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What's in store for WFF's 10th anniversary

Lineup features 56 premieres, including the world premiere of Bruce MacDonald's Hard Core Logo II

The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is celebrating its 10 th anniversary in a big way this year, and organizers have pulled no punches with their impressive lineup of feature-length and short films, which was released to the public last week.

Ranking high on the list of industry names and film competitions is the hotly anticipated world premiere of Canadian filmmaker Bruce MacDonald's Hard Core Logo II, the sequel to his 1996 cult classic mockumentary, Hard Core Logo .

"A lot of people love that film, so I think it's sort of a big deal that we've got that world premiere and we're really excited about having that," said Stacey Donen, artistic director at WFF.

"I think to have a world premiere of such an important film is hopefully a statement of who we are as a festival and the kinds of films we do and what we stand for in terms of independent film and in terms of our connection to Canadian films and filmmakers."

Two more MacDonald films will be screened at WFF, as well: Trigger and the documentary Music From The Big House .

Hard Core Logo II is screening as part of the annual Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature, a competition that carries with it a $15,000 prize and recognizes independent vision, original directorial style and the diversity of talent found in Canadian independent cinema.

MacDonald will have some tough competition in the Borsos category: he's up against Jacob Tierney's Good Neighbours , Jo Pour Jonathan by Maxime Giroux, Ed Gass-Donnelly's Small Town Murder Songs , Whistleblower from Larysa Kondracki and Michael Greenspan's Wrecked .

"I think it's pretty strong, and different kinds of films from different places," Donen said fo the Borsos competition, adding that it wasn't easy to narrow down the films to six.

"It's always hard any time you have to select things, but I think the stature of some of these films is, for us, unprecedented in terms of the films that we have opportunity to plan. And I think as we continue to establish ourselves as a festival, we're getting access to that kind of material."

This year, to mark the festival's 10th anniversary, the lineup boasts a total of 56 premieres - nine world premieres, five North American premieres, five Canadian premieres, 21 Western Canadian premieres, two English Canadian premieres and 14 B.C. premieres.

"When I started last year, I made a commitment to show films here that haven't yet played in British Columbia," Donen explained.

WFF doesn't want to simply piggyback off of other reputable North American film festivals. Rather, organizers want to carve out their own separate identity within the industry.

"I think it's a bit of a statement with our 10 th anniversary that we are beginning to establish ourselves," Donen said. "We still have a long way to go, for sure, but we're establishing ourselves, especially outside in that independent film community, and that's getting into the United States, as well."

American director Monte Hellman, a mentor to Quentin Tarantino and winner of the Special Lion Award for Overall Work at the 2010 Venice Film Festival, will be coming to Whistler this year for a special sneak preview of his film Road To Nowhere , which stars Vancouver's Tygh Runyan.

"He hasn't made a feature in 20 (years), and he's sort of an iconic figure of American cinema. He made a film in the '70s called Two Lane Blacktop that was a real influential film, and he was the executive producer of Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs ."

Donen sorted through over 900 submissions before selecting a total of 68 films - 34 features and 34 shorts - that will be shown on four screens in three theatres over the five-day festival.

Despite an additional day being added to the festival, which runs from Dec. 1 to 5, the total number of films is down from more than 80 last year. But as Donen explains it, organizers decided to offer a few repeat screenings to ensure that people don't miss out. They also wrapped up the Whistler Stories component of the festival last year, which translated to fewer shorts this year.

But new for 2010, WFF is introducing the New Voices International Feature Competition, showcasing six innovative narrative films from around the globe. This new competition carries with it a $10,000 prize. That helped to attract a number of solid feature-length films. There are two Canadian films in the running (Michael Goldbach's Daydream Nation and You Are Here from director Daniel Cockburn). The remaining four -  Attenberg , Blue Valentine , Nothing's All Bad and The Silence - are from Greece, the United States, Denmark and Germany, respectively.

"All of these are sort of strong, independent voices; they're different, they're unique and they have something really different to say," Donen said.

WFF organizers have also selected a film for the closing gala that is sure to hit home with many Whistler residents: 2 Frogs In The West , directed by Dany Papineau, tells the story of a 20-year-old Quebecois girl, Marie, who quits college to head west and learn English. Her father is dead set against this trip and tells Marie that if she goes, she'll no longer have the right to come back to her parents' home. But Marie ultimately makes the trip, which ends up being a journey of self-discovery and growth.

"I think it's going to touch a chord with the people here because not only is it a story of Quebecois coming out to Whistler and what the experience is, but we have so many people from so many places that come out to Whistler, and are that sort of 'fish out of water,'" Donen said.

The screenings are organized in eight categories: Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature; World Now; Documentary; Late Night; Mountain Culture; Shorts; Family and the New Voices International Feature Competition. The festival box office opens for phone sales on Thursday, Nov. 11 and for walk-in sales on Thursday, Nov. 25. For more details on the festival lineup, visit whistlerfilmfestival.com.