Jason James’ Exile, Carl Bessai’s Féline@6.15, and Jeffery Lando’s Lissa’s Trip are among the first Canadian titles added to the 2022 Whistler Film Festival (WFF) lineup.

WFF will roll out its lineup in a hybrid model to make the festival more accessible, with in-person screenings taking place from Nov. 30 to Dec. 4 and its online screenings from Dec. 5 to Jan. 2, 2023, for select films. The festival will present up to 40 feature films and six short film programs.

The festival announced on Tuesday (Sept. 27) that six Canadian titles from British Columbia-based filmmakers will run during the festival, including the world premiere of James’ Exile (pictured).

Exile is directed and produced by James (Entanglement) under his Vancouver-based banner, Resonance Films, alongside producers Sammie Astaneh (1922) of Service Street Pictures and Amber Ripley (Some of our Stallions) of Goodbye Productions. Tai Duncan and Mark Williams serve as executive producers with Adam Beach (Suicide Squad, Monkey Beach), who also stars in the film. Todd Giroux is the associate producer.

Written by Michael Beaton, the feature follows a man who exiles himself to a reclusive life after being released from prison and receiving a threat from a man whose family he killed in a DUI. It also stars Camille Sullivan (Hunter Hunter) and Garry Chalk (Tribal).

Féline@6.15, directed and produced by Bessai (Evelyne) with Hadley Dion (I Would Have Kissed You), will have its Canadian premiere at the festival. Bessai and Dion also co-wrote the film with Woan Ni Wooi, who also stars in the drama.

The U.S.-based film follows a social media influencer who reflects on her privileged life as she waits for her biopsy results. It also stars Hal Dion and Molly Robbins.

Lissa’s Trip, directed and produced by Lando (Bad Stepmother) with Michael Barkey (Astroman), will also have its Canadian premiere at WFF. Sofia Vassilieva (The Little Things), who stars in the film, co-wrote Lissa’s Trip with Lando.

The film, which will have its world premiere at the Warsaw International Film Festival on Oct. 20, follows a former child star as she navigates an important audition while experiencing LSD hallucinations. It stars Tygh Runyan (Blonde), Alexandra Vino (Spenser Confidential), Camille Carida (Unspoken), Brendan Beiser (Pretty Hard Cases), and Mandy May Cheetham (Companionship).

Other homegrown titles that will have their Western Canadian premiere at WFF include Jules Arita Koostachin’s Broken Angel, Mostafa Keshvari’s Colorblind, and Irina Lord’s Soft Spoken Weepy Cult Child.

Broken Angel is directed and written by Koostachin (Mis Tik), who is an alumna of the WFF Screenwriters Lab in 2019, and produced by Patti Poskitt (Monkey Beach). It follows a woman who flees from her abusive partner and escapes to a women’s shelter on a reservation. The drama stars Sera-Lys McArthur (Burden of Truth), Brooklyn Letexier-Hart (Night Raiders), Carlo Marks (Chesapeake Shores), and Asivak Koostachin (Red Snow, Letterkenny).

Keshvari’s Colorblind, which he directed and wrote, follows a colorblind Black artist as she and her son move into a new neighbourhood and navigate through new challenges and struggles. It is produced by Kirk Moses, with Darren Benning and John Franco Braico as executive producers. Shot on Granville Island in Vancouver, the film stars Chantel Riley (Frankie Drake Mysteries), Trae Maridadi (Batwoman), and Garry Chalk (Tribal).

Soft Spoken Weepy Cult Child is directed, written, and produced by Lord (The Matriarch). It follows a teenage girl who tries to win her cult-follower mother’s love and care before her grandmother dies from lung cancer.

The film stars Matreya Scarrwener (Fakes), Amanda Prasow (Bestie), Gabriella Klein (Funhouse), Madison Isolina (The Bentayman Xperience), Liliya Roys (A Christmas Wish), Robert Leaf (A Dickens of a Holiday!), Abdalla Amour, Michael Taylor (The Flash), Jay Lutwyche (Next), Ana Pacheco (The Blue Whale Challenge), Katherine Bransgrove (The Appointment), Sarah Kathryn Young (The Parties), and Monique Phillips (Superman & Lois).

Four titles in the lineup will be eligible for WFF’s Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature. The award offers a prize package total worth $35,000, which consists of a $15,000 cash prize sponsored by the Directors Guild of Canada, British Columbia, and a $20,000 production prize sponsored by Company 3.

The full festival program is set to be announced on Nov. 2.

Image courtesy of Resonance Films