NOBODY FAMOUS

  • Festival of Cinema NYC 2022 Announces Lineup, Opens with ‘Black, White and the Greys’

    6th Festival of Cinema lineup
    Black, White and the Greys directed by Casey Nelson and Marchelle Thurman

    Festival of Cinema NYC returns for its 6th year, as a live in-person 10-day event, August 5 – August 14. Taking place at the Regal UA Midway theater in Forest Hills, Queens, FOC NYC will showcase 124 independent films from more than 25 countries, with over 90 anticipated filmmakers to be in attendance. The festival opens with the New York premiere of Casey Nelson and Marchelle Thurman’s Black, White and the Greys, and closes with the New York Premiere screening of Michael Glover Smith’s Relative.

    Read more

  • Women Filmmakers to Shine at 2017 Whistler Film Festival

    [caption id="attachment_25657" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]BECOMING BURLESQUE BECOMING BURLESQUE[/caption] The Whistler Film Festival will present an unprecedented number of female focused films, talent, events, and awards throughout its 2017 programs. Female filmmakers and industry leaders will ascend to the top of Whistler Mountain for WFF’s second annual Women on Top Keynote and Breakfast on December 2 sponsored by Whistler Blackcomb. The Whistler Film Festival will screen 14 feature films and 16 short films directed by women, which makes up 30% of this year’s film programming, the highest percentage for the festival to date. WFF will also have 40 Canadian females out of 82 (49%) participating in 11 different talent programs, including 14 directors, 5 producers, 4 screenwriters, 9 filmmakers, 3 actors, and 5 musicians in bands in the Music Showcase. WFF’s Women on Top keynote address will be delivered by American film producer and co-founder of Resonate Entertainment Susan Cartsonis, who was named “one of the top five grossing producers of the year” by The Hollywood Reporter, in the year her film WHAT WOMEN WANT became the highest grossing romantic comedy of all time at the time of its release and remains number two to this day. Cartsonis has also produced THE DUFF, BEASTLY, WHERE THE HEART IS, and AQUAMARINE, as well as executive produced MIDDLE SCHOOL, INVISIBLE SISTER, and NO RESERVATIONS. Her most recent films produced include CARRIE PILBY, which premiered at the Toronto Film Festival in 2016, and DEIDRA & LANEY ROB A TRAIN, a Netflix Original Film which premiered at Sundance 2017. She is currently executive producing The Disney Channel musical FREAKY FRIDAY THE MUSICAL. “It’s not unreasonable to expect that women should be 50 percent of those creating content, considering more than 50 percent of us are consuming the content,” says Cartsonis. “I think it’s really important that women mentor both men and women. I’m well aware that some encouragement, direction and advice can change the course of your life. And when women mentor men, we change the way they view the abilities of women.” Cartsonis was an executive at 20th Century Fox for nearly a decade and rose from script reader to Senior VP of Production. She is a member of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and serves on the Independent Committee of the Producer’s Guild. She teaches Advanced Producing at USC’s School of Cinematic Arts and is strong