If you missed the Whistler Film Festival last December, here is another chance to catch the festival’s best of with the 2005 Whistler Film Festival Favourites on Saturday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. at MY Millennium Place, part of Celebration 2010.
"We wanted to bring the best of the festival back," said festival director Shauna Hardy Mishaw.
"It is a good opportunity for people who didn’t get to the festival to see the highlight films."
One of the biggest festival highlights were the three Whistler Stories short film competition winners: two produced by local filmmakers, one from Vancouver.
The evening line up for both the 7 and 9 p.m. shows will kick off with First to Go Down , co-produced by Whistlerites Rebecca Wood Barrett and Lisa Richardson; High in the Mountains , produced by Whistlerite Feet Banks; and Sandra Goes to Whistler by Tracy Smith.
The Borsos Award winner for Best New Canadian Feature entitled Exiles in Lotus Land will follow for the 7 p.m show. The documentary relays a heart-felt story about a young homeless couple from Quebec living on the streets of Vancouver and searching out a better life.
"It’s a really compelling story in terms of how it looks at a social issue (the Vancouver) community faces," Hardy Mishaw said.
Another audience favourite was the winner of the Best Mountain Culture Film, Off Road to Athens , which will screen at the 9 p.m. showing. Director Ken Bell chronicles the struggle of several top athletes to make it on the U.S. Mountain Bike Team in advance of the 2004 Summer Olympics.
Tickets are $10 and are available by calling 604-935-8418.
The Whistler Film Festival has also announced the next film in the Reel Alternative Series.
The series, presented in partnership with the Whistler Film Festival and Village 8 Cinemas, features independent films every second Wednesday in effort to promote Canadian and world cinema outside of the usual mainstream viewing experience.
Next week’s flick features Where the Truth Lies on Wednesday, March 1 at 7 and 9:15 p.m., Village 8 Cinemas.
From Atom Egoyan, director of double Oscar nominee The Sweet Hereafter , comes this seductive film noir, which explores the dark, decadent side of fame, fortune and success. The Rated R film stars Kevin Bacon, Colin Firth, Alison Lohman and Rachel Blanchard.
Other Reel films to look out for this month include Water (March 15) and Paradise Now (March 29).
Tickets are $8.50/$6.50.
