Hot Docs // Staff Picks: Kyle

Kyle Miller is The Watchlist’s Technical Director. When he isn’t making the show, he’s wailing on his drums or cheering on the Jays. Here are his picks for Hot Docs 2015.

I’m a big fan of orchestral music, and I also love to travel. So when I saw that Hot Docs had a film combining both of those interests I was immediately intrigued. The Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra celebrated their anniversary in grand style with this international road trip, and it sounds like a feast for the eyes – and ears!

Sticking with the travel theme, director Phillip Baribeau’s film follows four modern day explorers as they ride their wild mustangs from Mexico to Canada. Films like One Week, Tracks, and Wild all try to capture the feeling of setting out on a cross country adventure, but they can’t compare to a real life chronicling of one. Plus the added challenge of doing it on horseback would make for some interesting experiences.

I was one of the countless people captivated by the televised manhunt following the Boston Marathon bombings back in 2013. But being a bit of a news junkie, I was also enthralled with the amateur investigative journalism happening on the social news website Reddit. A series of coincidences led to Sunil Tripathi’s name being incorrectly thrown around on there as a suspect. (An event the users of the site seem to wholly regret.) This film looks at the aftermath of that vigilantism.

This was an easy pick. Raiders of the Lost Ark is one of my top ten, maybe top five favourite films. I also really enjoy fan made parodies or homages to pop culture, so this tale of two friends swedeing their own version of the Harrison Ford classic sound entertaining as hell. I’m really curious as to why the duo behind the remake ceased production of it with only one scene remaining.

We have a UN Office for Outer Space Affairs?! That was the first thing that ran through my head when I saw the trailer for The Visit at the Hot Docs lineup announcement. If I’ve learned anything from playing video games like X-Com, it’s that dealing with unexpected visitors from above would be no easy task, so in one way I’m relieved we’re semi-prepared for it. Seeing the office’s demonstrated response play out on screen will be a surreal treat for believers like me.

These are just five films presented at Hot Docs this year, to check out the full catalogue check out hotdocs.ca.