advocate for female representation in front and behind the camera. She is a frequent speaker on the economic argument for female inclusion in media. Greetings and updates at the Women on Top event will be delivered from public agencies that have initiated new policies for gender equality. The roster includes Creative BC CEO Prem Gil, Canada Media Fund President and CEO Valerie Creighton, National Film Board of Canada’s Executive Producer of Pacific and Yukon Centre Shirley Vercruysse and Telefilm Canada Feature Film Executive – English-language Market Stephanie Azam as well as current Women in Film and Televisions Chair of Advocacy Committee and Vancouver Honorary Lifetime Member, filmmaker and UBC professor, Sharon McGowan. The Whistler Film Festival is poised to help elevate efforts to increase women working together across the entertainment industry. In addition to the talented content creators attending the festival in support of their films and projects, WFF will also host industry elite including actress and Borsos Jury member Camille Sullivan, award winning director and WFF alumni Ingrid Veninger with PORCUPINE LAKE, first time feature director Jackie English with BECOMING BURLESQUE, Darcy Hennessey Turenne, director of WFF’s closing gala film THE MOMENT, Sarah Rotella director NOBODY FAMOUS, Michelle Ouellet director PRODIGALS, acclaimed director Éva Gardos with BUDAPEST NOIR, first time feature directors and WFF alumni Hannah Cheesman and Mackenzie Donaldson with THE DEFINITES, acclaimed director Camille Thoman with the American Indie selection NEVER HERE, Kyra Sedgwick director of STORY OF A GIRL, award winning director Eisha Marjara with VENUS, American director Lori Stoll with HEAVEN’S FLOOR, Gail Harvey director of NEVER SAW IT COMING, and Jordan Canning and Renuka Jeyapalan co-directors of ORDINARY DAYS. WFF will host the Variety 10 Screenwriters to Watch class of 2017 which is primarily comprised of women screenwriters. The seven female screenwriters being honored include Liz Hannah, THE POST; Hallie Meyers-Shyer, HOME AGAIN; Maggie Betts, NOVITIATE; Tracy Oliver – co-wrote GIRLS TRIP, Dorothy Blyskal – “THE 15:17 TO PARIS”, and Sarah Ruhl, MY LIFE ON THE ROAD. Maggie Betts, Tracy Oliver and Dorothy Blyskal will be attending the festival. WFF Feature Films directed or co-directed by women: BECOMING BURLESQUE (Canada) Dir. Jackie English THE MOMENT (Canada) Dir. Darcy Hennessey Turenne NEVER SAW IT COMING (Canada) Dir. Gail Harvey NOBODY FAMOUS (Canada) Dir. Sarah Rotella PRODIGALS (Canada) Dir. Michelle Ouellet BUDAPEST NOIR (Hungary) Dir Éva Gárdos THE DEFINITES (Canada) Dir. Hannah Cheesman & Mackenzie Donaldson NEVER HERE (United States) Dir. Camille Thoman STORY OF A GIRL (United States) Dir. Kyra Sedgwick VENUS (Canada) Dir. Eisha Marjara THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ (United States) Dir. Kate Novack PORCUPINE LAKE (Canada) Dir. Ingrid Veninger HEAVEN’S FLOOR (Canada, United States) Dir. Lori Stoll ORDINARY DAYS (Canada) Dir. Jordan Canning, Kris Booth, Renuka Jeyapalan WFF Short Films directed or co-directed by women: THE STAKEOUT (Canada) Dir. Jax Smith NEGATIVE SPACE (France/US) Dir. Ru Kuwuhata and Max Porter WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP (Canada) Dir. Chandler Levack