I hear that Toronto is all-abuzz over Hot Docs, the annual film fest running until May 1. I was actually expecting to be down for it this week, to help Capture Entertainment with their pitch to make a film version of The Rebel Sell.
Capture put together a proposal for The Democracy Project, “an exciting endeavor involving a growing international coalition of broadcasters who will participate in the selection and financing of 10+ documentaries on the theme of democracy produced by independent filmmakers.”
From the proposals, the NFB and CBC were to choose four submissions to compete in a special pitch session, Thursday April 28 at the University of Toronto. Winner would get $10k in development money.
Alas, we weren’t selected. Among those that are competing, there is a documentary about DDT, and another about a transsexual who is suing the Vancouver Rape Relief Centre. Here’s the list of competing proposals (they went with 5, in the end).
Sour grapes aside, I can’t say I’m that impressed with the subject matter of the proposals. I was actually worried that the content of the Rebel Sell was not enough about “democracy” strictly speaking; but from the looks of it, we should have proposed something on the topic of consumerism in Africa.
If anyone goes to the pitch session, I’d love a report.