The Local Filmmakers Shaping the 2026 Whistler Film Festival

Every year, the Whistler Film Festival transforms Whistler into a gathering place for storytellers and film lovers from across Canada and beyond. Running December 2 to 6, 2026, the festival’s 26th edition pairs an acclaimed lineup of screenings with filmmaker conversations, industry events, talent development programs, and the Content Summit, creating opportunities to discover new work both on and off the screen.

Among this year’s highlights is a remarkable collection of B.C.-connected films. From intimate character studies and powerful documentaries to emerging student work and inventive short films, the lineup showcases the creative voices, communities, and landscapes that continue to make British Columbia a powerhouse of Canadian storytelling. Read on to discover them:

Feature Films

HOW WE STAND (dir. Marie Clements)
In the 1950s, three Native American sisters and their mother leave Oklahoma behind, drawn to Los Angeles by the promise of opportunity and a fresh start. But the American Dream proves elusive when a government relocation program intended to offer Indigenous families a better future instead leaves them struggling with poverty, isolation and broken promises. Finding comfort and community among other displaced families in the concrete riverways of Los Angeles known as “the tombs,” the sisters begin to build a new life until a devastating tragedy sends them down separate paths.

SEND THE RAIN (dir. Hayley Gray, Kaayla Whachell)
Raging wildfires are closing in on the family farm, and Erika is determined to get her grandmother, Oba, to safety. But Oba flatly refuses to leave the land she’s spent a lifetime building into a home. To Erika, her grandmother’s stubbornness is reckless and infuriating; to Oba, Erika’s insistence on leaving reveals how little she understands about the sacrifices that brought their family here. With neither willing to back down, their increasingly heated confrontation threatens to fracture the very bond they’re both desperate to protect.Their battle of wills gradually unearths stories of Oba’s journey from Okinawa to Canada, revealing a family history Erika has never fully understood.

SEVENTEEN (dir. Justin Ducharme)
One city. One day. Three lives on a collision course. Against the restless energy of Vancouver’s streets, the lives of three urban Indigenous people intersect through chance encounters, complicated relationships and unexpected revelations. What begins as a series of seemingly separate journeys gradually unfolds into a richly layered portrait of lives connected by family histories, displacement and the search for belonging. Intimate, emotionally resonant and alive with the pulse of contemporary Vancouver, Seventeen is a compelling exploration of Indigenous identity, intergenerational connections and the enduring legacy of colonialism.

THE BRYCE LEE STORY (dir. Arnold Lim)
Growing up isn’t easy, especially when you’re the new kid in town. Set on Vancouver Island in the 1990s, THE BRYCE LEE STORY follows 13-year-old Bryce, a recent arrival from Hong Kong who dreams of making action movies and becoming the next big kung fu star. Struggling to fit in at school, Bryce tells one little white lie: he’s related to martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Suddenly, he’s the coolest kid around!

With newfound friends and a school film club ready to make movie magic, Bryce sets out to create his very own kung fu blockbuster. But as the cameras roll, his little lie starts getting bigger, and keeping up the act proves trickier than any martial arts move.

CEREMONY (dir. Banchi Hanuse)
A breathtaking cinematic journey into British Columbia’s spectacular Bella Coola Valley, where the Nuxalk Nation is working to restore a vital connection to its ancestral lands, waters and traditions. At the heart of this remarkable story is the ooligan, a tiny fish with an extraordinary cultural significance whose disappearance has threatened generations of knowledge, ceremony and community life.

Against a sweeping backdrop of towering mountains, ancient forests and wild coastal waters, the film follows the Nuxalk people’s determination to bring the ooligan home, revealing a powerful story of resilience, cultural renewal and the enduring relationship between people and the natural world.

MAN IN MOTION: THE RICK HANSEN STORY (dir. Adrian Buitenhuis)
Forty years ago, Canadian hero Rick Hansen embarked on an extraordinary journey that would capture the imagination of the world and change perceptions of disability forever. Over 26 gruelling months, he travelled an astonishing 40,075 kilometres through 34 countries in his wheelchair, overcoming immense physical and emotional challenges while raising more than $26 million for accessibility initiatives.

