| class = "wikitable sortable" width=100% |
| style="width:8%;"| Year
! style="width:45%;"| Film
! style="width:45%;"| Filmmaker(s)
! style="width:2%;"| Ref |
|---|
| rowspan=2| 1998
| In My Father's House
| Fatima Jebli Ouzzani
| rowspan=2| ["World's best documentaries honoured Filmmaker Allan King given first lifetime achievement award at fifth annual Hot Docs!". The Globe and Mail, March 23, 1998.] |
| Wasteland (Auf Der Kippe)
| Andre Schwartz |
| 1999
| A Murder in Abidjan (Un crime à Abidjan)
| Mosco Boucoult
| [Tamsen Tillson, [https://variety.com/1999/film/news/canuck-hot-docs-picked-1117500258/ "Canuck hot docs picked"]. Variety, May 11, 1999.] |
| rowspan=2| 2000
| Godard on TV (Godard à la télé)
| Michel Royer
| rowspan=2| ["Hot Docs presents awards at seventh annual festival: Zyklon Portrait takes best short, editing, humanitarian prizes". National Post, May 8, 2000.] |
| Long Night's Journey Into Day
| Deborah Hoffmann, Frances Reid |
| rowspan=2| 2001
| Southern Comfort {{Gold medal}}
| Kate Davis
| rowspan=2| [Brenda Bouw, "My Left Breast wins gold award at Hot Docs festival". National Post, May 8, 2001.] |
| 100 Per Cent White {{silver medal}}
| Leo Regan |
| 2002
| All About My Father (Alt om min far)
| Even Benestad
| ["Hot Docs prize goes to Montreal director". The Globe and Mail, May 7, 2002.] |
| 2003
| Power Trip
| Paul Devlin
| ["Hot Docs festival hands out 12 awards". The Globe and Mail, May 6, 2003.] |
| 2004
| Checkpoint (Machssomim)
| Yoav Shamir
| ["Hot Docs announces its picks of the year". The Globe and Mail, May 3, 2004.] |
| 2005
| Street Fight
| Marshall Curry
| ["Hogtown muckraker digs up prize at Hot Docs". National Post, May 2, 2005.] |
| 2006
| 37 Uses for a Dead Sheep
| Ben Hopkins
| ["Hot Docs pulls record crowds with 13th fest". Toronto Star, May 9, 2006.] |
| 2007
| Losers and Winners
| Ulrike Franke, Michael Loeken
| ["Hot Docs film festival breaks attendance record with 68,000 taking in films". Canadian Press, April 30, 2007.] |
| 2008
| The English Surgeon
| Geoffrey Smith
| ["Prizes dished out at 15th annual Hot Docs festival". Alaska Highway News, April 30, 2008.] |
| 2009
| One Man Village
| Simon El Habre
| [James Bradshaw, "Davis's Invisible City wins $15,000 Hot Docs prize". The Globe and Mail, May 9, 2009.] |
| 2010
| A Film Unfinished (Shtikat haArkhion)
| Yael Hersonski
| ["Propaganda tale wins Hot Docs prize movies; Bin Laden bodyguard film also a winner". Toronto Star, May 9, 2010.] |
| 2011
| Dragonslayer
| Tristan Patterson
| [Guy Dixon, "Julia Ivanovna film wins $15,000 Hot Docs prize". The Globe and Mail, May 6, 2011.] |
| 2012
| Call Me Kuchu
| Malika Zouhali-Worrall, Katherine Fairfax Wright
| ["‘The World Before Her' wins best Canadian feature at Hot Docs". The Globe and Mail, May 4, 2012.] |
| 2013
| Dragon Girls (Drachenmädchen)
| Inigo Westmeier
| [Adam Benzine, [https://playbackonline.ca/2013/05/06/hot-docs-2013-when-i-walk-dragon-girls-scoop-prizes/ "Hot Docs 2013: When I Walk, Dragon Girls, scoop prizes"]. Playback, May 6, 2013.] |
