The future of Hot Docs, the Toronto-based non-profit that runs the biggest documentary festival in North America, is apparently unsure at this point as the organization experiences some serious challenges.

Speaking to the Globe this week, Hot Docs's president cited "significant operational issues" since the pandemic, saying that the brand now stands on "quite shaky ground" due to its dependence on live audiences, both for the annual festival and its year-round programming.

The importance of @HotDocs can't be overstated! So many important, informative, an eye-opening creative works have been shared and supported by them, we NEED them to pull through 🙏🏾 https://t.co/ffZi0XrWuH

— Ms Faith (@MsFaithishere) March 8, 2024

This will mean some cutbacks to this year's iteration, which takes place next month, and potentially in years to come, depending on if the institution can secure additional funding support from the government.

Organizers even hinted that there's a chance that there won't even be any future years to speak of at all, telling the outlet "we don’t want it to be the last Hot Docs Festival."

They added that the team had to be extremely strategic and imaginative in finding ways to optimize next month's event, with membership and attendance at Hot Docs cinema both down dramatically from 2019 (by 31 per cent and 38 per cent, respectively).

@HotDocs is an essential institution in Canadian cinema. We need it.

I hope the governments come together to fund this organization. https://t.co/Zq4huaqJts

— Arjun Singh 🇺🇦 (@arjun_singh111) March 8, 2024

The revelation comes on the tail of woes at the Toronto International Film Festival, which laid off a dozen staffers in December after losing its main sponsor of almost 30 years and having to run a scaled-back event in 2023.

The city's Harbourfront Centre has also opened up about recent fiscal hardships, with executives saying they have been unable to afford repairs to things like the Amsterdam Bridge, which has been out of commission for three years.

The 31st annual Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival runs at various locations around the city between April 25 and May 5 for those interested in supporting the arts and expanding their mind with the best non-fiction flicks on all sorts of topics.