Elaine Epstein’s ‘Arrest the Midwife’ Nabs Top Prize at Hot Docs Forum Awards
variety.comAddie Morfoot Contributor The Hot Docs Forum, the festival’s industry centerpiece, wrapped Wednesday with its most lively awards announcements in recent memory—complete with flamenco guitar, song and dance courtesy of Spain, this year’s country in focus—as hundreds of industry delegates assembled under the sun in the courtyard of Toronto’s Hart House.
Elaine Epstein’s “Arrest the Midwife”—one of 20 projects presented to key funders and decision-makers as well as filmmakers, producers and other observers at the two-day Forum pitch event—won the First Look first prize of Can $20,000 cash.
Produced through Epstein’s Underdog Films (U.S.), with producers Robin Hessman and Ruth Ann Harnisch, the film follows the arrest of three midwives serving Amish and Mennonite communities, which spurs an unlikely group of activists to join the fight for reproductive rights.
First Look is a curated access program for philanthropic supporters of and investors in documentary film. Pitch prizes are decided on by program participants and awarded to filmmakers to support them in completing their films and creating lasting social impact for the causes associated with their work.
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