Hot Docs // Staff Picks: Evan

Evan Arppe hosts and writes The Watchlist. Well versed in film theory he’s also The Watchlist’s leading film reviewer but there’s more to Evan than film appreciation, he also likes comedy. Check out his Hot Docs picks below.

As someone who spends many of their nights performing in comedy clubs chasing the seemingly impossible dream, 3 Still Standing both excites and terrifies me. The story of a trio of stand up comics who rose to near-fame in 1980s San Francisco only to see their fortunes fade looks like a thoughtful and heartfelt portrait of the joy and sacrifice of a life in pursuit of art. I’m limiting myself to one comedy pick since Hot Docs is featuring the amazing Show Me the Funny program this year, and if I don’t contain myself that program will constitute my entire list.

Stories of online crime and the murky underbelly of the internet have almost become a genre in themselves, but there’s still something that feels fresh and exciting about the tall tales of this new frontier. Alex Winter (Downloaded) takes the story of alleged Silk Road kingpin Ross Ulbricht as his starting point in this slick-looking exposé of the secret, shady deep web.

Anyone with an interest in the history of television – and television news specifically – will definitely want to check out Best of Enemies. Co-directed by 20 Feet From Stardom director Morgan Neville and Grammy Award-winning writer/filmmaker Robert Gordon, the film focuses on the infamous televised debates between Gore Vidal and Will F. Buckley Jr. during the 1968 Republican and Democratic National Conventions. Sound a little dry? Check out this display of eloquent venom (warning: language).

An intimate look at four photojournalists working in Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban, Frame by Frame morphed from a short into a feature thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign. The film looks to feature beautiful photography (duh) but also a unique perspective on the country from local journalists fully embracing their new found freedom.

This look at the creation and early days of Greenpeace gets its Canadian premiere at Hot Docs after wowing audiences at Sundance. Reviews have been great, praising the film for it’s uplifting underdog story filled with never-before-seen footage. I like my rousing calls to action served with a nice dose of feel-good humanism and How to Change the World looks to have it. Also I realized at the end of making this list that all my other picks were American films, but this one’s Canadian!

The Hot Docs film festival runs in Toronto from April 23rd to May 1st. Head over to hotdocs.ca for more information and tickets.