The 2014 Whistler Film Festival line-up has been revealed – more than 85 movies from 18 countries will be presented.
This year festivalgoers can look forward to 87 films in total that were selected from over 700 submissions, including 41 features and 46 shorts, exhibited on six screens in five theatre venues over five days. The film lineup includes an unprecedented 22 world premieres, eight Canadian premieres, one English Canadian premiere, 33 Western Canadian premieres, 11 British Columbia premieres, and 10 Whistler premieres. Screenings are organized in 11 categories.
“We are very excited about this year’s lineup of titles, which represent a measurable evolution in our programming mix on a number of fronts,” said WFF’s Director of Programming Paul Gratton in an official release. “In terms of international films, we believe that we are presenting more potential Oscar nominees and award winners than ever before. We are particularly excited to be presenting the Canadian Premiere of J.C. Chandor’s ‘A Most Violent Year,’ with Oscar Isaac and Jessica Chastain, along with such acclaimed titles as ‘The Imitation Game,’ ‘The Theory of Everything,’ and ‘Still Alice,’ which received great acclaim at other festivals.
“We are also excited to be presenting a number of films that have won awards previously, such as ‘The Backward Class,’ the audience favourite at this year’s Hot Docs, ‘What We Do in the Shadows,’ which won the audience award at TIFF’s Midnight Madness, and ‘Point and Shoot,’ winner of the Best Doc award at the Tribeca Film Festival. But Whistler is not just a ‘festival of festivals’ for local audiences. We are fast positioning ourselves as a sort of Canadian Sundance festival, with over 11 world premieres and 22 Canadian feature films in the mix. Unveiling quality Canadian films to the world is a mission that Whistler takes great pride in, and Canadian filmmakers from across the country have responded by offering us many world premiere
selections, which attests to our growing importance as a major stop on the Canadian film festival circuit.”
The Whistler Film Festival runs from December 3-7.
Photo: Whistler Film Festival
