Former Toronto Senior Programmer Diana Sanchez Named Hot Docs Fest Executive Director

Veteran film programmer Diana Sanchez has been named the new executive director of The Hot Docs Canadian Documentary Festival, North America’s largest doc fest.

Sanchez, a former senior director of film and international programmer at the Toronto Film Festival, will oversee a Hot Docs looking to stage a 2025 festival from April 24 to May 4 after a chaotic 2024 edition. That was followed by president Marie Nelson — the former ABC News and Disney executive who took the helm in June 2023 — leaving Hot Docs as it restructured financially, shuttered its flagship Toronto cinema and dramatically scaled back its board of directors.

“I’m thrilled to be joining the Hot Docs team at such a pivotal moment. Storytelling has the power to rediscover, reimagine and bring fresh perspectives to the world around us. In that same spirit, Hot Docs is stepping into an exciting new chapter — one of growth, transformation and renewed vision,” Sanchez said Thursday in a statement.

She replaces interim executive director Janice Dawe, who has helped navigate Hot Docs through challenges the festival in part put down to post-pandemic financial distress. Dawe will leave Hot Docs after a transition period, and the previous position of festival president will be abandoned as executive director becomes the top job at the Toronto organization.

Besides TIFF, Sanchez has worked as a film curator at the Madrid Film Archive, Rotterdam Film Festival and the Miami Film Festival, the Los Angeles Latino Film Festival as artistic director, and the IFF Panama where she was the founding artistic director. Starting March 31, she will oversee the annual Hot Docs Festival, its industry conference and market to run for three days from April 28, and the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema, which has reopened.

“Diana brings passion, vast experience in the industry and an unwavering commitment to the power that film has to bring people together and effect positive change. We look forward to her vital contribution in reshaping Hot Docs’ future, strengthening our Festival and Cinema, and continuing to champion filmmakers in Canada and beyond,” board co-chair Nicholas de Pencier said in his own statement.

The full film lineup for the 2025 Hot Docs festival will be unveiled on March 25.