Whistler Film Festival to open with documentaries Forward and You Had to Be There, December 3
Featuring more than 70 percent Canadian films, 25th annual fest will close December 7 with The Choral
You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way)
Forward
THE WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL, set to run from December 3 to 7, has unveiled opening and closing films that set its strong Canadian theme.
Marking 25 years, the fest will open with two documentaries. You Had to Be There: How the Toronto Godspell Ignited the Comedy Revolution, Spread Love & Overalls, and Created a Community That Changed the World (in a Canadian Kind of Way), by director Nick Davis, is about the 1972 Toronto production of Godspell that launched a generation of legendary comedic talent—including Martin Short, Eugene Levy, Paul Shaffer, and Gilda Radner. Forward, meanwhile, is an adventure doc by director Nic Collar that tells the story of Clay March, a skier and surfer with cerebral palsy, co-presented at the festival by the Whistler Adaptive Sports Program Society.
Closing the fest will be British period piece The Choral, directed by Nicholas Hytner (The Crucible, The Madness of King George) and starring Ralph Fiennes in a drama set amid World War I.
In all, the Whistler fest will feature approximately 71 percent Canadian films, with the Borsos Competition set to hand out the award for best Canadian feature.
WFF earlier announced media personality George Stroumboulopoulos as its 25th anniversary ambassador. Keep an eye on Stir as the fest rolls out more programming. 
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