The Canadian premiere of Sacha Gervasi’s “Anvil! The Story of Anvil.” started off the 15th annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival:

With 174 films from 36 countries screening over 11 days, Hot Docs has grown into the largest documentary festival in North America, blasting out of the shadow of the Toronto International Film Festival to become a major industry event in its own right. The festival now welcomes some 2,000 delegates and 80,000 filmgoers, double the numbers from just three years ago. [Indiewire]

Films in year’s fest include The Railroad All Stars, Mozartballs, Uganda Rising, Mystic Ball and more.

The festival’s International Showcase will also feature a diverse array of filmmakers and cinematic themes. Andrew Neel and Luke Meyer’s “Darkon” is set to run, and was a recent winner of the Audience Award for Best Documentary at this year’s SXSW Fillm Festival. Other entries vary from Honi Hameagel’s light-hearted documentary “Beach Boys” about a bunch of Israeli guys who spend most of their time bumming around the beach in Tel Aviv, to Dhruv Dhawan’s serious film, “From Dust,” which is set in Sri Lanka and chronicles two families as they try to rebuild their homes after the tsunami.

A number of special presentations were announced in addition to the festival lineup. They are: the North American premiere of Atom Egoyan’s “Citadel“; and the international premier of “His Big White Self,” a film from the UK by Nick Broomfield. Hot Docs will also screen several films that highlight worldwide activist efforts as part of their theme program–”Join Me! How to Start a Revolution.” Other highlights include a tribute to Werner Herzog, who will receive Hot Doc’s Career Achievement Award, and will participate in an onstage interview. [indieWIRE]

Keep checking back on indiewire for more on the fest and here at TakePart for some specific information on films.

It all sounds great, especially their programming that focuses on Iran. to find out more about their Iranian spotlight!