22 Canadian feature films, including 13 by first-time feature film directors and six directed by women, will screen at the upcoming 14th Annual Whistler Film Festival (WFF) taking place December 3 to 7, 2014 in Whistler, British Columba, Canada. 6 films will compete in the 11th annual Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature Film including AFTER THE BALL, BANG BANG BABY, FÉLIX AND MEIRA (Félix et Meira), MOUNTAIN MEN, RELATIVE HAPPINESS, and WOLVES (Les Loups).
Following is the list of eleven Canadian features having their World Premiere at this year’s Whistler Film Festival:
AFTER FILM SCHOOL Joel Ashton McCarthy, Canada World Premiere
A hilarious mockumentary made by, and about, film school graduates who can’t raise financing for their first feature. Over 100 Vancouver area filmmakers and musicians devoted their time and talent to this chance-taking comedy that will have you rolling in the aisles. Get ready for High School Murders – The Musical, a film within a film that you won’t believe.
AFTER THE BALL Sean Garrity, Canada World Premiere
This charming Cinderella story is set in the world of fashion design, a daughter must disguise herself in order to win the approval of her rejecting father who owns a fashion design shop. One of this year’s Borsos competitors, it is written by Borsos Winner Kate Melville (PICTURE DAY, WFF 2012). Starring Portia Doubleday, Chris Noth, Lauren Holly and Marc-André Grondin.
BAD CITY Carl Bessai, Canada World Premiere
Canada’s most prolific filmmaker, Carl Bessai, returns to Whistler after last year’s triumphant genre bender No Clue, with another film homage, but this one to blaxploitation flicks from the 70s and the reverence that certain film intellectuals maintain for Canucksploitation films of the same era. So, dust off your Afro wigs and come out and play. Can you dig it? Right on! Starring Dustin Milligan and Amanda Crew.
ELSEWHERE, N .Y. Jeffrey P. Nesker, Canada World Premiere
A first feature directed by Canadian Jeffrey P. Nesker, entirely shot on the streets of New York with a cast of four and a crew of two. The style will evoke the work of Amos Kollek or the street grit of ONCE. The film follows the romances and yearnings of a small group of young adults trying to connect in the big city. Starring Andrew Leland Rogers, Fiona Graham and Andrew Ruth.
THE COCKSURE LADS Murray Foster, Canada World Premiere
A toe-tapping musical comedy that looks at the split-up of a British boy band when they land in Toronto for a gig. This is a first feature directed by Murray Foster, the bassist with Moxy Fruvous and Great Big Sea, and it has the joyous feeling of Cliff Richard or Dave Clark Five movies from the 60s. With Lyndon Ogbourne and Luke Marty, and great original songs.
LES LOUPS (WOLVES) Sophie Deraspe, Canada World Premiere
A haunting new drama from the director of previous Borsos winner Vital Signs, about an attractive Montreal woman who arrives on a North Atlantic island during whale hunting season for no apparent reason. The locals are a rough and tumble group living a harsh life off the land, but they become very curious about why the young lady has chosen to join them. Starring Evelyne Brochu, Gilbert Sicotte and Louise Portal.
MOUNTAIN MEN Cameron Labine, Canada World Premiere
Whistler provides the perfect setting for the World Premiere of this Borsos entry of hilarious banter, nail-biting suspense and charismatic leads in Chace Crawford and Tyler Labine as estranged brothers forced to reconcile when a fire leaves them no choice but to descend a dangerous wintery mountain landscape and fight for their lives.
PRETEND WE’RE KISSING Matt Sadowski, Canada World Premiere
A first feature from director Matt Sadowski, this is a charming comic romance between a classic uber-nerd played by Dov Tiefenbach, whose character personifies neurotic self-doubt, and a dream girl played by Zoe Kravitz who shows some interest in him. Reminding you of early Woody Allen, the sex scenes are laugh out loud awkward.
SNOWMAN Mike Douglas, Canada World Premiere
Whistler filmmaker and ‘Godfather of free skiing’ Mike Douglas returns to WFF with his documentary feature debut, SNOWMAN, which pays tribute to mountain culture lifestyle and to living in Whistler in particular. It doesn’t sugarcoat the dangers of living life on the edge of a mountain, as a helicopter crash during a routine inducement of a controlled avalanche provides the film with some real-life jeopardy.
STAY AWHILE Jessica Edwards, Canada World Premiere
Anyone over a certain age may not necessarily remember the name The Bells, but they will certainly recognize the signature theme song that was a worldwide monster hit back in the early 70s before the era of radio quotas for Canadian content. Canada’s first super-group, The Bells appeared on US television, toured extensively andmade the rounds of Canadian variety and musical shows of the time. Other hits included ‘Little White Dove’ and ‘Moody Manitoba Morning’. An intimate insider’s look at the group The Bells, as told by the daughter of two of its principals, Jessica Edwards.
WHAT AN IDIOT Peter Benson, Canada World Premiere
Borrowing a plot line from the Rock Hudson/Doris Day movie SEND ME NO FLOWERS, a man (played by first-time director Peter Benson) pretends to be gay in order to befriend his gorgeous new boss at work, who seems to have a real soft spot for gay men, while treating all others with disdain. Julia Benson plays the boss, and in real life, Peter and Julia are a Vancouver based couple, which explains the genuine romantic connection between the two leads in this classic romantic comedy.
