Hot Docs, North America's largest documentary festival, conference and market, returns for its 18th annual edition from April 28 to May 8.

Weibo's War

By David York

With Weibo's War, the story of a Christian community at war with the oil and gas industry, David York said he was trying to mirror his experience in making the film. And York said after making the film he is as conflicted as he expects most audience members will be.

"Is he a hero, is he an anti hero or is he a terrorist?" York said. "I am asking the audience to make those judgments."

Weibo's War chronicles the story of Weibo Ludwig, the leader of a Christian community, who is driven to defend his family's compound called Trickle Creek from the deadly effects of sour gas wells.

In 2001, Ludwig was convicted on vandalism and explosives charges in a bombing campaign against Alberta's oil and gas industry. This documentary picks up at the time of a second series of pipeline bombings for which Ludwig was arrested, but never charged.

"I went into the film with a bunch of pre-conceptions," York said. "Is it a cult? What is the role of women in the community? Is he a mad bomber? I went into it with that baggage and what I found was significantly at odds with it."

The family at Trickle Creek, York said, is healthy and happy and genuinely adore Weibo. But by the same token, there are sides to their religious and spiritual beliefs that York said he couldn't buy into.

"There are religious justifications for their actions that I can't buy into as an atheist," York said.

Weibo's War was shot in 70 days over the course of two years, in which time the family withdrew their cooperation twice.

"I thought we were done, but we just waited," York said. "Thank God for the National Film Board because if it was for a broadcaster there would have been enormous commercial pressure to make something out of whatever we had gotten up to that point."

York, who lives in West Queen West, said after he was thrown out of the shoot by the family, he was given an opportunity to regroup and wait it out.

"Despite pretty profound disagreements on religious matters and spiritual matters they continued to allow me to make the film and do so without any editorial impact," York said.

This film is the directorial debut for York, an award-winning producer who has made feature films, TV dramas and more than 100 hours of non-fiction television.

The 94-minute documentary will make its North American premiere at Hot Docs, which will be attended by Weibo Ludwig, his wife and one of his sons.

"Experiencing the audience's moral and ethical judgments of Weibo and his family, with Weibo in the audience and staying in my house, is going to be strange," York said.

Weibo's War will screen on April 30 at 7 p.m. at the Isabel Bader Theatre; Tuesday, May 3 at 7:15 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox; and on Saturday, May 7 at 7 p.m. at The Regent.

York will also participate in Doc Talks, a free new series of conversations giving documentary film lovers access to leading Canadian and international directors. At Bell Lightbox 4 on Thursday, May 5, 5:30 p.m., participants will discuss films that delve into religion, politics and ethical dilemmas.

EDITOR'S NOTE: Toronto Community News was informed after deadline that Weibo Ludwig and his family would not be attending the premiere screening of Weibo's War.

The Team

By Patrick Reed

The Team is kind of an American Idol-type story of common people seeking stardom, but it takes place during the making of a soap opera in the East African country of Kenya following their December 2007 presidential election.

Patrick Reed filmed The Team over the course of a year in four separate shoots. It begins with the open casting call of a new television show in Kenya and follows the cast through to the completion of the shooting taboo-breaking TV series about an ethnically diverse soccer team, hoping to capture an audience and unite a nation teetering on the brink of conflict.

"I was looking for a film where the Africans didn't play a supporting role but play the staring role," Reed said. "That was the one thing that appealed to me about this project early on, apart from it being visual and interesting and character driven, was the idea that here was this different kind of African story that we rarely see in the west. The Africans are not just passive victims, but they are really driving the story."

Reed, originally from Dundas, Ontario, lives in Trinity Bellwoods area. His academic background is in genocide, human rights and political science, but never actually studied film.

"I have done a lot of films in Africa over the last seven or eight years," said Reed, who was a researcher and associate producer on Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire. "The main reason I got into film was a frustration on my own part, but definitely from professors of mine that we are talking about interesting things, we are studying interesting things but in a format (that) was not particularly relevant."

He found a strictly academic route limiting and wanted to explore the same topics and story matter but in a way that would be appealing to a larger audience. He started in the industry by doing background research for other people, then writing and then moved into directing.

"I think with documentary there are certain things you can learn on the fly," Reed said. "Working with really good people and good crews who will help you out along the way."

Hot Docs will be the Canadian premiere of the 80-minute film The Team, which Reed pitched at the Hot Docs Forum in 2009 and was awarded 2009 Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds Pitch Prize.

"I knew there would be certain compelling stuff to follow," he said. "We knew early on we had really good characters."

The Team will screen on Sunday, May 1 at 7 p.m. at the Royal Cinema; Saturday, May 7 at 6:45 p.m. at the ROM Theatre; and Sunday May 8 at 7 p.m. at the Revue on Roncesvalles Avenue.

Three Walls

By Zaheed Mawani

In Three Walls director Zaheed Mawani takes a comical approach to investigating the office cubical and the way white collar work has changed.

"I really thought it had to be funny, otherwise it would be depressing," Mawani said of his documentary Three Walls.

Mawani, who lives in Parkdale, made Three Walls, a 26-minute short documentary about the cubicle as part of his thesis for his graduate studies at York University.

"I just started doing a bit of research and it just started to become clear that this was an idea that was simple and a way of representing how white collar work has changed."

He said he got lucky with the people he ended up interviewing for the film, many of whom were his friends, who shared a comical take on their life working in a cubical.

"I had to find people that were really interesting and funny and smart and didn't feel like they belonged there," he said. "I did interview some people that were really nice and smart, but they weren't that engaging."

He shot the film in Toronto, New York and Chicago and the film features cubical workers as well as architects and experts in cubicle work spaces.

"The people that makes these spaces, they have thought a lot about it and have these ideas about what kind of interactions you are supposed to have and how it is supposed to be affective," he said.

Three Walls will screen on Saturday, April 30 at 9 p.m. at the TIFF Bell Lightbox and on Monday, May 2 at 1:45 p.m. at the ROM Theatre.

Tickets for Hot Docs can be purchased at The Hot Docs Box Office at 131 Bloor St. W., online at www.hotdocs.ca or by phone at 416-637-5150.