| 2014
| Waiting for August
| Teodora Ana Mihai
| [Paula Bernstein, [https://www.indiewire.com/2014/05/hot-docs-2014-winners-announced-out-of-mind-out-of-sight-wins-best-canadian-feature-documentary-27115/ "Hot Docs 2014 Winners Announced: ‘Out of Mind, Out of Sight’ Wins Best Canadian Feature Documentary"]. IndieWire, May 3, 2014.] |
| 2015
| The Closer We Get
| Karen Guthrie
| [Jennie Punter, [https://variety.com/2015/film/festivals/the-closer-we-get-hot-docs-1201485978/ "‘The Closer We Get’ Takes Top Award at Hot Docs"]. Variety, May 1, 2015.] |
| 2016
| Brothers (Brødre)
| Aslaug Holm
| [Etan Vlessing, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hot-docs-norways-brothers-doc-891659/ "Hot Docs: Norway’s ‘Brothers’ Doc Diary Takes Top Jury Prize"]. The Hollywood Reporter, May 6, 2016.] |
| 2017
| The Other Side of the Wall
| Pau Ortiz
| [Jordan Pinto, [https://playbackonline.ca/2017/05/08/rezolutions-rumble-wins-hot-docs-audience-award/ "Rezolution’s Rumble wins Hot Docs audience award"]. Playback, May 8, 2017.] |
| 2018
| We Could Be Heroes
| Hind Bensari
| [Norman Wilner, [https://nowtoronto.com/movies/news-features/hot-docs-2018-awards-winners "Hot Docs 2018: A Little Wisdom, Transformer among award winners"]. Now, May 5, 2018.] |
| 2019
| Hope Frozen
| Pailin Wedel
| [Jennie Punter, [https://variety.com/2019/film/festivals/we-will-stand-up-hope-frozen-take-top-prizes-hot-docs-1203205112/ "‘We Will Stand Up,’ ‘Hope Frozen’ Take Top Prizes at Hot Docs"]. Variety, May 4, 2019.] |
| 2020
| Stray
| Elizabeth Lo
| [Norman Wilner, [https://nowtoronto.com/movies/hot-docs-2020-winners/ "Prayer For A Lost Mitten, Stray win top awards at Hot Docs 2020"]. Now, May 19, 2020.] |
| 2021
| Ostrov: Lost Island
| Svetlana Rodina, Laurent Stoop
| [Kevin Ritchie, [https://nowtoronto.com/movies/hot-docs-2021-zo-reken-one-of-ours-claim-top-prizes "Hot Docs 2021: Zo Reken, One Of Ours claim top prizes"]. Now, May 7, 2021.] |
| 2022
| Blue Island
| Chan Tze-woon
| [Sadaf Ahsan, [https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/2022/05/07/jacquelyn-mills-geographies-of-solitude-wins-hot-docs-best-canadian-film-award.html "Jacquelyn Mills’ ‘Geographies of Solitude’ wins Hot Docs’ best Canadian film award"]. Toronto Star, May 7, 2022.] |
| 2023
| The Mountains (Bjergene)
| Christian Einshøj
| [Etan Vlessing, [https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-news/hot-docs-festival-2023-awards-winners-the-mountains-1235481496/ "Hot Docs Awards: Christian Einshoj’s ‘The Mountains’ Takes Top Jury Prize"]. The Hollywood Reporter, May 6, 2023.] |
| 2024
| Farming the Revolution
| Nishta Jain
| [John Hazelton, [https://www.screendaily.com/hot-docs-2024-wraps-rogers-audience-award-for-best-canadian-doc-goes-to-yintah/5193042.article "Hot Docs 2024 wraps, Rogers Audience Award for best Canadian doc goes to ‘Yintah’"]. Screen Daily, May 5, 2024.] |
| 2025
| I, Poppy
| Vivek Chaudhary
| |