Ellen Kuras (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Neil Young: Heart of Gold), Betrayal is a lyrical film that fluidly incorporates archival footage, cinema vérité, revealing personal interviews and visually poetic montages. Beautifully filmed over the course of 23 years, it offers a stirring portrait of life in exile, of the far-reaching consequences of war and the unbreakable bonds of family.

Bevel Up is a compelling documentary that follows outreach nurses through their day-to-day work as they bring healthcare directly to youth, sex workers, addicts and street people in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. As they work with people in alleys and seedy hotels, the nurses reflect on why they do this work, and about the respectful and nonjudgmental relationship so crucial in developing trust. That they, and the filmmakers, have earned this trust is apparent in the honest, wry and painful observations from both nurses and street people. Nettie Wild's award-winning documentaries have shown her to be one of Canada's most socially committed and skilled directors, a filmmaker who embeds her belief that "behind the politics in our communities lie human dramas that deeply affect our lives" into her films. While Bevel Up stands alone as a powerful vérité documentary, Wild has designed it to be the heart of a groundbreaking interactive DVD. -Lynne Fernie

In this riveting and disturbing doc, filmmakers Luke Walker and Melissa Mclean obtain unprecedented access to a controversial Australian "spiritual enlightenment" organization called Kenja. Founded in 1982 by leader Ken Dyers and wife Jan Hamilton, Kenja members and supporters claim that the group offers a Utopia where life's purpose is defined, the human spirit discovered and the universe itself explained. Meanwhile, during its 25-year lifetime, Kenja has been derided in the media as a "secretive cult," and Ken described as a "seedy conman." Families blame the group for the disappearance of loved ones. As the people of Kenja prepare to defend themselves in the latest of several court cases, Ken and Jan invite the filmmakers into their spiritual enlightenment centre. Through remarkable vérité footage and candid interviews, Beyond Our Ken explores the anatomy and ambiguity of the cult enigma. We discover the extent to which environment defines our reality, a reality as fragile as the truth. -Shannon Abel Co-presented with OzFlix.

America defines itself in the superlative: the biggest, strongest, fastest country in the world. Is it any wonder that so many of its athletes take performance-enhancing drugs? Director Christopher Bell explores America's win-at-all-costs philosophy by examining the way his two brothers became members of the steroid subculture in an effort to realize their American dream. Ingeniously beginning the film by harkening back to the mentality of the 1980s-where the heroes were Rambo, Conan and Hulk Hogan-Bell recounts how these role models led him and his brothers into powerlifting and dreams of becoming all-star wrestlers. Those dreams were soon shattered by the realization that success in those fields required the use of performance-enhancing drugs. Bell uses his personal story as an entrée into an analysis of the bigger issues surrounding these drugs: ethics in sports, the physical and psychological health ramifications and the mentality that fuels it all.

The derogatory connotations of the term "black list" have always bothered filmmaker Timothy Greenfield-Sanders and critic Elvis Mitchell. By crafting a series of provocative and emotional interviews with 20 prominent African-Americans, the pair powerfully (re)present The Black List for a new generation. Black leaders from diverse backgrounds including Colin Powell, Sean "Puffy" Combs, Suzan-Lori Parks and Rev. Al Sharpton, speak directly to the camera, boldly sharing not only personal experiences, but controversial views on the joys and struggles of black life in America. While Toni Morrison offers positive experiences growing up as a black, female child, Lou Gossett Jr. calls out Hollywood's racism over not getting any work after winning the Oscar. Chris Rock asserts that true equality in major league baseball is achieved only when bad black players are signed, while museum curator Thelma Golden recalls how people assumed she only worked for Thelma Golden. With stunning composition and incisive interviewing, The Black List stimulates a most powerful discussion of race, oppression and empowerment. -Myrocia Watamaniuk

Astrophysicist geeks and the scientifically challenged alike, enjoy! Follow along on a hardcore, risk-filled, scientific adventure into the heart of the Big Bang. In the ongoing attempt to unlock the mysteries of the origins of the universe, an international team of ultra-adventurous astrophysicists, led by Dr. Mark Devlin, filmmaker Paul Devlin's brother, is aiming to launch a multi-million dollar telescope attached to a NASA high-altitude balloon. And therein begins the risky and revolutionary challenges that ceaselessly plague a tireless world-class research team. Every computer chip, every mirror fragment and even an ill-placed workman's glove could spell success or disaster. As the telescope and team travel from Kiruna, Sweden, to Victoria Island, deep in the Canadian North, and to Antarctica, BLAST! tells a human story-the daily frustrations, enormous sacrifices, catastrophic failures and transcendent triumphs-of scientific pursuit. -Myrocia Watamaniuk

This stunning montage of still photographs and moving images captures the beauty and brutality of the centuries-old Balinese practice of cockfighting. Traditionally, blood must be spilled to appease the bhutas, the evil spirits that live underground. The mesmerizing grace of ceremonial ritual is counterbalanced by the pandemonium of betting and the violence that soon follows. -Gisèle Gordon Co-presented with the Images Festival.

What do Danish cartoons tell us about contemporary democracy? A lot, it seems. Bloody Cartoons examines the aftermath of the violent furor that erupted in Muslim countries around the world when the independent Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten published cartoons of the prophet Muhammad in September 2005. Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen has called the controversy Denmark's worst international crisis since World War II. Freedom of expression is seen by many as an indispensable principle of democracy. But what happens when one democratic right infringes on the rights of others? Is democracy itself shaped by religion? Are religions democratic? More importantly, is God democratic? Profiling various subjects in Lebanon, Iran, Syria, Qatar, France, Turkey and Denmark who played key roles in the cartoon controversy, Bloody Cartoons peels back the layers to document the escalation of the political controversy.