BFF (Canada) Dir. Sofia Auza GOOD GIRLS DON’T (Canada) Dir. Ana de Lara MONDAY (Canada) Dir. Liz Levine LOLZITA (Canada) Dir. Katie Boland THE BURDEN (MIN BÖRDA) (Sweden) Dir. Niki Lindroth von Bahr DEAR HATETTS (Canada) Dir. Kerry Barber SHADES OF WINTER: CROSSROADS (Austria) Dir. Sandra Lahnsteiner THE THINGS YOU THINK I’M THINKING (Canada) Dir. Sherren Lee UNINTENTIONAL MOTHER (Canada) Dir. Mary Galloway WAITING FOR LOU (EN ATTENDANT LOU) (Canada) Dir. Katerine Martineau FLOATING LIGHT (Canada) Dir. Natalie Murao VIOLET AND JUNE (Canada) Dir. Linnea Ritland THE BUTTERFLY (Canada) Dir. Andy Alvarez WFF Talent Programs with female participation announced to date include: Feature Project Lab (4/6 producers): Lettie Costea (BC) – ALONE; Tricia Lee (ON) PENUMBRA; Amanda Verhagen (BC) PARTY FAVOUR and Carmen Forsberg (BC) – BOUNDARY COUNTRY. Praxis Screenwriters Lab (4/5 screenwriters): Andeep Singh (BC) – GOODNIGHT MR G; Emily Bridger (NL) – LITTLE ORPHANS; Simone Stock (ON) POLARIS and Kate Bond (BC) – TRAPLINE. Power Pitch (1/5 producers): Rebeka Herron (BC) – SALTBOX Aboriginal Filmmaker Fellowship (3/6 directors): Nikita Weiss Day (BC) – SWEETGRASS ROAD; Madison Thomas (MB) – STARBOUND and Sonya Ballantyne (MB) – REVISION Doc Lab (5/10 filmmakers): Kate Kroll (BC) -, CALAMITY KATE AND THE FIGHTING CHOLITAS; Jessica Dymond (BC) – TO LETHBRIDGE WITH LOVE; Christina Ienna (ON) – COLDWATER; Ali Harris (BC) – XWAAQW’UM: A JOURNEY and Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos (BC) – WE ARE THE BRIDGE. Digital First Lab (4/7 filmmakers): Rebecca Campbell, THE GIRL WHO TALKS TO THE MOON; Farah Merani, SUPER ZEE; Sonya Ballantyne, REVISION and Nikita Weiss Day, SWEETGRASS ROAD. Music Showcase finalists (5/31 musicians): The Katherines (3 – all female band); I M U R (fronted by a female) and Rya (female – solo). Stars to Watch (3/4 actors): Jessica Parker Kennedy attending WFF with the world premiere of SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING; Tiera Skovbye attending with the world premiere of PRODIGALS and Julia Sarah Stone attending with the Western Canadian premiere of A WORTHY COMPANION. MPPIA Short Film Award (2/4 directors): Jessie Anthony (BC) – THE LAST CIGARETTE and Veronika Kurz (BC) – 20 MINUTES TO LIFE WIDC WFF Industry Immersion (8/8 directors): Sonia Bonspille Boileau (QC) – RUSTIC ORACLE; Jessica Bradford (BC) – FINN MCKAIN AND THE LOST TOAD; Katia Café Fébrissy (ON) – GROUNDED; Leah Cameron (ON) – THE COMMUNIST’S DAUGHTER; Sandi Gisbert (BC) – ALL PRANKS AND NO FUN; Sophie Jarvis (BC) – INVASIONS; Elizabeth Lazebnik (ON) – HANNAH and Shannon Walsh, UNIDENTIFIED MINOR. WIFTV Mentorship (1/1 director): Shannon Walsh, UNIDENTIFIED MINOR. Mentor is Robyn Wiener – CEO Owner/Producer, Synergy Cinema Inc. Other female-focused talent programs that WFF supports includes the Women in Film & Television Vancouver Film Market Preparation Mentorship, which provides the recipient with experience in preparing her feature film project for market by immersing her in the festival, and the Women In the Director’s Chair (WIDC) with eight Canadian women directors recently announced to attend the 20th anniversary session of the highly acclaimed script development and director mentoring program WIDC: Story & Leadership.