Produced by Derik Murray and Ryan Reynolds, Man In Motion is a breathtaking, previously unseen 35mm footage, rare archival treasures, intimate audio diaries and revealing new interviews, this inspiring documentary takes audiences behind the headlines of the legendary Man In Motion World Tour.

INHERITANCE (dir. Camille Beaudoin)
When Abbey and Noah arrive at her father’s sprawling rural property for a peaceful getaway, they discover something unexpected: her father has vanished, and Frank, a local Indigenous man, has moved in. As the couple searches for answers, a seemingly straightforward question of inheritance quickly becomes a tense battle over who has the right to call this land their own. With competing claims, buried histories and deeply held beliefs colliding, the three find themselves in an increasingly heated confrontation that challenges everything they thought they knew about ownership, privilege and belonging.

BACK TO THE FIRE (dir. Andy Keen)
Rooted in the powerful tradition of sharing stories and wisdom around the fire, BACK TO THE FIRE brings together leaders of the Squamish Nation to reflect on the teachings, relationships and cultural values that have shaped their lives and communities. Through candid personal stories of resilience, leadership and cultural pride, the film explores how generations of Indigenous knowledge have endured despite the lasting impacts of colonialism and residential schools.

Set against the backdrop of the Squamish Nation’s remarkable cultural, political and economic resurgence in British Columbia, this moving documentary asks a vital question: how do you keep ancestral teachings alive for future generations when the traditional cycle of learning has been disrupted?

INSECTASY (dir. Angus Silver)
By day, Sadie is just another woman juggling work, friendships and the mundane absurdities of everyday life. But beneath her seemingly ordinary existence lurks a peculiar obsession: an increasingly erotic fascination with insects. As her private desires grow more consuming, Sadie struggles to keep her carefully maintained life from falling apart. With relationships strained, responsibilities neglected and the boundaries between fantasy and reality beginning to dissolve, she risks losing herself entirely to a strange, seductive world where desire takes on a wonderfully weird life of its own. Darkly funny, deliciously perverse and dripping with surreal Lynchian unease, INSECTASY is a fever dream of forbidden desires, creeping obsessions and the bizarre corners of the human psyche.

Short Films

BC Student Shorts – The Graduates

Fresh voices, big ideas, and a whole lot of creative ambition. Twelve shorts, twelve unique perspectives, and a chance to take home the Best BC Student Short Award.

THE BALLAD OF A NATIVE MAN (dir. Penny J. Gullion)
Cody Thunderchild has big plans beyond the reserve: university, a fresh start and a future of his own making. But his new job at a rural Alberta gas station brings him face to face with two oilfield workers whose racist taunts and intimidation turn an ordinary workplace into a modern-day Western showdown.

THE CHANGE (dir. Jeiya Sidhu)
Growing up Kurdish in Syria, Qahraman Yousif learns that even speaking his language or celebrating his culture can be an act of defiance. When his passion for theatre draws the attention of the secret police, he is imprisoned for expressing the identity his government seeks to suppress.

In his tiny prison cell, Qahraman finds unexpected comfort in the insects crawling around him, imagining the freedom they have to escape through the cracks. Now an art professor at the University of the Fraser Valley, he shares his extraordinary journey through painting, storytelling and teaching.

FIRST BREAK (dir. Tori Kobayashi)
In a world where vegetation rots in the ground and survival is never guaranteed, brothers Arlo and Jun have built a fragile existence together. Isolated from the outside world, they rely on familiar routines and each other to get by. But when Arlo begins to suspect that Jun is keeping something from him, the bond that has sustained them faces an uncertain future.

THE FLICKERING (dir. Logan St. Germain)
What could possibly go wrong with an unplanned detour to a party? For Sam, Mina, Tyler and Robin, the answer is just about everything. After a night at the movies, Sam decides to take his friends to a party instead of driving them back to campus, sparking an argument as they head down an increasingly deserted road. But when the car radio suddenly glitches and a motionless stranger appears ahead of them, their petty disagreements become the least of their problems.

