Former Toronto Senior Programmer Diana Sanchez Named Hot Docs Fest Executive Director

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Experienced movie event organizer Diana Sanchez has recently been appointed as the new head at The Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Festival, which is North America’s biggest documentary film festival.

Previously serving as a senior director of film and international programming at the Toronto Film Festival, Sanchez will now manage Hot Docs, aiming to organize a festival from April 24 to May 4 in 2025, following a turbulent 2024 edition. This was subsequently followed by Marie Nelson, who served as president of Hot Docs and had previously worked at ABC News and Disney, resigning in June 2023. At this time, Hot Docs underwent financial restructuring, closed its main Toronto cinema, and significantly reduced the size of its board of directors.

Sanchez expressed his excitement about becoming part of the Hot Docs team at a crucial juncture. He believes that storytelling can help us reexplore, reinvent, and offer unique insights about our surroundings. In keeping with this philosophy, Hot Docs is embarking on an exhilarating journey – one marked by growth, change, and a refreshed outlook,” Sanchez stated Thursday.

Janice Dawe, who served as interim executive director, has been succeeded. She played a crucial role in guiding Hot Docs through difficulties that were partly due to post-pandemic financial strife. After a transitional period, Dawe will depart from Hot Docs. The role of festival president, previously held, will no longer exist as the executive director position will now be the top role at the Toronto organization.

In addition to her TIFF work, Sanchez has held roles as a film curator at various prestigious festivals such as the Madrid Film Archive, Rotterdam Film Festival, Miami Film Festival, Los Angeles Latino Film Festival (as artistic director), and IFF Panama (where she was the founding artistic director). From March 31st onwards, she will be in charge of the annual Hot Docs Festival, its industry conference and market, which will take place over three days from April 28th. Furthermore, she will also manage the reopened Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

Diana’s enthusiasm, extensive industry background, and unwavering dedication to the ability of films to connect people and spark positive change make us eager for her influential input as we redefine Hot Docs’ future. We anticipate that she will fortify our Festival and Cinema, continue advocating for Canadian filmmakers, and those around the world,” stated board co-chair Nicholas de Pencier in his own announcement.

The full film lineup for the 2025 Hot Docs festival will be unveiled on March 25.

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2025-03-20 19:54