    Read more

  • Whistler Film Festival Unveils Lineup, Opens with Winston Churchill Biopic DARKEST HOUR

    [caption id="attachment_25385" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]DARKEST HOUR DARKEST HOUR[/caption] The 17th Whistler Film Festival, aka ‘Canada’s Coolest Film Fest’, will take place from November 29 to December 3, 2017, and feature 87 fresh films (46 features and 41 shorts) from over 15 countries. WFF is set to open with Joe Wright’s DARKEST HOUR, starring Gary Oldman and Lily James. Endorsed by Winston Churchill’s estate, the film tells the story of Churchill’s refusal to engage in peace treaty negotiations with Nazi Germany during WWII, and his determination to fight on against incredible odds. Closing the festival is the World Premiere of THE MOMENT. Darcy Hennessey Turenne’s latest documentary feature uncovers the origin of Freeride Mountain Biking and its provenance in British Columbia by following a dedicated group of adventure seekers who changed the course of the sport forever. Oscar-contending films screening at WFF include the Western Canadian premieres of I, TONYA, one of the most pleasant surprises of this year’s festival season about disgraced figure skater Tonya Harding, directed by Craig Gillespie and starring Margot Robbie; THE DISASTER ARTIST, directed and starring James Franco along with Dave Franco, tells the true-life story of Tommy Wiseau, Hollywood outsider and director of the cult-hit THE ROOM, which will also debut as the “From the Vault” selection; and Canada’s entry in this year’s Best Foreign-Language film Oscar competition HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS directed by François Girard. Additional critically acclaimed directors with works premiering in the festival include Richard Linklater, with LAST FLAG FLYING starring Bryan Cranston, Steve Carell and Laurence Fishburne, about three ex-marines who reunite thirty years after the Vietnam War; Émile Gaudreault with FATHER AND GUNS 2 (DE PÉRE EN FLIC 2), Canada’s highest grossing film of the year; Oscar Winner Mike Van Diem with the Netherlands, Italy, Canada co-production TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR, AND A BICYCLE; and acclaimed Canadian documentarian Alan Zweig with his latest film THERE IS A HOUSE HERE, about an Inuk rock singer Lucie Idlout. Director of Programming Paul Gratton stated: ”It is gratifying to see that the Whistler Film Festival’s ever growing reputation as a cool film festival in which to showcase original work is growing well beyond our borders. The quality of our American Indie submissions was way up this year, as was the quality of our hundreds of Canadian entries. The Borsos jury will have a particularly challenging time picking the winners this year.” Programming strands include American Indies, Canada 150, Contenders, Doc Bloc, Family Feature, First Features, From Overseas, From The Vault, Mountain Culture, ShortWork, Transgressive Tales, and World Premieres. This year WFF is proud to boast that all five films in its “American Indies” strand will grace Canadian screens for the first time in Whistler. American Indies include STORY OF A GIRL, the directorial debut from Kyra Sedgwick starring Kevin and Sosie Bacon; THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN starring Bill Pullman directed by Jared Moshe; THE LEARS directed by longtime Whistler Alumnus and Canadian filmmaker Carl Bessai starring Bruce Dern, Sean Astin and Anthony Michael Hall; NEVER HERE directed by Camille Thoman starring the late Sam Shepard in his last performance on screen; and PAINLESS  directed by Jordan Horowitz starring Canadian actor Joey Klein. Other American films include PERMISSION directed by Brian Crano starring Rebecca Hall, Dan Stevens and Jason Sudeikis; BERNARD AND HUEY directed by Slamdance Founder Dan Mirvish with the original script written by the legendary Jules Feiffer; and HEAVEN’S FLOOR directed by Lori Stoll based on the true story of a LA photographer who heads to Iqualuit for a shoot. And it’s not just Americans are entrusting WFF with their Canadian premieres. From Hungary, WFF will present Eva Gardos’ Chinatown style film noir set in Budapest during the early years of World War II. BUDAPEST NOIR is the story of an investigator trying to uncover the truth about a prostitute’s murder, though no one around him seems to care.

    This year, 20 Canadian films will compete for Canada’s second largest festival prize -Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature. Borsos titles include eight World Premieres featuring work from WFF Alumni including Pat Kiely with SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING starring Jacob Tierney, Jessica Paré, Jessica Parker Kennedy, Kevin Zegers, Kathleen Turner and Wallace Shawn; PRODIGALS directed by Michelle Ouellet starring Sara Canning and David Alpay; Jackie English’s first feature BECOMING BURLESQUE about a Muslim woman who turns to burlesque dancing starring Shiva Negar; Gail Harvey’s crime thriller NEVER SAW IT COMING based on the novel by Linwood Barclay; NOBODY FAMOUS directed by Sarah Rotella; plus three features from Vancouver based directors including 8 MINUTES AHEAD by Ben Hoskyn shot over the course of four years in Vancouver and China; THE PRODIGAL DAD, a home-grown sort of Toni Erdmann directed by Robert Wenzek; and THE CANNON directed by WFF Alumni Marshall Axani, who won the inaugural MPPIA Short Film Award.

