The Whistler Film Festival has announced the four films selected for its inaugural Whistler Stories legacy competition.
The project is selecting four short (five-minute) film proposals each year between 2005 and 2010 to receive $5,000 commissions. The completed films will have their world premiere screenings at that year’s Whistler Film Festival in December.
Films must be based on stories about Whistler and the surrounding Sea To Sky Corridor.
This year’s filmmakers include Whistler residents Feet Banks, with a film about artist Chili Thom, and Rebecca Wood Barrett, whose film features an inquisitive youth seeking the elusive answer to the question: ‘who skied Whistler first?’
Also chosen was Tracy Smith of Vancouver with a film about a one night stand in Whistler and Surrey resident Karen Bardach, whose film tells the story of the forbidden love between a Coast Sailesh girl and a member of a warring tribe.
Priority was given to projects that involved collaborations between filmmakers and artists working in other disciplines with one commission reserved for a filmmaker of aboriginal heritage or a visible minority.
Wood Barrett called the project "a brilliant opportunity for local filmmakers and artists because it encourages us to tell stories that are close to our hearts and experience, involves us in the glam and prestige of the Whistler Film Festival, and makes us a part of history."
Said Banks: "Chili and I think it's nice to see that everyone is paying attention."
The fifth annual Whistler Film Festival takes place December 1 to 5, 2005.
