B.C. filmmakers take the spotlight as Whistler International Film Festival unveils first batch of titles

Live event November 29 to December 3 features three locally directed world premieres, including Bruce Sweeney’s She Talks to Strangers

WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL is throwing its focus on movies by B.C. directors in its first release of programming.

The lineup includes three B.C. world premieres: Bruce Sweeney’s She Talks to Strangers, a darkly funny divorce comedy starring well-known local actors Camille Sullivan, Gabrielle Rose and Jeff Gladstone; Jeremy Lutter’s ZOE.mp4, about a woman abducted by a suburban single mom bent on killing people to take them out of their stress-filled misery; and The Affolter Brothers’ Altona, which interweaves animation and live-action documentary to tell the true-crime story of a deadly attach that shattered a community. Elsewhere, B.C. filmmaker Jake Thomas’s Adaptation follows a group of para-athletes as they converge in British Columbia for the Summer Race Series—the world’s first downhill mountain bike race to include an adaptive mountain bike; and Kim Albright’s With Love and a Major Organ follows a lonely insurance broker who “rips her heart from her chest and gives it to a man she's fallen for”, the aloof and unfeeling George; .

The live version of the fest runs in Whistler from November 29 to December 3, featuring 40 feature films and six short film programs. That’s followed by it’s online edition from December 4 to 17, streaming a selection of the festival’s best titles across Canada.

November 30 to December 2 and December 5 to 7, the fest’s Content Summit serves up a hybrid live and online event, starting with three days of in-person programming, keynotes, panel discussions, workshops, and networking events.

Early Bird Whistler film passes will be available on October 5. You can find more info here.

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Janet Smith

Janet Smith is cofounder and editorial director of Stir. She is an award-winning arts journalist who has spent more than two decades immersed in Vancouver’s dance, screen, design, theatre, music, opera, and gallery scenes. She sits on the Vancouver Film Critics’ Circle.

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