VANCOUVER — The Whistler Film Festival has lost its director of programming.

Bill Evans, who programmed five consecutive festivals between 2004 and 2008, has left the organization.

‘I feel that I have accomplished what I was hired to do and completed what I set out to achieve, so it is a good time to move on,’ says Evans, who first joined the festival in May 2004.

‘I am most proud of creating the Borsos Competition for Best New Feature Film, which is the biggest prize for a Canadian film outside of Toronto, and which has attracted some prestigious jury presidents, including Robert Lantos, Atom Egoyan and Donald Sutherland,’ adds Evans. ‘And the Filmmaker Forum at the festival has grown from 200 people four years ago to annual attendance of over 700, and has become one of the most significant industry events in Western Canada.’

Evans says he plans to take some time off and then look for new opportunities.

Whistler Film Festival director Shauna Hardy Mishaw says the festival will be hiring a new director of programming and an announcement is ‘forthcoming.’ A call for submissions for the December 2009 festival will take place in early April.

‘Bill made a huge contribution to the festival’s success and growth and he should be proud of his accomplishments,’ she adds.