Doc Soup
If there is any way that autumn in Toronto can be somewhat redeemed, it is the start of Doc Soup. Once a month, from October till April, a documentary is shown at the Bloor Cinema. A subscription to Doc Soup which includes admission to all monthly movies, plus ten passes to the Hot Docs festival is a mere $140 (plus GST). That works out to less than $8.00 per movie which is a great deal and guaranteed to satisfy more than any formulaic Hollywood movie ever could.
I have been a documentary nerd forever. It started with Wild Kingdom nature shows I’d watch with my grandmother as a kid. I’d always be waiting for a grisly kill, terrified and thrilled as a sickly gazelle was separated from the pack by a deadly lioness. I’d hyperventilate when some poor unsuspecting zebra would take a drink in the crocodile infested watering hole. From then on it has been a lifetime of gobbling up documentaries. They have fascinated me, shocked me and broken my heart.
Doc Soup and Hot Docs has grown rapidly over the years. I am glad more people are turning on to the power of documentaries. I can’t help it though, I start getting resentful whenever something becomes a scene. I guard my geekiness jealously and much prefer being a documentary nerd over a documentary hipster. Perhaps I am being unfair and judgmental. I never said I was a generous documentary lover. Nor do I claim that my love of documentaries spills over to a benevolent love of people. Luckily my doc love overrides my hatred of scenesters. That and the fact that the Bloor Cinema makes amazing fresh popcorn and layers the butter midway through the bag so that every kernel is saturated. I am forced to dig deep and continue to embrace Doc Soup and find some generosity in my small elitist heart.
