This year’s edition of the Whistler Film Festival (WFF) is setting an important record — the 2017 lineup features the highest number of films directed by women in the fest’s history. According to a press release, the fest is “pleased to screen 14 feature films and 16 short films directed by women, which makes up 30 percent of this year’s film programming.”
While far from the ideal 50 percent benchmark, the fest recognizes there’s work to be done, and will be hosting its second annual Women on Top Keynote and Breakfast. Producer and co-founder of Resonate Entertainment Susan Cartsonis will deliver this year’s keynote address. “It’s not unreasonable to expect that women should be 50 percent of those creating content, considering more than 50 percent of us are consuming the content,” said Cartsonis, whose credits include “What Women Want,” “The DUFF,” and “Carrie Pilby.” “I think it’s really important that women mentor both men and women. I’m well aware that some encouragement, direction, and advice can change the course of your life. And when women mentor men, we change the way they view the abilities of women.”
Women-directed films screening at the fest include Kyra Sedgwick’s “Story of a Girl,” a drama about a teen who is being bullied and slut-shamed, and Ingrid Veninger’s “Porcupine Lake,” a portrait of an intense friendship between two adolescent girls in small-town Ontario, Canada.
“Greetings and updates at the Women on Top event will be delivered from public agencies that have initiated new policies for gender equality,” a press release details. Speakers include Valerie Creighton (Canada Media Fund), Shirley Vercruysse (National Film Board of Canada), and Stephanie Azam (Telefilm Canada).
WFF will host Variety’s 10 Screenwriters to Watch of 2017, which features six women screenwriters, including Tracy Oliver (“Girls Trip”) and Maggie Betts (“Novitiate”).
“The Whistler Film Festival’s female focused initiatives are aligned with several industry wide mandates launched last year, and we are committed to promoting the shared goal of breaking the celluloid ceiling and increasing the number of women in the director’s chair, addressing the imbalance of industry diversity behind the camera, and supporting the collaborative efforts to bring more female written and directed narratives to screen,” commented Shauna Hardy Mishaw, WFF Executive Director. “With strong representation both in front of and behind the camera in our films, and talent programs this year, Whistler is maintaining a timely leadership role for women in the industry, when the need is not only apparent, the collective is calling for it.“
Check out more details about how women are represented at the fest below, courtesy of WFF. This year’s fest runs from November 29 — December 3.
WFF Feature Films directed or co-directed by women:
- BECOMING BURLESQUE (Canada) Dir. Jackie English
- THE MOMENT (Canada) Dir. Darcy Hennessey Turenne
- NEVER SAW IT COMING (Canada) Dir. Gail Harvey
- NOBODY FAMOUS (Canada) Dir. Sarah Rotella
- PRODIGALS (Canada) Dir. Michelle Ouellet
- BUDAPEST NOIR (Hungary) Dir Éva Gárdos
- THE DEFINITES (Canada) Dir. Hannah Cheesman & Mackenzie Donaldson
- NEVER HERE (United States) Dir. Camille Thoman
- STORY OF A GIRL (United States) Dir. Kyra Sedgwick
