Indian documentary 'I, Poppy' bags top award at Canada's Hot Docs
Toronto: An Indian production has won the top award at North America's leading documentary film festival for the second year running.
Directed by Vivek Chaudhary, the film I, Poppy, garnered the Best International Feature Documentary award at Hot Docs, in Toronto, on Friday.
The film's producers said the film was shot over five years in an 'observational style in the poppy fields of Rajasthan'.
'Going against some powerful forces, both against the opium mafia and the corrupt Narcotics Bureau, the film crew faced considerable challenges but persevered to bring this human story to life,' they added.
In a statement, the jury which selected the film for the award, said, 'A film of negotiations – with family, with community, with the systems that limit our choices and bind our fates. For its moving and thoughtfully crafted chronicle of a family navigating conflicts, contradictions and uncomfortable truths, the jury presents the Best International Feature award to I, Poppy.'
Since Hot Docs is an Academy Awards qualifying festival for feature documentaries, 'I, Poppy', which is in Hindi and Marwari, will qualify for consideration in the Best Documentary Feature category of the Oscars without the standard theatrical run, provided it complies with Academy rules.
Chaudhary's first film, the 45-minute long Goonga Pehelwan or The Mute Wrestler, won the Indian National Film Award for Best Debut Film in 2015. 'I, Poppy' which is 81-minutes in length, is his debut feature documentary.
In 2024, the feature, 'Farming The Revolution', from Mumbai-based filmmaker Nishtha Jain, was the winner of the Best International Feature Documentary Award.
'I, Poppy' was one of two Indian productions that had their world premiere at Hot Docs this year. The festival also showcased Marriage Cops, a India-US co-production directed by Shashwati Talukdar and Cheryl Hess, which looked at the Women's Helpline in Dehradun, India, where marriage mediation meets law enforcement in the most unexpected ways.
The 2025 edition of Hot Docs presented 113 films from 47 countries. The festival which began on April 24 will conclude on Sunday.
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