Jason DaSilva in a scene from When I Walk.
The Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival has scored a new attendance high. Organizers say this year's 11-day event that wrapped up on Sunday had record-breaking audience numbers reaching an estimated 180,000.
The 20th annual doc festival – billed as North America's largest – screened 204 films on 16 screens across Toronto. It also included educational forums and Q&As with filmmakers and documentary subjects.
The Audience Award, determined by audience votes and presented by Netflix, went to Muscle Shoals. Greg (Freddy) Camalier directed the film, which looks at a tiny backwater Alabama town's impact on popular music.
The Jason DaSilva-directed When I Walk, about a young filmmaker with multiple sclerosis, won the $10,000 best Canadian feature documentary award. And the $10,000 prize for best international feature documentary went to Dragon Girls, which is directed by Inigo Westmeier and follows young female warriors-in-training learning ancient Shaolin Kung Fu near Beijing.