The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is known as a champion of Canadian cinema and is thrilled to showcase 10 B.C.-made films in its ShortWorks program this year. In fact, over 1,300 shorts were submitted to the festival from around the globe, and 10 local shorts from B.C. stood out for the thought-provoking and dynamic conversations they incite through cinema. Across language, genre, theme, and tone, these films remind participants of our shared humanity and connect them to one another through story.
Some of the highlights include ANISHINAABEMOWIN, directed by WFF Indigenous Filmmaker Fellowship and WFF Screenwriters Lab alum Shaelyn Johnston; ATTENDANCE, which received a Leo Award nomination for Best Direction by Riley Davis; and the animation HAVE I SWALLOWED YOUR DREAMS, a fictional story by Clara Chan inspired by her family’s immigration journey. View the full shortlisted list below:
● COUNTING DAYS | Written and directed by Hiromu Yamawaki
● ASK THE PLANTAIN | Directed by Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos
● HAVE I SWALLOWED YOUR DREAMS | Written and directed by Clara Chan
● DJ, MONK | Directed by Aaron Nathanson
● ANISHINAABEMOWIN | Directed by Shaelyn Johnston
● DTF? | Directed by Jess McLeod
● FERAL | Directed by Rebeca Spiegel, Stephanie Cardona Falck
● V.I.N.C.E. | Directed by Adam Greydon Reid
● ATTENDANCE | Written and directed by Riley Davis
● QUEEN OF THE UNDERWORLD | Directed by Stephanie Izsak
The shorts are among 118 films screening at this year’s festival, which runs from December 4 – 8.
Power Pitch and Screen BC Short Film Award Pitch Participants Announced
Power Pitch is an intensive pitch training workshop and competition for Canadian producers with feature-length projects (scripted or documentary) in development. Designed to set talent up for success by fine-tuning their project packages and pitching skills, the Power Pitch includes a workshop and one-on-one consultations with facilitator Kevin Wright, former senior vice-president of programming for The Movie Network, HBO Canada and principal at The Optimal Pitch.
One producer will walk away with a $36,000 prize package that includes a $25,000 post-production credit from Company 3/Method; a $10,000 lighting and grip production credit and a $1,000 cash prize from Sunbelt Rentals.
Here’s the Power Pitch’s films and participants from B.C. below:
● IF THE WORLD SHOULD BREAK (Natural Disaster/Love Drama) | Jordan Waunch
● NEW DIAMOND RESTAURANT (Action/Horror/Comedy) | Milton Ng
● HI, MY NAME IS EMMA (Comedy) | Jessica To
Descriptions courtesy of The Whistler Film Festival. See the original source article here.
