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Bill Pullman, Kyra Sedgwick to be honoured at Whistler Film Festival

Arts News: Goodbye Graffiti founder commissioning massive mural
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shining stars Hollywood stalwarts Bill Pullman and Kyra Sedgwick will be celebrated at this year's Whistler Film Festival. wikimedia commons

The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) will recognize a pair of Hollywood stalwarts at its 17th edition, which runs from Nov. 29 to Dec. 3. Acclaimed actor Bill Pullman, who is attending with the Canadian premiere of Jared Moshe's Western, The Ballad of Lefty Brown, will be honoured with the WFF's Artist Tribute and Career Achievement Award.

Pullman has been a fixture of stage, screen and TV since his debut in the 1986 film Ruthless People, and has starred in such flicks as Spaceballs, Independence Day, and Lost Highway. On the small screen, Pullman made a star turn in the one-season sitcom 1600 Penn, as well as USA Network's forthcoming murder-mystery limited series, The Sinner.

American actress and producer Kyra Sedgwick, who is making her directorial debut with the coming-of-age teen drama, Story of A Girl, which makes its Canadian premiere at WFF, will also be celebrated at this year's festival. The award-winning actress will receive the WFF's Artist Spotlight and Luminary Award. Sedgwick is perhaps best known for starring in the TNT crime drama, The Closer, a role that has earned her both a Golden Globe and an Emmy. She has also appeared in a litany of films dating back to the '80s with Oliver Stone's Born on the Fourth of July, Cameron Crowe's Singles, and, most recently, in the critically acclaimed high-school dramedy, The Edge of Seventeen.

"WFF's 2017 honourees represent notable talent at different stages of their careers. Some have created the most memorable stories and characters in recent decades and others have careers about to burst," says WFF's director of industry programming, Angie Nolan in a release. "It is such an honour to celebrate this diverse group of inspiring artists at all phases of their creative journey."

Returning to WFF this year is the 10 Screenwriters to Watch event on Dec. 2, which will give festivalgoers a chance to hear from some of the brightest screenwriters of the past year. Participating screenwriters will be announced shortly.

New to WFF this year is the Canada 150 Spotlight on Talent featuring four up-and-coming Canadian actors to watch: Amanda Crew (Juggernaut); Rossif Sutherland (Trench 11); Shiva Negar (Becoming Burlesque); and Kevin Zegers (Someone Else's Wedding).

On Dec. 2 at 1:30 p.m., all four promising talents will sit down with Canadian radio and TV personality George Stromboulopoulous.

Individual film tickets went on sale Nov. 15.

For more info, and the full WFF schedule, visit whistlerfilmfestival.com.

Goodbye Graffiti founder looking for artist to paint giant mural

Normally, Perri Domm is focused on getting rid of graffiti.

But now, the Goodbye Graffiti founder is on the hunt for an artist to paint a massive, eight-metre by nine-metre mural inside his Whistler home.

The piece will be the artist's "interpretation of a stylized trail map" of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains, showing the main runs and possibly their names as well. The winning artist, who will be selected based on their proposed design, will be awarded a $2,000 prize and all supplies, access and accommodation will be provided.

Artist hopefuls are asked to send a brief statement up to 500 words to muralcontest@goodbyegraffiti.com describing their approach to this project, any relevant experience and skills, and how this opportunity relates to their work. They should also include an anticipated budget and supply list, along with up to eight JPG or PDF images, one per page, of past work. The deadline to submit statements is Nov. 24, while the proposal deadline is Dec. 1.