This Week in Film rounds up noteworthy new releases in theatres, as well as key DVD / Blu-Ray releases, festivals, and other cinema-related events happening in Toronto.

Hot Docs is in full swing! Toronto's high profile documentary film festival kicked off last night with the Canadian premiere of Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry - and if you missed it, there are still 188 films to see. Hot Docs is running through to next weekend, from April 26 to May 6, 2012.

The 2012 Hot Docs Festival kicks off next Thursday with 189 movies, heroes, villains, rock stars, athletes, reindeer herders, and more. Programmers have booked us a spotlight on docs from Southeastern Europe, a retrospective of Michel Brault's career, an entire program devoted to stories about Rising Up, and according to early reports, guest appearances by James Franco and Rick Springfield.

The festival runs from April 26th through May 6th, so it might be time to start thinking about getting tickets. If you aren't too sure where to start, here is a short rundown of this year's festival, and a few docs you might want to hit.

Running from Friday, March 23 to Sunday, April 1, Cinefranco takes over TIFF Bell Lightbox screens for its 2012 edition. The longstanding French language film festival is an opportunity to practice your français and catch recent films from Ontario, Quebec, France, Switzerland, Belgium, and Morocco.

Cinefranco has a hefty lineup, and with 28 features, 2 documentaries and 11 shorts, there's something on the menu for everyone. Need some help narrowing it down? After screening this year's picks, here are five of my favourites.

This Week in Film rounds up noteworthy new releases in theatres, as well as key DVD / Blu-Ray releases, festivals, and other cinema-related events happening in Toronto.

The Toronto Reel Asian International Festival opens its 15th edition next Tuesday, November 8th with the Canadian premiere of Lover's Discourse, four overlapping love stories set in Hong Kong. On through to November 13th in Toronto, and then for another week in Richmond Hill, the festival has booked a solid run of screenings, panels, installations, events, and appearances from Canadian and international artists.

The great thing about this year's lineup is the diversity of the screenings and the strength of the in-between films that didn't get "gala" or "centerpiece" billing. It's my third year covering Reel Asian and this has been the best batch of films so far. If you can, check out these five gems from the Far East.