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I’m often writing about film premieres or special presentations where directors or other cast and crew will be in attendance. It’s always more exciting when that happens. But what’s even cooler (and something I hardly ever get to write about), is when the subject of the film is around to take questions. Man, I love documentaries! Hot Docs, which begins at the end of this week) has just announced a whole slew of special guests that will be on hand at this year’s festival. Be warned: it’s a long list!

The following guests will be at one or all of the screenings of their respective films. In many cases, the filmmakers will also be on hand.

1. Geddy Lee and Alex Lifeson will attend April 29th screening of Rush: Beyond the Lighted Stage
2. Mark Siegel from Bhutto – Biographer and confidant of former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto
3. David Klein, the inventor of Jelly Belly, from Candyman: The David Klein Story
4. Michael Louis Johnson from A Different Path – A Toronto cycling activist throws a block party to challenge car culture and take back the streets for pedestrians, cyclists, and wheelchairs
5. Ash, Jane, Pam and Rosie from Dish: Women, Waitressing & the Art of Service – waitresses from Toronto and Montreal
6. World-renowned master drummers Dennis Chambers, Raul Rekow, and Nasyr Abdul-Al-Khabyyr from A Drummer’s Dream
7. Falconer Alan Parrot from Feathered Cocaine
8. Japanese icon Dr. Yoshiro NakaMats from The Invention of Dr. NakaMats
9. “Hana” and “Alina” from In the Name of the Family – These young girls’ heartbreaking stories expose the patriarchal beliefs used to justify violence against women in the name of family honour
10. Marjorie Silver from The Kids Grow Up
11. Maclen Zilber from Leave them Laughing – The son of Carla Zilbersmith, whose life is being taken by Lou Gehrig’s disease.
12. Teachers Carl Merenick, Brandon Merenick, Thompson Egbo-Egbo, Stokes and students from Listen to This
13. Brian Switzer and Lisa Switzer from Made in India
14. Prominant, sacred sex-healer Baba Dez from Sex Magic, Manafesting Maya
15. Namrata Gill from Namrata
16. Chris Mburu from A Small Act
17. Musician, magician, visual artist, and filmmaker Josh Dolgin from The “Socalled” Movie
18. Sound recordist of the natural world Gordon Hempton from Soundtracker
19. Competitive eater Pete Czerwinski from The Story of Furious Pete
20. Sebastio Carlos “Tiao” Dos Santos from Waste Land
21. Opera singer Barbara Smith Conrad from When I Rise

I told you there were a lot. Your best bet is to check out the Hot Docs schedule to find out when the films are screening – and then get on down there to catch up on some very interesting people.