GRAVE IN THE CLOUDS (dir. Elijah Marche)
When Jacob Zalman discovers that his teenage son, Arthur, has written an essay denying the Holocaust, he struggles to understand how someone raised in the family of a survivor could reject its history. Desperate to reach him, Jacob takes Arthur to visit his 92-year-old grandfather, Herschel, whose dementia has left him unable to share his experiences. Surrounded by family photographs and fading memories, Jacob attempts to bridge the growing divide between three generations.

MUDSLIDE (dir. Savannah Brandow-Viens)
What could possibly go wrong with a homemade waterslide? On a beautiful summer day, two siblings decide to beat the heat with a little backyard ingenuity. Armed with enthusiasm and a questionable plan, they set out to create the ultimate summer attraction. Naturally, things get messy.

PETALS (dir. Isa Guerrero)
A young man returns to a wrecked car, but what brought him there, and what happened before his arrival, remains uncertain.

PRINCESS DINA BO BINA (dir. Ashley Johnsgaard, Ella Hiebert)
In the Bo Bina royal family, fabulous hair is practically a birthright. Unfortunately, tall, awkward and painfully sensitive Princess Dina struggles to keep up with her family’s impossibly elaborate hairstyles. When her precious Slug Hair Jelly runs out, she sneaks away from the castle in a frantic search for more. But the nearby swamp proves an unlikely place for a royal beauty emergency, and Dina’s desperate quest quickly becomes a gloriously muddy misadventure.

QUIET WITNESS (dir. Johnny Cole)
It’s the 1980s, and for young Vicki, a typical evening means vocabulary homework, family dinner and practising with her recently acquired hearing aids. But when her father fails to return from work and a series of mysterious phone calls unsettles the household, her curiosity gets the better of her. Accustomed to observing the world closely, Vicki begins searching for clues about what her parents might be hiding.

THE SHOW MUST GO ON (dir. Raeanne Cummings)
Rhett Hanson has a simple plan for senior year: take drama, get the credit and graduate. Becoming the star of the show was definitely not part of it. But when he’s unexpectedly thrust into the lead role with only ten minutes to prepare, the unmotivated senior has little choice but to step into the spotlight.

TERRAFORM (dir. Mason Flint, Cheryl Shiu, Mason Flint)
Snow-covered peaks, flowing creeks and the intricate machinery of ski lifts become the subjects of TerraForm, an experimental documentary filmed in the mountain landscapes of southwestern British Columbia.

TO BURN OUR SACRED HOUSE (dir. Abby Young Ridd)
Some friendships survive on the things we find easier to write than say. Living on opposite sides of the world, Lola and Louise have made their letters a place to share everything from everyday worries to their deepest uncertainties. Anxious Louise looks to her free-spirited friend for reassurance, while Lola relies on Louise to keep her grounded. As the years pass, their correspondence becomes a record of two lives growing and changing, together and apart.

ShortWork – In the Darkness, There is Light

Life gets messy, and sometimes a little dark. These shorts explore what happens when life doesn’t go according to plan.

AFTER PARTY (dir. Kevin Ang)
Who says the afterlife is only for grown-ups? A close-knit community of elderly Filipino spirits has settled into life beyond the living, until an unexpected newcomer turns everything upside down: a six-year-old boy. Blending humour and tenderness, AFTER PARTY  explores how a community responds to an unimaginable loss and finds ways to carry grief together.

SPLIT ENDS (dir. Kay Metchie)
A new hairstyle can change your look. For Janelle, it seems to change how everyone sees her. Whether she wears a wig or embraces her natural curls, her choices invite unsolicited opinions from her critical mother, conflicting advice from friends and awkward assumptions from a date.

ShortWork – A Voice

Some voices demand to be heard. Others are still finding the courage to speak.

GRIEF GOODBYE (dir. Corben Bowen)
What would you give for one last conversation with someone you’ve lost? For August Smith, that impossible opportunity becomes real when he’s sent to IRIS, a secret rehabilitation program that uses advanced simulations to recreate the dead. Charged with involuntary manslaughter following his younger sister’s death, August carries an overwhelming burden of guilt. As he confronts memories of their relationship and speaks with a digital recreation of his sister, the boundaries between healing and holding on begin to blur.

