Whistler Film Festival, ‘Canada’s Coolest Film Fest’, kicks off on November 30, 2022 running until December 4, 2022. The 2022 iteration will present 86 films; 41 features and 45 shorts including Oscar-contenders, breakthrough Canadian films and award-winning stories from 19 different countries. The in-person festival also hosts filmmaker après events, conversations with top talent at it’s Signature Series, networking opportunities plus, there’s always time for skiing, après, fine dining and more. Find tickets and more info here.
Running alongside the Film Festival is WFF Content Summit, showcasing the most transformative ideas shaping the future of screen entertainment today, and WFF Talent Programs, a cornerstone for independent Canadian storytellers seeking to expand their knowledge and make the essential connections required to advance their projects and careers.
In anticipation of the festival, Whistler Film Festival and Variety have announced 10 Canadians to Watch: a new program unique to WFF that celebrates top Canadian talent in the film and entertainment industry.
This year’s recipients of the notable title from Variety are:
Britt Kerr: Halifax-based Kerr launched Brass Door Productions in 2019, going on to produce projects including QUEENS OF THE QING DYNASTY, which premiered at the 2022 Berlin International Film Festival. She is currently in pre-production on THERE, THERE and wrapping up Fawzia Mirza’s debut feature, ME, MY MOM & SHARMILA. Kerr was awarded the 2022 TIFF Talent Accelerator Fellowship.
Kelly McCormack
Kelly McCormack: Vancouver-born McCormack wrote, directed, and starred in SUGAR DADDY, which opened WFF in 2020, received honorable mention for the Borsos Competition Award for Best Performance, and won the festival’s One to Watch Award. McCormack has acted in series such as LETTERKENNY and KILLJOYS, but made a mark starring in Amazon’s A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN, which premiered in August. Next up is Showtime’s GEORGE & TAMMY. McCormack is a WFF22 Borsos Competition jury member.
Sophie Dupuis: FAMILY FIRST (CHIEN DE GARDE), the 2018 debut of the Quebecois director, screenwriter, and WFF alum, was selected as Canada’s Oscar entry for Best International Feature. Dupuis won WFF’s Award for Best Director for UNDERGROUND (SOUTERRAIN) in 2020. Her latest cinematic outing—the third feature she has written and directed—is DRAG, starring Théodore Pellerin.
Justin Delorme: A Métis composer from Winnipeg, Manitoba, Delorme has scored over 200 episodes of television, dozens of short films and documentaries, and six feature films since 2013—including the award-winning documentary, BUFFY SAINTE-MARIE: CARRY IT ON, which screens at WFF22 as part of its WIF Signature Series Artist Tribute program, and DIASPORA, making its Western Canadian premiere at the festival.
Daniel Roher: The Toronto documentarian and film director first broke through with ONCE WERE BROTHERS: ROBBIE ROBERTSON AND THE BAND, which screened at WFF in 2019. Roher’s follow-up feature, NAVALNY, takes a nuanced look at Alexei Navalny, the strongest opposition figure against Russian president Vladimir Putin.
Chandler Levack: Levak’s nostalgia-tinged coming-of-age dramedy feature, I LIKE MOVIES, premiered at the 2022 Toronto Film Festival. A journalist and director living in Toronto, Levack is now developing ANGLOPHONE with Zapruder Films and Matt Miller. Levack’s short, WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP, also screened at WFF17.
Bilal Baig: The playwright, performer, showrunner, and producer from Mississauga, Ontario currently stars in the CBC/HBO Max series, SORT OF, which has won a Peabody Award, three Canadian Screen Awards, a Rockies Award, and has been nominated for a GLAAD Award.
Sasha Leigh Henry: The Toronto-based writer, director, and producer will be delivering the keynote at WFF22’s Talent Luncheon. Henry’s comedy series, BRIA MACK GETS A LIFE, is set to air on major Canadian streaming service Crave, while her produced feature, WHEN MORNING COMES, premiered at TIFF in September. Henry is also developing a one-hour actioner about a drug smuggling ring with writing partner Tania Thompson for producers Mackenzie Donaldson (ORPHAN BLACK), Lana Mauro (ONCE WE WERE BROTHERS), and Bell Media.
Gail Maurice: The director, writer, and star of NIGHT RAIDERS grew up in a Métis village in Northern Saskatchewan. She won WFF’s Best Screenplay in Borsos Film in 2020 for QUÉBEXIT, which she co-wrote with Xavier Yuvens and Joshua Demers. Maurice bowed her debut narrative feature, ROSIE, at TIFF this year, which also won the ImagineNative festival’s Audience Choice Award.
Jules + Asivak Koostachin
Jules Koostachin + Asivak Koostachin: Vancouver-based Jules is an alum of WFF’s Screenwriters Lab, where she developed her scripted feature debut, BROKEN ANGEL, which makes its Western Canadian premiere at WFF22. It co-stars the Cree filmmaker’s son, Asivak, who was named a Star to Watch at WFF21 for his role in RUN, WOMAN, RUN. Asivak has appeared in television series including CARDINAL and LETTERKENNY, as well as the films RED SNOW and MONTANA STORY.
