Hot Docs to honour Kopple, Walker

Canadian festival Hot Docs is to honour two-time Oscar winner Barbara Kopple with this year’s Outstanding Achievement Award, while Canadian filmmaker John Walker will receive the mid-career Focus On retrospective.

Barbara Kopple

Kopple, who won Academy Awards for Best Documentary Feature with 1991’s American Dream and 1977’s Harlan County USA, will see a retrospective of her work screened at this year’s 25th annual Hot Docs, which runs in Toronto from April 26 to May 6.

The director will attend the festival and participate in a public conversation event, as well as several Q&As after her screenings.

“Barbara is a documentary force whose limitless ingenuity and passion have led her to create some of the most memorable, provocative and illuminating films of our time,” said Shane Smith, Hot Docs’ director of programming.

“She is a trailblazer whose extensive body of work resonates with audiences spanning generations and tastes.”

As for Walker, his feature docs include Strand-Under the Dark Cloth, The Fairy Faith, Men of the Deeps, A Drummer’s Dream, Arctic Defenders and Quebec My Country Mon Pays.

He has received 19 nominations and awards from the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, including the Donald Brittain Award for best social/political documentary.

He has also made several films for UK television, tackling some of the worst tragedies of the 20th century.

He directed and shot the first two films in the BBC/October Films trilogy The Hand of Stalin and his credits for UK pubcaster Channel 4 include Hidden Children, Orphans of Manchuria and Distress Signals.

“A bold, uncompromising filmmaker, John has been a vital voice in Canadian documentary for many years and his singular vision continues to yield thought-provoking perspectives on meaningful stories from around the world,” Smith said.