THE SABBATICAL

The 15th anniversary celebration of the Whistler Film Festival wrapped, and the romantic drama CAROL, directed by Todd Haynes and starring Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara, took home the Pandora Audience Award. The WFF Audience Award runner-ups were THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON, actor Robert Carlyle’s first theatrical feature and directorial debut, which received its North American premiere at the festival, followed by Ricardo Trogi’s mid-life crisis dramedy, Quebec film LE MIRAGE, the highest grossing and most popular Canadian film of the year so far. Toronto’s first-time feature director Jamie M. Dagg’s RIVER dominated 2015 Whistler Film Festival awards, winning for best Canadian feature, Best Director and Best Screenplay in the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature. The jury also awarded French-Canadian actor Paul Savoie with Best Performance in a Borsos Film for his performance in THE DIARY OF AN OLD MAN, as well as provided honorable mention for Rossif Sutherland’s work in RIVER and Laura Abramsen’s roles in BASIC HUMAN NEEDS and THE SABBATICAL. Receiving WFF’s Trailblazer Award and Tribute, British-born Canadian actor, film producer, and film director Kiefer Sutherland discussed his extensive acting career spanning film, stage and television, with CTV Film Critic Jim Gordon, followed by the Western Canadian Premiere of his latest film, FORSAKEN. Scottish-born Robert Carlyle, one of the most recognizable actors today, graced the Festival’s red carpet at this year’s Spotlight event as WFF’s Maverick Award honoree and sat down with Jim Gordon to discuss his bold choices that have led to the creation of some of the most dynamic, memorable, and beloved characters of our time before the North American Premiere of his directorial debut, THE LEGEND OF BARNEY THOMSON. One of Canada’s hardest working and most accomplished character actors, Bruce Greenwood was the recipient of WFF’s Career Achievement Award, at the World Premiere of his latest film REHEARSAL, directed by admired WFF Alumni Carl Bessai. Winners of the 2015 Whistler Film Festival Awards World Documentary Award LAST HARVEST Honorable Mention AL PURDY WAS HERE Best Mountain Culture Film ECLIPSE Canadian ShortWork Award WITHHELD Honorable Mention MIA by Amanda Strong and Bracken Hanuse Corlett International ShortWork Award DISSONANCE Canadian ShortWork Award for Best Screenplay THE WOLF WHO CAME TO DINNER Student ShortWork Awarded THE BLUE JET MPPIA Short Film Award HOODS AWFJ EDA Best Female-Directed Narrative Feature Award A LIGHT BENEATH THEIR FEET AWFJ EDA Best Female-Directed Documentary Award LAST HARVEST Honorable Mention AL PURDY WAS HERE by Brian D. Johnson AWFJ EDA Best Female-Directed Short Award SUNDAY LUNCH AL PURDY WAS HERE receives honorable mention from World Documentary Jury and AWFJ EDA Jury

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