    Canadian premieres in the Borsos competition include Hannah Cheesman and Mackenzie Donaldson’s coming of age story, THE DEFINITES, Daniel DiMarco’s atmospheric character study JUGGERNAUT starring Jack Kesy and Amanda Crew, and the family friendly Christmas story SANTA STOLE OUR DOG: A MERRY DOGGONE CHRISTMAS starring Ed Asner from DIY master Bryan Michael Stoller. Western Canadian premieres in the Borsos Competition include Carlos and Jason Sanchez’s first time feature A WORTHY COMPANION starring Evan Rachel Wood and Vancouver’s Julia Sarah Stone produced by the TIFF Canadian producers of the year, Luc Déry and Kim McCraw, ALL YOU CAN EAT BUDDHA the original and rhythmic visual buffet from first time director Ian Lagarde, Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley’s drama CARDINALS featuring an unforgettable performance from Sheila McCarthy, Vladimir de Fontenay’s Canada/France co-production MOBILE HOMES starring Imogen Poots, Callum Keith Rennie and Callum Turner, TRENCH 11 an unusual WWI dark thriller starring Rossif Sutherland, the comedic drama VENUS about a man transitioning to a woman, and PORCUPINE LAKE, a beloved coming of age story about two best friends directed by DIY queen Ingrid Veninger. Also screening alongside PORCUPINE LAKE is the making of documentary feature THE OTHER SIDE OF PORCUPINE LAKE directed by Julian Papas. Other Canadian films screening at the festival out of competition include ANOTHER WOLFCOP directed by Lowell Dean, the hilarious sex comedy A SWINGERS WEEKEND directed by Jonathan Cohen, and the original crime drama ORDINARY DAYS shot in three segments by three directors Jordan Canning, Kris Booth and Renuka Jeyapalan. In addition to the World Premiere of THE MOMENT which closes the fest, Mountain Culture films include A TO B ROLLERSKI directed by Arnis Aspers about an athlete who “rollerskis” from the Arctic to Baja, DEPTH PERCEPTION the latest brainchild of Travis Rice directed by Chip Taylor and Chris Murphy accompanied by the short series SOMETHING from The Manboys as well as compilation of short mountain based films from some of the industry’s finest athletes and storytellers. This year’s Doc Bloc competition features a very diverse film line-up. In keeping with the theme of emerging talent, WFF is pleased to present the World Premiere of BECOMING ICONIC, Neal Thibedeau’s incisive look at aspiring New York based director Jonathan Barker’s first feature with Nicolas Cage, Gina Gershon and Faye Dunaway, and interviews with such directing legends as Adrian Lyne, John Badham, Jodie Foster and Taylor Hackford about their first time on set as directors. Additional films in this section include WORLD OF DARKNESS, a detailed look at the history and evolution of one the most popular goth lifestyle games of all time, will receive its Canadian Premiere at our fest; and THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ, a probing biodoc of André Leon Talley, former editor of Vogue Magazine, featuring interviews with everyone from Anna Wintour to Tom Ford.

    WFF 2017 COMPLETE FEATURE FILM LISTING BY STRAND:

    American Indies:

    THE BALLAD OF LEFTY BROWN (United States) Dir. Jared Moshe THE LEARS (Canada, United States) Dir. Carl Bessai NEVER HERE (United States) Dir. Camille Thoman PAINLESS (United States) Dir. Jordan Horowitz STORY OF A GIRL (United States) Dir. Kyra Sedgwick

    Canada 150:

    ANOTHER WOLFCOP (Canada) Dir. Lowell Dean FATHER AND GUNS 2 (DE PÉRE EN FLIC 2) (Canada) Dir. Émile Gaudreault HEAVEN’S FLOOR (Canada, United States) Dir. Lori Stoll JUGGERNAUT (Canada) Dir. Daniel DiMarco MOBILE HOMES (Canada, France) Dir. Vladimir de Fontenay ORDINARY DAYS (Canada) Dir. Jordan Canning, Kris Booth, Renuka Jeyapalan PORCUPINE LAKE (Canada) Dir. Ingrid Veninger TRENCH 11 (Canada) Dir. Leo Scherman

    Contenders:

    THE DARKEST HOUR (United Kingdom) Dir. Joe Wright THE DISASTER ARTIST (United States) Dir. James Franco HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS (HOCHELAGA, TERRE DES ÂMES) (Canada) Dir. François Girard I, TONYA (United States) Dir. Craig Gillespie

    The Doc Bloc:

    BECOMING ICONIC (United States) Dir. Neal Thibedeau THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRE (United States) Dir. Kate Novack THE OTHER SIDE OF PORCUPINE LAKE (Canada) Dir. Julian Papas THERE IS A HOUSE HERE (Canada) Dir. Alan Zweig WORLD OF DARKNESS (Sweden) Dir. Giles Alderson

