Whistler Film Festival bills itself as Canada鈥檚 coolest film fest 鈥� and while it could be considered thoroughly uncool to introduce oneself as cool, Whistler Film Fest isn鈥檛 wrong to do so.聽
Judging by the line-up for the 17th annual event 鈥� which runs at venues around Whistler 鈥� being cool in 2017 means programming from 15 countries and an array of genres.
Being cool means including Hollywood fare (like James Franco鈥檚 buzzworthy The Disaster Artist, about the shit-show behind the worst movie ever made), indie gems (like the Canada-France co-production Mobile Homes, a Cannes Film Festival alumnus that stars Imogen Poots as a worn-out mother working in a trailer park), and more women-helmed films than ever before: 30 per cent of this year鈥檚 feature films are directed by women.
Cool also means bold-faced names like Bill Pullman (everyone鈥檚 favourite alien-battling POTUS who will grace Whistler鈥檚 screens in The Ballad of Lefty Brown, a Western about a merciless cowboy on a revenge journey) and Kyra Sedgwick (whose directorial debut, Story of a Girl, is one of our top picks) participating in intimate 鈥淚nside The Actor鈥檚 Studio鈥�-type conversations in front of live theatre audiences.
It鈥檚 a festival where you can be equally nourished as a film fan and an industry insider: where distribution deals are made in hotel lobbies; where Oscar hopefuls generate interest (last year鈥檚 fest opened with La La Land and this year鈥檚 will kick off with聽Darkest Hour, which stars Gary Oldman as a newly elected Prime Minister Winston Churchill, exploring a peace treaty with Nazi Germany); where cinephiles gather for a celebratory retreat in the snow.
That confluence of coolness is the reason that local director Michelle Ouellet was eager to premiere her third feature film, , at Whistler Film Festival. Says Ouellet in a recent phone interview: 鈥淚 tracked Paul [Gratton, WFF鈥檚 programmer] down almost a year ago, because the film was finished and I said, 鈥榊ou鈥檙e the first person that I鈥檓 showing this to, do you want this?鈥欌��
She'd made her Whistler Film Festival feature directorial debut in 2013 with聽, and calls the festival her 鈥渇avourite.鈥�
鈥淚 go up every year, regardless of whether or not I have a film. I love the stuff that they program.鈥�
Based on the play of the same name by Sean Minogue, Prodigals stars David Alpay (Ararat, The Tudors) as Wesley, a dreamer who left his hometown of Sault Ste. Marie for Toronto five years previous but returns to The Soo to support his old friends when one of them is charged with murder. Besides reconnecting with his best mates over euchre and booze, Wesley is eager to reunite in a profound way with Jen, the ex-girlfriend he abandoned but still loves. Jen is portrayed by Vancouver-based actress
笔谤辞诲颈驳补濒蝉听is set entirely in The Soo, but it filmed on location in both Sault Ste. Marie and 麻豆传媒映画(鈥淭he Soo itself was super cold, and 麻豆传媒映画was super rainy, so there were some weather challenges, but we had a visual effects company do weather matching,鈥� says Ouellet).
The drama features 麻豆传媒映画talent in co-starring and supporting roles, including Brian Markinson (who recently portrayed ), Jameson Parker, David Kaye, Nicholas Carella, and Andrew Francis, as well as cameos by busy local actors Hilary Jardine (Van Helsing), (Continuum), and . (Harmon, whose character sports thick eyeliner, is credited as Eye Makeup Witness.)
Ouellet 鈥� who directed the Vancouver-shot web series The True Heroines and . 鈥� says Prodigals represents a marriage of two of her favourite sub-genres: legal thrillers and reunion films. 鈥淲hat I find really appealing about reunion films is somebody coming in as an outsider and reintegrating themselves in their friends and family,鈥� says Ouellet. 鈥淎nd I thought, 鈥榃hy not put those genres I love together?鈥欌��
It鈥檚 Canning鈥檚 character with whom Alpay鈥檚 Wesley has the most electric reunion. (The onscreen pairing is a bit of an Easter egg for fans of The Vampire Diaries, on which Canning played and Alpay played : 鈥淗e was on the show after me, and we were ships in the night on that show,鈥� says Canning over tea in Yaletown.)
鈥淚鈥檓 always really fascinated by place, and what the push and pull of home is,鈥� notes Canning. The actress 鈥� whose recent credits include War for the Planet of the Apes, Remedy, , Hello Destroyer and 贰补诲飞别补谤诲听鈥� grew up in a small village in Newfoundland, and describes herself as 鈥渜uite restless. I love my life abroad and I feel at home in many cities, but I go home to Newfoundland every year, and there always is that sense of belonging.鈥�
Canning feels that sense of belonging at the Whistler Film Festival, too. In 2014, she was part of the festival鈥檚 Talent to Watch program for a rom-com thriller called I Put a Hit on You. 鈥淚t feels like a very intimate film festival, but at the same time, it also feels like a lot of the 麻豆传媒映画film community is at an early Christmas party.鈥�
鈥� Canning, Ouellet, and cohorts will be reunited when Prodigals screens Nov. 30 and Dec. 2 at Whistler Film Festival. Peruse the festival schedule at 鈥� and check out our top picks .
