It’s hard to really nail down a “festival season” because each season has its festivals, and they each have different goals and audiences. Toronto, running from September 6 - 15, definitely serves as a launching pad for big international films, and with the release of its doc slate, programmed by the inimitable Thom Powers, this year promises to be no exception. On the TIFF Doc Blog (which you might want to bookmark now), Powers asks some fest programmers to share their picks, kicking off with the kool kat Matt Dentler of SXSW.

I second Matt’s choice of Encounters at the End of the World by Werner Herzog. I love Herzog and hate him at the same time, and its delicious. If I were going to the fest, I would also see Parvez Sharma’s film (mostly because Sandi Dubowski is producing and he is a DOLL!!) and the Kevin MacDonald film, just because I’d have to.

But, I’d also call your attention to some interesting picks that might not get the same amount of hype going in, but look really promising:

Body of War
Directed by Phil Donahue and Ellen Spiro, USA
Wounded after serving in Iraq for less than a week, 25-year-old Tomas Young - now paralyzed from the chest down - transforms his personal suffering into political activism, evolving as a powerful voice against the ongoing war. Featuring new music by Eddie Vedder of Pearl Jam.

Hollywood Chinese
Directed by Arthur Dong, USA
Punctuated with clips from over 100 movies, Hollywood Chinese offers a captivating revelation on the Chinese in American feature films, from the very first Chinese-American film produced in 1916 to Ang Lee’s triumphant Brokeback Mountain.

Operation Filmmaker
Directed by Nina Davenport, USA
When the dreams of a young Iraqi film student are crushed following the bombing of Baghdad’s film school, actor Liev Schreiber invites him to intern on the production of Everything is Illuminated. But in a comedic turn of events, Schreiber’s good intentions quickly backfire as the eager student proves to have intentions of his own.

Also, I’m ecstatic to see that Why Democracy? is on the slate with Please Vote for Me (pictured above), a charming and funny look at the first elections ever held in China, and Iron Ladies of Liberia, a biopic of Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, the fiesty female President of Liberia.

UPDATE: Thom graciously included me in his call for picks, so I modified my form and added some thoughts, TIFF Picks from Agnes Varnum>> 

I’ll be in Toronto from Sunday, April 22 to 26 at Hot Docs. I’m covering the festival for Documentary, so expect a post from me in the e-zine, and then later in summer in the magazine.

Also, I have great news to report: I will be taking over the monthly documentary column at indieWIRE.com! My first crack at it will arrive in your inbox while I’m at HotDocs, so expect some additional nuggets from HotDocs in my May column, in which I’ll be tackling the topic of international co-production. As for April, well you’ll just have to hold your breath until April 26 to find out.

Drop me a link from the Contact page above if you will be at Hot Docs, or if you want to send me any information about your film (either in the fest, TDF or the Market) beforehand. I’ll also be there for First Run/Icarus Films, so if any of you are licensing doc content, we should talk!