    Family Feature:

    SANTA STOLE OUR DOG: A MERRY DOGGONE CHRISTMAS! (Canada) Dir. Bryan Michael Stoller

    First Features:

    ALL YOU CAN EAT BUDDHA (Canada) Dir. Ian Lagarde BECOMING BURLESQUE (Canada) Dir. Jackie English CARDINALS (Canada) Dir. Aidan Shipley & Grayson Moore THE DEFINITES (Canada) Dir. Hannah Cheesman & Mackenzie Donaldson

    From Overseas:

    BUDAPEST NOIR (Hungary) Dir Éva Gárdos TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR, AND A BICYCLE (Canada, Netherlands, Italy) Dir. Mike Van Diem

    From The Vault:

    THE ROOM (United States) Dir. Tommy Wiseau

    Mountain Culture:

    A TO B ROLLERSKI (Latvia, United States, Canada, Mexico) Dir. Arnis Aspers DEPTH PERCEPTION Dir. Chip Taylor & Chris Murphy

    Transgressive Tales:

    A SWINGER’S WEEKEND (Canada) Dir. Jonathan Cohen A WORTHY COMPANION (Canada) Dir. Carlos Sanchez & Jason Sanchez BERNARD AND HUEY (United States) Dir. Dan Mirvish THE CANNON (Canada) Dir. Marshall Axani PERMISSION (United States) Dir. Brian Crano VENUS (Canada) Dir. Eisha Marjara

    World Premieres:

    8 MINUTES AHEAD (Canada, China) Dir. Ben Hoskyn NEVER SAW IT COMING (Canada) Dir. Gail Harvey NOBODY FAMOUS (Canada) Dir. Sarah Rotella PRODIGALS (Canada) Dir. Michelle Ouellet THE PRODIGAL DAD (Canada) Dir. Robert Wenzek SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING (Canada) Dir. Pat Kiely

    WFF 2017 Feature Films Eligible for the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature:

    A WORTHY COMPANION ALL YOU CAN EAT BUDDHA BECOMING BURLESQUE THE CANNON CARDINALS THE DEFINITES HOCHELAGA, LAND OF SOULS JUGGERNAUT MOBILE HOMES NEVER SAW IT COMING NOBODY FAMOUS PORCUPINE LAKE PRODIGALS THE PRODIGAL DAD SANTA STOLE OUR DOG: A MERRY DOGGONE CHRISTMAS SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING TRENCH 11 TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE VENUS 8 MINUTES AHEAD  

    Read more

  • 2017 Whistler Film Festival Reveals First 15 Films, PRODIGALS, NOBODY FAMOUS and More