PROLOGUE (dir. Gui Queiroz)
How do you write a tribute to someone you barely knew? As Isa prepares a poem for an open mic, she asks her mother for her late grandfather’s guitar, hoping it might bring her closer to the man she’s trying to remember. But when the instrument is nowhere to be found, her search for inspiration takes an unexpected turn.

Sea to Sky: Stories from our Backyard

FORMLINE (dir. Ben Haggar)
In the mountains, finding the perfect line is everything. FORMLINE draws a striking connection between carving fresh powder and the flowing curves of traditional Northwest Coast First Nations art, where precision, movement and a connection to the land bring two seemingly different worlds together.

At the heart of the film are two women forging their own paths. Nisga’a artist and snowboarder Kari Morgan (K’alaajex) becomes the first woman in her community to receive a blessing to carve a totem pole, while Mi’kmaq professional snowboarder Christine Berube-Martin finds her way back to her cultural roots through backcountry riding in the Yukon.

THE GUIDEBOOK (dir. Alexi Liotti)
Every skier knows the thrill of discovering a new line, the pull of an unexplored peak and the urge to see what lies beyond the next ridge. For a generation of mountain adventurers, Matt Gunn’s 2005 guidebook “Scrambles in Southwest British Columbia” became a passport to the rugged peaks of B.C.’s spectacular Sea-to-Sky corridor. Nearly two decades later, Matt returns to revisit favourite routes, discover new terrain and work on a long-awaited follow-up.

But as scrambling grows in popularity, Matt faces a bigger challenge: how do you share the magic of wild places without putting people or the wilderness at risk?

HAVEN (dir. Amanda Palmer)
It’s never too late to find your footing. At 43, Haven Johnson has overcome years of addiction and discovered an unlikely new passion: trail running. With no previous running experience, she sets out to tackle the gruelling Squamish 50K ultramarathon, transforming her life one kilometre at a time.

Over two years, Haven finds far more than physical endurance on the rugged trails of British Columbia. Surrounded by a supportive running community she credits with helping save her life, she discovers confidence, connection and the joy of encouraging others.

HELLO, BEAUTIFUL (dir. Darcy Hennessey Turenne)
Elite Canadian climber Alannah Yip is training for the Paris Olympics when an unexpected diagnosis of alopecia universalis, a condition that causes complete hair loss, presents a challenge unlike anything she’s faced on the climbing wall. Accustomed to pushing her physical limits, Alannah must now navigate changes to her appearance and sense of identity while pursuing her athletic ambitions.

RETURN TO SOMETHING (dir. Alex Clapin)
When professional mountain biker Harriet “Haz” Burbidge-Smith suffers a broken neck in a devastating crash at the inaugural Women’s Joyride slopestyle competition in 2024, her future in the sport is suddenly thrown into question. Facing surgery, gruelling rehabilitation and the fear she may never compete at the same level again, Haz embarks on a deeply personal journey to rebuild her confidence and rediscover her passion for riding.

ShortWork – The Dark Side Of The Snow Cone

A little strange, a little unsettling, and not quite what you expected. Sometimes the sweetest things leave the strangest aftertaste.

WA̱TS’A (dir. Dustin McGladrey)
At the North Pacific Cannery in 1960s Port Edward, Jeremy’s late shift takes a terrifying turn when he senses that something is watching him. A shape-shifting river otter spirit known as the ’Wa̱ts’a emerges from the darkness, blurring the boundary between everyday life and the supernatural.

THE LAST CALLER (dir. Mariel Calvo)
It’s Bingo Galaxy’s 25th anniversary, and star caller Dave Lorrie has a problem: several, actually. His voice is failing, the patrons are getting a little too hands-on, and his manager seems more interested in efficiency than the people who keep the place alive.

Made for the Crazy8s Film Challenge, THE LAST CALLER is a mockumentary comedy about an unlikely community and the man determined to keep it together. Because for Dave, bingo isn’t just about winning. It’s about who’s sitting across the table.

SHIT CIRCUS (dir. Tristan C. Pina)
What’s worse than doing business with people you’ve already ripped off? Taking a call from your ex in the middle of it. Magnus, an ambitious and thoroughly self-absorbed black-market salesman, is preparing another deal alongside his reluctant partner, Lyle. Unfortunately, their clients, Antoine and Yvonne, have good reason not to trust them.

