DocNow 2026 Festival

18th DocNow Festival

June 1 – 30, 2026
Various Locations, Toronto
docnowfestival.ca

DocNow 2026 is the 18th annual interdisciplinary arts festival showcasing the work of Master of Fine Arts candidates in Documentary Media at Toronto Metropolitan University. This year’s festival includes film screenings, photography exhibitions, and multimedia installations created by 9 artists: Kennedy Soong Bouchard, Izabel Della Siepe, Mursal Mohammadi, Ethan Pogue, Mary Margaret Powrie, Amelia Sopta, Jonathan Andrew B. Taala, Toni Thomson and Jessica Wu.

From June 1st to 30th, DocNow 2026 will present film screenings at the Paradise Theatre, and exhibitions in several galleries: Beaver Hall Gallery, Whippersnapper Gallery, The Image Centre Student Gallery, and Art Space TMU.

Since the DocNow Festival is student-run and non-profit, large and small contributions directly support the success and careers of its artists. These contributions directly affect students, giving them the opportunity to screen their work and take the next step in their professional journeys.

Please consider supporting the festival through our secure donation page.

Screenings and exhibitions are free and open to the public!

Film Screenings

Paradise Theater on Bloor
June 17, 2025, Doors open 6:30pm | Screenings 7 – 9pm

Ethan Pogue

His film, If a Flower Bloomed, is an experimental documentary that focuses on the cleanup of radioactive waste in his hometown, Port Hope, Ontario. Shot from a personal perspective, the film addresses the slow violence perpetuated by the nuclear industry while exploring themes of intergenerational memory, denial, and the paradox of salvation.

Mary Margaret Powrie

Her film, DocSam, is a personal portrait of her father, Dr. Semeon B. Hrushovetz, a physician, researcher and TV show host from Winnipeg, Manitoba. The film explores his life and legacy through his lifelong passions for learning and longevity.

Toni Thomson

Her film, Beyond the Frame, follows the story of a Canadian conservation photographer devoted to ethical wildlife management. Told through intimate conversations about his life and the power of photography, the film exposes challenges faced by advocates for peaceful human-wildlife coexistence.

Exhibitions

Kennedy Soong Bouchard
Trinity Square Video | June 3 – 30, 2026
Opening Night: June 10, 6 – 9pm

Her multimedia exhibition, Blueprints, features a collection of 12 full-body cyanotypes that celebrate the experiences of women living with invisible illness, made through a series of outdoor participatory workshops.

Izabel Della Siepe
Whippersnapper | June 3 – 15, 2026
Opening Night: June 4, 6 – 9pm

Her image installation, SALVADORA, was made through repeated visits to her mother’s birthplace in San Salvador, El Salvador. It is a visualization of her attempt to move towards an understanding of her mother, her upbringing, and how their relationship to one another is touched by the rippled effects of displacement caused by civil conflict.

Amelia Sopta
Beaver Hall | June 3 – 15, 2026
Opening Night: June 3, 6 – 9pm

Her image installation, Meet in the Middle (Sresti u Sredini) documents contemporary Bosnia and Herzegovina and the ways in which it has been left fragmented by its past. Her photographs examine the enduring political, religious and ethnic tensions that persist more than 30 years after the end of the Yugoslav wars.

Jessica Wu
Whippersnapper | June 18 – 30, 2026
Opening Night: June 18, 6 – 9pm

Her interactive installation and short film, Sparrows (麻雀) explores the ways in which diasporic members use Mahjong to build community, negotiate identity, and counter dominant political discourses.

Jonathan Andrew B. Taala
Beaver Hall | June 19 – 30, 2026
Opening Night: June 19, 6 – 9pm

Their photobook and exhibition, Pananglagip, builds a material narrative surrounding their father’s legacy through the use of images, ephemera, and the passing down of oral history.

Mursal Mohammadi
Image Centre | June 24 – August 1, 2026
Opening Night: June 24, 6 – 8pm

Her multimedia installation, BAQĀ/بقا (The Unforgotten), explores how political violence persists within family life across generations. Emerging from the disappearance of her uncle in 1997, the work brings together film, archival photographs, sound and textile to examine absence as an inherited condition.

For ongoing festival updates, follow @docnowfestival on Instagram.

Contact:
Toni Thomson – Event Coordinator
toni.thomson@torontomu.ca

Documentary Media MFA at Toronto Metropolitan University

Discover a Multidisciplinary Approach to Documentary Media

The Documentary Media program at Toronto Metropolitan University takes a multidisciplinary approach to blending traditional documentary practices with modern methods of non-fiction storytelling. Through learning about the foundations of documentaries, this program inspires students to create their own documentary work. Through collaborating with professionals working in the industry, innovative thinkers, and scholars, students in this program are taught the principles of this practice, and will later use their knowledge to build their capstone projects.

This multidisciplinary program brings together students working in various areas, from film to new media and photography, giving them the freedom to explore a diverse range of topics. Previous students from this program have explored a wide range of topics, including wildlife conservation, examining family life across generations, and the cleanup of radioactive waste.

Accepting Domestic Applications for Fall 2026
Guaranteed entrance scholarships for all incoming students in Fall 2026.

The Creative School at Toronto Metropolitan University*

A place where you come to learn, transform and reimagine everything you thought was creative. Visit our website to explore our uniquely distinct graduate programs in the fields of media, communication, and design.

Follow us on Instagram:
Graduate Studies @ The Creative School: @creative_grad
The Creative School @TheCreativeSchl

* In April 2022, the university announced our new name of Toronto Metropolitan University, which will be implemented in a phased approach. Learn more about our next chapter.

Image Credits:
1. Ethan Pogue
2. Left to right & top to bottom: Jessica Wu, Kennedy Soong Bouchard, Mursal Mohammadi, Amelia Sopta
3. Left to right & top to bottom: Kennedy Soong Bouchard, Jonathan Taala, Toni Thomson, Ethan Pogue, Jessica Wu, Izabel Siepe
4. Toni Thomson