Following is a list of the many other fine Canadian films being showcased at this year’s Whistler Film Festival:
ALLY WAS SCREAMING: Jeremy Thomas, Canada BC Premiere
A tense but darkly funny exploration of the thin line between greed and morality, follows two buddies who find a dead friend’s winning lottery ticket, but her do-gooder sister stands in the way of redemption. Nice Canadian boys would never think of knocking her off, now would they? Starring Charlie Carrick, Giacomo Baessato and Camille Sullivan.
BANG BANG BABY Jeffery St. Jules, Canada Western Canadian Premiere
A wildly unique and original take on the musical genre is a first feature from Jeffrey St. Jules. The Borsos entry tells the story of a 60s teenager who dreams of making it big as a singer, if only that pesky nearby chemical plant leak wasn’t turning the townsfolks into genetic mutants. Starring Jane Levy, Justin Chatwin and Peter Stormare.
BACKCOUNTRY Adam MacDonald, Canada Western Canadian Premiere
An extremely well made true story of two ill-prepared campers who were attacked in their tent by a ferocious black bear. The bear footage was shot in Squamish BC, because that’s where the producers found the most ferocious (trained) bear, who could roar and bare his fangs on cue. This true-life horror movie is a remarkable first feature by Adam MacDonald and starring Eric Balfour, Missy Peregrym and Nicholas Campbell.
THE BACKWARD CLASS Madeleine Grant, Canada Western Canadian Premiere
Cheer-out-loud documentary filmmaking and winner of the Audience Award at this year’s Hot Docs, this is a remarkable look at the link between education and class. The film focuses on the first graduating class of low-caste individuals plucked from their impoverished families in India and given a European style education for the last thirteen years. They are about to write their first college entrance exams. How will they do as individuals, and how will this reflect on this privately funded project that has nearly bankrupted its chief proponents? A first feature directed by Vancouver-based Madeleine Grant.
BIG MUDDY Jefferson Moneo, Canada Western Canadian PremiereFirst feature from director Jefferson Moneo, this is a visually stylish look at a crime spree set in the prairies. A Saskatchewan mother gets by performing low-level cons, but must go into hiding when an escaped murderer comes looking for her and her son. This is a film that could best be described as Prairie Noir, and may remind you of Terrence Malick’s classic Badlands. Starring Nadia Litz, Stephen McHattie and Rossif Sutherland.
FÉLIX AND MEIRA: Maxime Giroux, Canada Western Canadian PremiereVoted the Best Canadian Film at this year’s Toronto International Film Festival, this is a delicate, quiet study of a forbidden romance between a depressive francophone Montrealer, and the married Hasidic mother that attracts his romantic attention. The conflict between desire and duty has never come into sharper focus. Directed by former Borsos competitor Maxime Giroux (JO FOR JONATHAN, WFF 2010) with Martin Dubreuil and Hadas Yaron.
I PUT A HIT ON YOU: Dane Clark, Linsey Stewart Western Canadian PremiereDirected by first-timers Dane Clark and Linsey Stewart, this very funny thriller follows a jilted fiancée who drunkenly offers her engagement ring online to anyone who wants to kill her boyfriend for her. Someone takes her up on the offer, and in the sober light of the next morning’s hangover, what do you do when your would-be assassin is anonymous and can’t be called off? Starring Sara Canning and Aaron Ashmore
IN HER PLACE Albert Shin, Canada/South Korea Western Canadian PremiereA second film from Canadian director Albert Shin, this is a meticulously authentic South Korean shot film, with Korean actors, and a distinctly Korean storyline, about a rich city woman who comes to live with some poor country bumpkins, a woman and her teenage daughter, for reasons that are not immediately apparent. With Yoon-Da-Kyung and Ahn Ji Hye.
THE OUTLAW LEAGUE (LA GANG DES HORS-LA-LOI) Jean Beaudry, Canada Western Canadian PremiereDirected by Jean Beaudry, this is veteran family film producer Rock Demers’ 24th entry in the Tales for All series. A rare film to be shot in French in New Brunswick, it tells the story of some local kids who fight for the right to clear a lot full of junk, so that they can have a baseball diamond to play on. City planners oppose them, of course. Starring Guy Thauvette and André Kasper Kolstad.
RELATIVE HAPPINESS Deanne Foley, Canada Western Canadian PremiereThis previously announced Borsos entry follows a pleasingly plump and plucky Nova Scotia bed and breakfast operator who needs to find a date for her gorgeous sister’s wedding. In walks the hunk of her dreams… A second film directed by Deanne Foley, starring Melissa Bergland and Aaron Poole
WE WERE WOLVES Jordan Canning, Canada Western Canadian PremiereA first feature directed by Jordan Canning, this is another perfect Whistler film as two estranged brothers reconcile in a cabin in the Kawartha Lakes region following the death of their father. They discover secrets of their father’s life that they never suspected, and must reconcile with their memories and each other. Starring Lynda Boyd, Steve Cochrane and Peter Mooney.
Related posts:
