Canadian music documentary Blue Rodeo: Lost Together has won the Audience Award for a feature-length film at this year’s Whistler Film Festival (WFF).

Blue Rodeo: Lost Together is directed by Toronto’s Dale Heslip and had its world premiere at the festival on Dec. 6. The documentary follows the 40-year history of the Canadian rock band and features extensive interviews with band leaders Jim Cuddy and Greg Keelor.

Cream Films’ Corey Russell and Francine Dibacco are the film’s producers. Blue Rodeo was acquired by Toronto-based distributor Blue Ice Docs with a theatrical release planned at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema in Toronto in early 2025.

The runners-up are Ireland’s Kneecap, written and directed by Rich Peppiatt, and the B.C.-set thriller Hunting Matthew Nichols (Dropshock Pictures), directed by Ukranian-Canadian actor and filmmaker Markian Tarasiuk (Return to Sender) and written by Sean Harris Oliver (Ties That Bind).

The Beginning, written, directed and produced by Vancouver Island-based Cristóbal Ruiz, won the Audience Award in the shorts category.

The short documentary, which screened as part of WFF’s Mountain Culture shorts program, tells the story of Squamish, B.C.-based snowboarder and BASE jumper Alenka Mali as she makes history as the first woman to successfully snowboard BASE jump off a 1,200-metre cliff.

Last week, WFF announced the 2024 juried award winners, including J Stevens’ Really Happy Someday (Spindle Films), which took the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature and the award for best screenplay.

Image courtesy of WFF; photo by John Looy; pictured (L-R): Corey Russel, Greg Keelor, Dale Heslip and Jim Cuddy