The Whistler Film Festival will present an unprecedented number of female focused films, talent, events, and awards throughout its 2018 programs. The Festival will screen 21 feature films and 18 short films directed or co-directed by women or non-binary individuals, which makes up 46% of this year’s film programming, the highest percentage for the festival to date. WFF will also have 41 Canadian females out of 80 (51%) participating in 11 different talent programs, including 16 directors, 5 producers, 3 screenwriters, 8 filmmakers, 1 actor, and 7 musicians in bands in the Music Showcase.
“The Whistler Film Festival’s female focused initiatives are aligned with several industry wide mandates, and we are committed to promoting the shared goal of breaking the celluloid ceiling, 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, and more females on screen to reflect society,” says 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.“
2018 Whistler Film Festival Feature Films directed or co-directed by Women
A COLONY (Canada) Dir. Geneviève Dulude-De Celles
AN AUDIENCE OF CHAIRS (Canada) Dir. Deanne Foley
BELLA CIAO! (Canada) Dir. Carolyn Combs
BIRDS WITHOUT FEATHERS (United States) Dir. Wendy McColm
CIRCLE OF STEEL (Canada) Dir. Gillian McKercher
ELIJAH AND THE ROCK CREATURE (Canada) Dir. Jen Walden
FALLS AROUND HER (Canada) Dir. Darlene Naponse
FAMILY FIRST (CHIEN DE GARDE) (Canada) Dir. Sophie Dupuis
FREE SOLO (United States) Dir. E. Chai Vasarhelyi & Jimmy Chin
GIRLS OF THE SUN (France) Dir. Eva Husson
HONEY BEE (Canada) Dir. Rama Rau
HUGH HEFNER’S AFTER DARK: SPEAKING OUT IN AMERICA (Canada) Dir. Brigitte Berman
IN GOD I TRUST (Canada) Dir. Maja Zdanowski
INTO INVISIBLE LIGHT (Canada) Dir. Shelagh Carter
ON THE BASIS OF SEX (United States) Dir. Mimi Leder
LOVE, SCOTT (Canada) Dir. Laura Marie Wayne
MARY QUEEN OF SCOTS (United Kingdom) Dir. Josie Rourke
THE NATURALLY WANTON PLEASURE OF SKIN (Canada) Dir. Renée Beaulieu
SASHINKA (Canada) Dir. Kristina Wagenbauer
TROUBLE IN THE GARDEN (Canada) Dir. Roz Owen
UNTOGETHER (United States) Dir. Emma Forrest
2018 Whistler Film Festival Short Films directed or co-directed by Women
CEDAR TREE OF LIFE (Canada) Dir. Odessa Shuquaya
MISS WORLD (Taiwan) Dir. Georgia Fu
LITTLE WAVES (Canada) Dir. Ariane Louis-Seize
LUNAR-ORBIT RENDEZVOUS (Canada) Dir. Mélanie Charbonneau
THREE CENTIMETRES (Lebanon) Dir. Lara Zeidan
THUNDERBIRD (Canada) Dir. Erin Collins
HUNTING SEASON (Canada) Dir. Shannon Kohli
THE FIELD (India) Dir. Sandhya Suri
EMPTYING THE TANK (Canada) Dir. Caroline Monnet
20 MINUTES TO LIFE (Canada) Dir. Veronika Kurz
EGG (France) Dir. Martina Scarpelli
BROTHERHOOD (Canada) Dir. Meryam Joobeur
CC (Canada) Dir. Kailey Spear and Sam Spear
HOW LONG? (Canada) Dir. Ayden Ross
GIRL IN THE GALACTIC SUN (Canada) Dir. Heather Perluzzo
FANTASMAGORIA (Canada) Dir. Lilén Aimare
I SEE STARS (Canada) Dir. Caid Dow
I WILL KEEP YOUR LIGHT (Canada) Dir. Chelsea Xinyi Chen