    [caption id="attachment_24091" align="aligncenter" width="1200"]Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle Tulipani, Love, Honour and a Bicycle[/caption] The 2017 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) taking place from November 29th to December 3rd, today offered a sneak peek including the first 15 confirmed films, plus industry and event programming highlights. WFF’s Director of Programming Paul Gratton had this to say about the 2017 lineup confirmed to date: “The Whistler Film Festival is a must-attend event for film fans, emerging filmmakers and anyone who cares about quality cinema. We continue to pursue our own unique festival niche by offering an impressive selection of films, featuring Oscar hopefuls and emerging talent, with a particular focus on female directors. Our Summit will complement our film programming by addressing key trends and opportunities facing the industry, and our Signature Series events will shine the spotlight on some of the top filmmakers of the day. While our final programming is far from complete, we will continue to build on the momentum established over our last few years, and are confident that this will be our best year ever. This year, we are particularly gratified to note the large number of alumni returning to Whistler with their new films. Toplining this year’s Canadian titles are the following World Premiere selections, some of which are eligible for WFF’s coveted Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature, featuring a $15,000 cash prize sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada, British Columbia PRODIGALS: After the success of After-Party at WFF 2013, BC director Michelle Ouellet returns with a searing drama about a man who revisits his home town for a trial, where an ex-girlfriend and a checkered past await him, with David Alpay and Sara Canning (I PUT A HIT ON YOU, 2014). THE MOMENT: Whistler is the perfect location to World Premiere BC filmmaker Darcy Turenne’s exhaustive and definitive history of dirt bike mountain racing that features breathtaking archival footage and stunt biking. SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING: Following 2013’s THREE NIGHT STAND, director Pat Kiely offers up another hilarious comedy about a family gathering for an unusual wedding in Montreal, featuring Kathleen Turner, Jessica Paré, Jacob Tierney, Wallace Shawn, Frances Fisher, Kevin Zegers and Luke Kirby. THE OTHER SIDE OF PORCUPINE LAKE: Director Julian Papas captures the unique camaraderie and DIY craziness on the set of Ingrid Veninger’s PORCUPINE LAKE. 8 MINUTES AHEAD: Director Ben Hoskyn’s first feature film shot in Vancouver and Hong Kong is about two brothers who have never met, but who fight over their late father’s business inheritance, even though they live in entirely different socioeconomic worlds and two very different cities. NOBODY FAMOUS: A scathing black comedy from director Sarah Rotella about the jealousies and competitiveness of aspiring actors, as one gets a great role while spending a friendly weekend at the cottage with other wannabes. Canadian Premieres include: THE LEARS: Award winning filmmaker Carl Bessai met producer Irwin Olian from NeoClassics Films during the Whistler Film Festival in 2016 and the result is this well acted drama about a dysfunctional family gathering around their aging, cantankerous architect dad (Bruce Dern) hoping to score some inheritance points as he is about to retire. Also featuring Sean Astin and Anthony Michael Hall. SANTA STOLE OUR DOG: A MERRY DOGGONE CHRISTMAS: Peterborough-born Bryan Michael Stoller is another master of the DIY school of filmmaking. Bryan moved to Hollywood many years ago, wrote the best-selling book “Filmmaking for Dummies”, and makes his own charming indie films, the last three of which have also starred his own pet dog. This one features Ed Asner as Santa, Eric Roberts and internet sensation Yvette Rachelle, who also serves as co-producer on the project. PAINLESS: Canadian actor Joey Klein gives a remarkable performance as a man who is incapable of feeling any pain, but spends his life seeking a scientific cure for his ailment. Directed by Jordan Horowitz. Other programming highlights confirmed for this year include: PORCUPINE LAKE: After the success of THE ANIMAL PROJECT in 2013 and the Borsos cinematography win for HE HATED PIGEONS in 2015, Ingrid Veninger returns to present her latest feature, a charming study of that special inexplicable best girlfriends forever bond that consumes many young women at the onset of puberty. THE PRODIGAL DAD: Vancouver based filmmaker Robert Wenzek’s first feature is a delightful character comedy about a young woman’s dad who shows up on her doorstep uninvited and becomes a hit with her friends, much to her embarrassment. A sort of Canadian Toni Erdmann. With Michelle Harrison and Mackenzie Gray. CARDINALS: Sheila McCarthy gives one of her finest screen performances as a self-described recovering alcoholic stalked by the son of a man she killed in a car accident. Directed by Grayson Moore and Aidan Shipley, with Katie Boland and Noah Reid. MOBILE HOMES: Imogen Poots, Callum Turner and Callum Keith Rennie star in this dark drama about a directionless young mother, saddled with an eight year old son and a shiftless druggie boyfriend. A French co production directed by Vladimir de Fontenay. Poots is outstanding in the lead role. OCTAVIO IS DEAD: Sarah Gadon in a role that will surprise her fans, as she slowly discovers the secrets of her late father’s life, including his sexual predilections, which began to fascinate her. The latest gender bending provocation from director Sook-Yin Lee, with Rosanna Arquette. BECOMING BURLESQUE: A shy Muslim woman takes a great risk when she joins a local burlesque repertory company of extraordinary women on the burlesque stage. Featuring many real-life burlesque dancers and many exotic routines. Directed by Jackie English, with Shiva Negar and Pastel Supernova. TULIPANI: LOVE, HONOUR AND A BICYCLE: A beautiful story about a romantic Dutch man who cycles to Italy and plants a field of tulips in the sweltering heat of Puglia. Co-produced by Don Carmody, directed by award winning Mike Van Diem and starring Giancarlo Giannini and Ksenia Solo. The full film lineup will be released on November 1.  

    Read more