WHISTLER — The ninth annual Whistler Film Festival opened Thursday night with the Western Canadian premiere of Jacob Tierney’s comedy The Trotsky, starring Jay Baruchel (Knocked Up, Tropic Thunder) as a Montreal high school student who fervently believes he’s the reincarnation of Leon Trotsky.
‘We are thrilled to open the Whistler Film Festival,’ Tierney told the packed house. ‘I hope you get a kick out of it.’
The festival will screen 80 films, including 36 feature and mid-length films.
‘At the Whistler Film Festival we want to encourage discovery of new voices — new films and filmmakers,’ said artistic director Stacey Donen.
The festival is hosting the world premieres of three Canadian films: Brian Nash’s Out of the Woods, a lyrical feature exploring the tenuous relationship between humankind and forests; Reneì Brar’s Taylor’s Way, a thriller set in the Canadian wilderness; and Andrew Nisker’s Chemerical: Redefining Clean for a New Generation, an eye-opening documentary that looks at the over-use of chemicals in our daily lives .
The four-day event continues through to Sunday. Highlights include a tribute to legendary Canadian director/producer Ivan Reitman, who has made some of the most popular films of our time, including Animal House, Meatballs, Stripes and Ghostbusters. Reitman, who is attending the festival, most recently produced Atom Egoyen’s Chloe and his son Jason Reitman’s Up In the Air.
Reitman also heads up the jury that will hand out the Borsos Award for best new Canadian feature — a $15,000 cash prize — at the festival’s conclusion.
The conference component includes a focus on the growing field of digital media production and distribution. Panel and workshop guests include Bioware co-founder Dr. Greg Zeschuk; John Meadows, scriptwriter for James Cameron’s Avatar: The Game; and Christian Gaines, director of festivals, IMDb.com.
The Forum also features Pitch Fest West, where producers pitch projects that will be delivered across several platforms to a panel of industry guests and a live audience for a chance to win a $2,000 prize.
The festival closes on Dec. 6 with the Canadian premiere of Bill Kerig’s documentary Edge of Never. Set in the world of dangerous mountain skiing, Edge of Never is the real-life coming-of-age tale of a 15-year-old Whistler resident who decides to ski the route that killed his father years earlier.