Judas Priest Documentary Gets Second Screening Date

Metal band Judas Priest is the subject of a new documentary, The Ballad of Judas Priest, and now, that film is scheduled to have its Canadian premiere at the 2026 Hot Docs Festival.

The Ballad of Judas Priest looks at the band's 50-plus year career and features interviews with band members and previously unpublished clips from their personal archives. It also includes interviews and appearances from other names in the metal world, such as Ozzy Osbourne, Jack Black and members of Metallica.

Sam Dunn and Rage Against the Machine guitarist Tom Morello co-directed the film. It already had its world premiere in February at the Berlin International Film Festival, and Morello, Dunn and Judas Priest vocalist Rob Halford were at the event.

"Heavy metal music is the music that made me love music," Morello commented at a Berlin press conference, according to Audio Ink, "and Judas Priest are culturally really the creators of heavy metal, co-creators of it musically with Black Sabbath. But as far as a cultural force, creating a community that is metal, that is Judas Priest."

The Hot Docs Festival is set to take place in Toronto from April 23 to May 3. The event is slated to present films from around the world to audiences in Toronto. For ticket information and the roster of movies on the schedule, head to the event's official website.

It's really special to have a band like Judas Priest still rocking it more than five decades into their career. Classic rock icons such as Halford aren't getting any younger, but you'd never know that listening to their new music and watching them on the stage. Now, there's this documentary to give listeners an even closer look at this band and what as made them stay together and keep moving ahead for the past five decades.