Just as the transaction gets underway, a phone call from Magnus’s ex-girlfriend throws his personal life into turmoil. With trouble brewing on both ends of the line, keeping control becomes increasingly impossible.

ShortWork – Tell Me, Tell Me

Some conversations are easy. Others can turn your whole world upside down. These shorts explore the wonderfully messy ways we connect, communicate and occasionally get it all wrong.

BAD REVIEW (dir. Rhona Rees)
One negative online review is all it takes to ruin an optometrist’s composure. Determined to prove that she’s ‘good natured’, she becomes increasingly consumed by the opinion of a patient.

HOW TO PLAN A WEDDING AND ALIENATE YOUR FRIEND IN THE PROCESS (dir. Malka Martz-Oberlander)
Nothing says family bonding quite like an intervention at a secluded Airbnb. With a wedding approaching, a group of siblings decides that a getaway in the woods is exactly what their sister needs to recover from a recent mental health crisis. Unfortunately, their well-meaning attempts to lift her spirits aren’t having quite the intended effect. As their efforts become increasingly misguided, the family discovers that helping someone isn’t always as simple as deciding what’s best for them.

SHE’S NONBINARY (dir. Jess McLeod)
Moving in together is supposed to be exciting. For Max and Jake, their first night in their new home brings another reason to celebrate: Max, who is nonbinary, has finally come off the waitlist for top surgery. But while Max is thrilled, their straight, cisgender boyfriend Jake is having something of an existential meltdown. As an evening of celebration becomes an increasingly uncomfortable confrontation, the couple finds themselves questioning the labels, expectations and assumptions shaping their relationship.

ShortWork – Drama. Period.

Some stories whisper, others demand to be heard. Moving between the familiar and the unexpected, these shorts remind us that drama isn’t always about what happens, but what stays with us long after the story ends.

HOW BRIEF (dir. Kelly McCormack)
One last night. One familiar house. And a woman determined to disappear on her own terms.

In 1962, a restless woman returns to her childhood home for a final visit, in a story inspired by the music and mysterious disappearance of singer-songwriter Connie Converse. Shot on 16mm with hand-dyed costumes, practical illusions and theatrical flourishes, this inventive short draws on an older tradition of filmmaking to explore the unsettling freedom of leaving a life behind.

START THE SHOW (dir. Brenna Goodwin-McCabe)
For rising 1930s starlet Paula Pop, success comes with a fabulous new apartment courtesy of her manager, Sid. There’s just one condition: never open a certain door. But in a world inspired by the surreal, anything-goes animation of Betty Boop, even the walls have a mind of their own. When Paula’s apartment bursts into a musical number and the camera itself turns hostile, her glamorous new life becomes a Technicolor nightmare.

Beyond The Edge: The Spirit Of Adventure

Big lines, bold moves, and the occasional questionable decision. These films celebrate the thrill of pushing limits, embracing the unexpected, and discovering that sometimes the best part of an adventure isn’t the summit but everything that happens along the way.

BISCUITS (dir. Colleen Gentemann)
What makes a perfect day in the mountains? For freeride skiers Nat Segal and Erin Spong, it’s all about chasing those elusive moments of pure joy. Over two seasons, the pair explore British Columbia’s spectacular backcountry, from the Selkirks to the Coast Mountains, hunting for fresh lines, big challenges and a little personal growth along the way.

HUNTER’S MOON (dir. Christina Lusti, Gee Pierrel)
High above New Zealand’s Southern Alps, Canadian ski mountaineer Christina “Lusti” Lustenberger and French alpinist Guillaume “Gee” Pierrel set their sights on an extraordinary challenge: a first ski descent of Aoraki / Mount Cook’s treacherous East Face.

 

From powerful documentaries and boundary-pushing features to emerging filmmakers taking their first steps onto the festival circuit, this year’s lineup is a reminder of the creativity thriving across British Columbia. Beyond the screen, WFF continues to create opportunities for creators to develop projects, build relationships, and share their work with new audiences. To learn more about this year’s programming, check out the full lineup, the Content Summit, and Talent Labs on WFF’s website.