WHISTLER, BC — Filmmakers got an early taste of the Whistler Film Festival on Wednesday at the third annual Doc Talk documentary conference. The two-day event, co-presented by the B.C. chapter of the Documentary Organization of Canada and the festival, saw documentary filmmakers pitch their projects to a roundtable of broadcasters, including National Geographic’s Kathy Davidov, and Kristin Feeley of the Sundance Documentary Fund.

Doc Talk last night also presented the world premiere of the theatrical version of B.C. filmmaker David McIlvride’s Sledhead, following a group of men competing internationally to become the world’s best disabled hockey team. A shorter version of the documentary has aired on CTV. Several of the athletes featured in the film — who plan to compete at the Paralympic Games in 2010 — were in attendance.

Michael McGowan’s One Week opens the festival on Thursday, with Joshua Jackson as a man diagnosed with cancer who re-examines his life during a road trip from Toronto to Tofino, BC.

Five world premieres will be featured, including B.C. filmmaker Ileana Pietrobruno’s Girlfriend Experience, which dramatizes the hidden world of ‘the john’ in prostitution; Toronto documentary filmmaker Ron Mann’s Know Your Mushrooms, exploring the world of fungi; Mad Cow, Sacred Cow, which follows filmmaker Anand Ramayya’s journey from his in-laws’ Saskatchewan cattle farm back to India; and Vancouver filmmaker Jason Margolis’ historical documentary Ayaa: A Hero’s Journey, about a brief encounter between a Canadian aboriginal soldier and a Dutch child in the middle of the Second World War.

Other highlights of the festival, which runs through to Sunday, include a filmmakers forum, featuring master classes with Mann, producer Daniel Cross (RiP: A remix manifesto) and McDonald. A coproduction panel on working with China includes representatives from Huaxia Film Distribution, one of that country’s largest distributors.

The Whistler Film Festival also includes a tribute to actor Donald Sutherland, who will be in attendance to discuss his life and work, and a memorial to Vancouver producer William Vince of Infinity Features.

Awards handed out at the end of the festival include the $15,000 Borsos Award for Best New Canadian Feature, the $5,000 Best Documentary Award, the $1,000 Best Short Film Award and the $500 Best Mountain Culture Film. The closing-night film is Bruce McDonald’s Pontypool.