The Whistler Film Festival boasted some big names last year and it doesn't look like this year's attendees will be any less impressive.
Legendary Canadian director/producer Ivan Reitman has been picked to receive a special tribute for his life achievement on Friday, Dec. 4.
Reitman is largely recognized for his role in shaping the Canadian and international film industry, directing popular films like Meatballs , Stripes and Ghostbusters and producing classic comedies like Animal House and I Love You, Man . Most recently, Reitman produced Atom Egoyen's Chloe and Jason Reitman's Up In the Air .
Past Whistler Film Festival tributes have honored Donald Sutherland, Atom Egoyan, Norman Jewison and Robert Lantos, all of whom also served as Borsos jury presidents.
On top of being honoured with the 2009 tribute, Reitman has also been named jury president for the 2009 Borsos Award, which recognizes the best new Canadian feature-length film and carries with it a $15,000 prize. The competition is named after pioneer Canadian filmmaker Phillip Borsos, who is best known for the Genie Award-winning films The Grey Fox and Bethune: The Making of a Hero . All Borsos Award competition entries must be Canadian dramatic features and at minimum B.C. premieres, with six films selected for this year's competition.
"The Borsos Competition is a unique event that recognizes passionate and bold Canadian filmmakers," Reitman said in a recent press release. "The competition provides emerging talent with a much needed platform for their creativity and I am thrilled to be a part of it."
Last year's 2008 Borsos award winner for Best New Canadian Feature Film was 3 Seasons , which was directed by Jim Donovan. Clark Johnson of Nurse.Fighter.Boy and Carrine Leduc of 3 Seasons were selected as Best Actor and Best Actress.
The ninth annual Whistler Film Festival runs from Dec. 3 to 6. For more information, visit www.whistlerfilmfestival.com .