- VENUS (Canada) Dir. Eisha Marjara
- THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ANDRÉ (United States) Dir. Kate Novack
- PORCUPINE LAKE (Canada) Dir. Ingrid Veninger
- HEAVEN’S FLOOR (Canada, United States) Dir. Lori Stoll
- ORDINARY DAYS (Canada) Dir. Jordan Canning, Kris Booth, Renuka Jeyapalan
WFF Short Films directed or co-directed by women:
- THE STAKEOUT (Canada) Dir. Jax Smith
- NEGATIVE SPACE (France/US) Dir. Ru Kuwuhata and Max Porter
- WE FORGOT TO BREAK UP (Canada) Dir. Chandler Levack
- BFF (Canada) Dir. Sofia Auza
- GOOD GIRLS DON’T (Canada) Dir. Ana de Lara
- MONDAY (Canada) Dir. Liz Levine
- LOLZITA (Canada) Dir. Katie Boland
- THE BURDEN (MIN BÖRDA) (Sweden) Dir. Niki Lindroth von Bahr
- DEAR HATETTS (Canada) Dir. Kerry Barber
- SHADES OF WINTER: CROSSROADS (Austria) Dir. Sandra Lahnsteiner
- THE THINGS YOU THINK I’M THINKING (Canada) Dir. Sherren Lee
- UNINTENTIONAL MOTHER (Canada) Dir. Mary Galloway
- WAITING FOR LOU (EN ATTENDANT LOU) (Canada) Dir. Katerine Martineau
- FLOATING LIGHT (Canada) Dir. Natalie Murao
- VIOLET AND JUNE (Canada) Dir. Linnea Ritland
- THE BUTTERFLY (Canada) Dir. Andy Alvarez
WFF Talent Programs with female participation announced to date include:
Feature Project Lab (4/6 producers): Lettie Costea (BC) — ALONE; Tricia Lee (ON) PENUMBRA; Amanda Verhagen (BC) PARTY FAVOUR and Carmen Forsberg (BC) — BOUNDARY COUNTRY.
Praxis Screenwriters Lab (4/5 screenwriters): Andeep Singh (BC) — GOODNIGHT MR G; Emily Bridger (NL) — LITTLE ORPHANS; Simone Stock(ON) POLARIS and Kate Bond (BC) — TRAPLINE.
Power Pitch (1/5 producers): Rebeka Herron (BC) — SALTBOX
Aboriginal Filmmaker Fellowship (3/6 directors): Nikita Weiss Day (BC) — SWEETGRASS ROAD; Madison Thomas (MB) — STARBOUND and Sonya Ballantyne (MB) — REVISION
Doc Lab (5/10 filmmakers): Kate Kroll (BC) -, CALAMITY KATE AND THE FIGHTING CHOLITAS; Jessica Dymond (BC) — TO LETHBRIDGE WITH LOVE; Christina Ienna (ON) — COLDWATER; Ali Harris (BC) — XWAAQW’UM: A JOURNEY and Jaime Leigh Gianopoulos (BC) — WE ARE THE BRIDGE.
Digital First Lab (4/7 filmmakers): Rebecca Campbell, THE GIRL WHO TALKS TO THE MOON; Farah Merani, SUPER ZEE; Sonya Ballantyne, REVISION and Nikita Weiss Day, SWEETGRASS ROAD.
Music Showcase finalists (5/31 musicians): The Katherines (3 — all female band); I M U R (fronted by a female) and Rya (female — solo).
Stars to Watch (3/4 actors): Jessica Parker Kennedy attending WFF with the world premiere of SOMEONE ELSE’S WEDDING; Tiera Skovbye attending with the world premiere of PRODIGALS and Julia Sarah Stone attending with the Western Canadian premiere of A WORTHY COMPANION.
MPPIA Short Film Award (2/4 directors): Jessie Anthony (BC) — THE LAST CIGARETTE and Veronika Kurz (BC) — 20 MINUTES TO LIFE
WIDC WFF Industry Immersion (8/8 directors): Sonia Bonspille Boileau(QC) — RUSTIC ORACLE; Jessica Bradford (BC) — FINN MCKAIN AND THE LOST TOAD; Katia Café Fébrissy (ON) — GROUNDED; Leah Cameron (ON) — THE COMMUNIST’S DAUGHTER; Sandi Gisbert (BC) — ALL PRANKS AND NO FUN; Sophie Jarvis (BC) — INVASIONS; Elizabeth Lazebnik (ON) — HANNAH and Shannon Walsh, UNIDENTIFIED MINOR.
WIFTV Mentorship (1/1 director): Shannon Walsh, UNIDENTIFIED MINOR. Mentor is Robyn Wiener — CEO Owner/Producer, Synergy Cinema Inc.
