December 7th / 6:30pm / Hot Docs

In January 2020, the RCMP killed homelessness activist Barry Shantz at his home in Lytton, B.C during a mental health crisis. That morning, his family called 911 for help. What they got was an army of police officers, including snipers, but not a single mental health worker. In response to this tragedy, his sister Marilyn creates a series of art quilts called Kairos – a Greek word which means ‘an opportune time for action’. A Bullet Pulling Thread is a documentary that follows Marilyn’s journey through grief while telling the story of her brother’s life.

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December 8th / 6:30pm / Hot Docs

Coming Around follows 28-year-old second-generation Palestinian-Egyptian Brooklynite Eman as she weighs the decision to come out to her devout Muslim mother. Having grown up in Columbia, Missouri with her mother and sister, the three women share a unique tight-knit bond that Eman desperately wants to maintain. But despite being a scholar and visibly “out” among her queer Muslim friends, Eman sits uncomfortably in silence when it comes to her mother. To postpone coming out, she decides to marry her current boyfriend, Q, to give the appearance of strictly hetero relationship interests. The story captures how she struggles with this decision and consequently navigates the opposing expectations of her multiple identities. The main arc of the film is one epic drive from St. Louis airport to Columbia on the evening that Eman comes out, and the film unfolds between that drive and the events that lead up to it, crisscrossing past, present, and future timelines within a frame of non-linearity.

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December 9th / 2:00pm / Hot Docs

The Space Race weaves together the stories of Black astronauts seeking to break the bonds of social injustice to reach for the stars, including Guion Bluford, Ed Dwight and Charles Bolden, among many others. In The Space Race, directors Diego Hurtado de Mendoza and Lisa Cortés profile the pioneering Black pilots, scientists and engineers who joined NASA to serve their country in space, even as their country failed to achieve equality for them back on Earth. From 1963, when the assassination of JFK thwarted Captain Ed Dwight’s quest to reach the moon, to 2020, when the echoes of the civil unrest sparked by the killing of George Floyd reached the International Space Station, the story of African Americans at NASA is a tale of world events colliding with the aspirations of uncommon men. The bright dreams of Afrofuturism become reality in The Space Race, turning science fiction into science fact and forever redefining what “the right stuff” looks like, giving us new heroes to celebrate and a fresh history to explore.

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December 9th / 6:00pm / Hot Docs

In June 2020, the National Security Law was enforced upon Hong Kong, having a massive impact on the ability of citizens to speak freely. A seemingly unending list of words, phrases, imagery and music were now illegal under this authoritarian ruling. Amid this crackdown, the sparks of passion and creativity blend into forms of protest as artists try and find ways to make their voices heard and to preserve their culture. Using her own voice to guide us through this time, filmmaker San San F Young pieces together works by underground artists, musicians, dancers, illustrators and performance artists, showcasing how art can provide some of the most powerful forms of activism. This mixtape serves as a love letter that ignites passion, celebrates artistic expression, and shows that in the face of being silenced, people always find ways of speaking out louder than ever.

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This year’s festival is accompanied by WE GROW TOGETHER in partnership with White Owl Native Ancestry Association and Wisahkotewinowak. This exhibition features the work of six Indigenous youth who have completed a painting program led by iAM Program Alum Aneel Vyas with creative writing exercises led by JAYU’s Desiree Mckenzie to explore how their personal growth is tied to land. The 5-day workshop intensive also included a session on mental well-being and expression led by Meghan Yuri Young of the Sad Collective.

View the exhibition at each of our film screenings in the halls of the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema.

December 10th / 6:30pm / Ace Hotel

The Festival will close on International Human Rights Day with the 4th annual JAYU Slams Poetry Competition at the Toronto Ace Hotel. Headlined by acclaimed poet Eddie Lartey, this competition consists of Toronto’s best spoken word poets going head to head for a $350 prize and title of JAYU slam champion.

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HRFF+ is an initiative of JAYU, a charity that shares human rights stories through the arts. Our year round programs include this film festival, quarterly screenings, and iAM - an arts and social justice training program for youth. 

Learn more about JAYU.

As part of JAYU’s commitment to accessibility, we offer tiered ticketing to every event to ensure that everyone has an opportunity to enjoy the festival.

Prices vary depending on the specific event, but the tiers listed on each event are the following:

Regular: Supports community access to arts programming and mentorship.

Student/seniors/arts workers: Helps bring new artists to future festivals.

Geared to Income: Builds welcoming spaces for everyone to share their stories.

Free: Increases empathy for human rights issues around the world.

For all film screenings, you will receive an email from Hot Docs after you book your tickets.

For the JAYU Poetry Slam, you’ll receive an email from Eventbrite with instructions for attending.

Can’t find the email in your inbox/spam/promotions folders? Shoot us an email at info@jayu.ca and we’ll make sure you get it on time!

Each year, we strive to make the festival as accessible as we can. This includes:

• Open captioning for our film screenings for all events.

• ASL interpretation is available upon request. Please email us at info@jayu.ca to request an interpreter. While we will do our best to accommodate, notifying us by December 1st gives us the best chance to book an interpreter in time for this event.

• Financial accessibility is important to us, which is why we offer tiered pricing.

• An Active Listener will be present at all events. This is someone who is trained to listen and help process difficult emotions in the moment. Please note that Active Listeners are not therapists, but they will be provided with resources to share our community should they need additional support.

In so many ways! If you are able to, making a donation is the best way to make a direct impact in our community! You can also stop by our merch shop at the Festival and show off your JAYU pride with a new T, cap, or pullover. Or sign up for our regular e-newsletter to learn more about our events. Of course, don’t forget to follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Tik Tok, and Instagram.