Thoughts and Themes from Whistler Film Festival

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Whistler Film Festival’s slogan is “Inspiring and Connecting Stories that Matter”, which is so generic I had to look it up even though it is attached to the pre-movie montage at every screening and we’ve seen ten movies in the last four days. But in the spirit of WFF’s slogan, here are some thoughts and themes inspired by our time here at the festival.

1. Consistently great Canadian movies

At least half of the movies we saw were Canadian or co-Canadian productions, and they were consistently good.  Canadian content rules have conditioned me to see Canadian movies as filler and nothing more, but I need to get over that notion and Born to be Blue, How to Plan an Orgy in a Small Town, The Legend of Barney Thomson, and my favourite of the festival, River, are helping me ease into that new mindset.

2. Real-life storm porn

It’s a good thing we brought an umbrella.  The local weather forecast called for 110 inches of snow this week.  I didn’t bring my ruler, and most of that snow had turned into rain by the time it reached the village (which is 5,000 feet below the mountain peaks) but I think for once thwitnere meteorologists got it right.  Even the rain was pleasant, though, and the thick, fluffy
snow capped off the idyllic experience in this beautiful mountain town (or more accurately, “resort municipality”, because it doesn’t seem that anyone actually lives here).

3. Technical difficulties

From long, unmoving lines in an empty 8 theatre cinema, to lines that were permitted to mhqdefaulterge when they should have been kept separate, to triple viewings of the same commercial, to cancelled screenings, to reserving more than half the seats in a theatre for patrons who never showed, the Whistler Film Festival was an utter mess.  This topic deserves its own article, so stay tuned!

4. Australians

There must be more Australians in Whistler than anywhere outside Australia.  It’s absolutely insane that their accent here is more common than ours.  Whether you’re in the gondolas, hotels, theatres, coffee shops, pizza places, box offices, restaurants, equipment rental places, or grocery stores, in Whistler there is no escape from talk of dingoes eating babies.

5. Uncircumcised penises and other gratuitous nudity

I lost count of the number of penises I saw this weekend.  It was a lot.  And I think there might have been even more times when I thought, that woman is only naked because the director/screenwriter/executive producer wanted the excuse.  omg-gross-roger-rabbit-censored-1

Then again, this whole art instead of porn approach is one I can get on board with!

That’s all I’ve got for now but we have a five hour plane ride coming up so that will give us lots of time to come up with more to say.

16 thoughts on “Thoughts and Themes from Whistler Film Festival”

    1. Sean Post author

      It was truly beautiful out here. I’m glad the pictures turned out as well as they did (thanks, new phone!) but they’re no substitute for actually being at the top of the mountain!

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  4. ninvoid99

    Hey, there’s nothing wrong with porn. It’s just filmmaking with a lot of explicit sex and every once in a while, they churn out some decent stories. At least the filmmakers have more imagination and heart than some of the people working in Hollywood.

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    1. Sean Post author

      The lines are getting blurred and I think that’s a good thing, as it can only help those with imagination reach a wider audience, whatever the content of their films. Because if it’s got heart I’d like to be able to see it!

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  6. filmfunkel

    Man, 110 inches. I remember those winters. There could be polar bears wrestling in our school’s parking lot and they STILL would never cancel classes. 😡

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  9. Courtney Small

    I had to chuckle at point #5. That was my major theme from TIFF this year. I was surprised by the amount of male genitalia onscreen in 2015. I guess that is what I get for picking films like Love, Chevalier, Anomalisa, to name a few. Cinema has spent years displaying the female form, so I guess it is time the men took their turn.

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    1. Sean Post author

      Yes, with those movie on your slate at TIFF you must be able to relate! Good point about the male/female disparity. As Jay said in her Love review, that disparity is still alive and well though as far as what body parts are chosen/allowed to be shown onscreen.

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