Whistler Film Festival Announces Participants for MPPIA Short Film Awards and Power Pitch 2023

Whistler Film Festival (WFF) has announced the participants selected for three of its signature talent programs: the MPPIA Short Film Awards, Doc Lab and Power Pitch. These are part of 13 talent programs WFF is offering this year to provide creative and business immersion experiences for over 74 Canadian artists including directors, producers, screenwriters, and actors to advance their craft.

“The future of Canadian talent is promising, and we are seeing record numbers of applicants to our programs— which means more Canadian projects are being made,” says Shelly Quade, WFF’s Talent Labs Manager. “We are ecstatic with the growth of representation we have seen this year that has included artists from  Saskatchewan, Newfoundland and Prince Edward Island.. ”

The Content Summit will host WFF’s Power Pitch Competition live in Whistler on Thursday, November 30, with participants competing for a $36,000 prize package that includes a $25K post-production credit from Company 3 Method Ltd., plus a $10,000 lighting and grip production credit and $1K cash prize from William F. White.

The 2023 Power Pitch participants and their projects are:

• Hrachya Tokmajyan (AB) – THE CHILDREN OF AR
  A talented young writer leaves his conservatory to return to his hometown after seeing visions of pestilence and fire infecting his mother and his people. Caught between the power struggles of his people’s divines and his own ambitions, he discovers the true potential of his own gifts.

• Jeremy Lutter (BC) – GILTRUDE’S DWELLING
  In this feature film set in a magic traveling house, Giltrude must find a murderer to bring safety back to her home while also trying to reconcile a long-standing grudge against her father. This is a story about what home and family means in a fantastic and ever-changing world.

• Mariya Miloshevych (BC) – GUARDIAN
  In the near future, a grieving family reckons with the return of their comatose mother after downloading her consciousness into a teenage android.

• Oscar Wolfgang (BC) – GINGER
  In 1910, an immigrant fought for the freedom of abused workers, only to be hunted by his own government, causing the first ever workers strike in Canada.

• Sunny Mohajer (BC) – BECOMING ODELLA
  Faced with the news of her grandmother’s passing, Odella, a Moroccan-Canadian teenager, has to face the choice between looking back or moving forward. Thanks to a magical portal that allows her to visit her grandmother in the past, she can postpone facing her grief.

The Power Pitch jury includes Kristen Figeroid, President of International Sales and Distribution at NEON and Sharon Stevens, Vice President of Programming at Hollywood Suite. Power Pitch is supported by Creative BC, Company 3 Method Ltd., and William F. White International Inc.

The MPPIA Short Film Award pitch competition returns on Saturday, December 2. An industry-building initiative of the Motion Picture Production Industry Association of British Columbia (MPPIA), Creative BC and the Whistler Film Festival, it provides one British Columbia filmmaker with the opportunity to further develop their directing career by realizing a unique creative vision in a short film project with a prize of $15k cash and in-kind support valued up to $100,000.

• Sasha Duncan – easybake

• Gloria Mercer – OUT ON THE WATER

• Kay Metchie – SPLIT ENDS

• Tony Mirza – THE SOUND OF SILENCE

• David Vassiliev – WORKS GREAT ON GIRLS

Doc Lab, which is supported by Creative BC and Knowledge Network, is an intensive multi-day online and in-person immersion, followed by a three-month mentorship program for Canadian documentary filmmakers with projects in development. 10 Canadian documentary filmmakers have been chosen to participate:

• Andrew Pyne (NF) – RINKS FOR RAILS: A NEWFOUNDLAND HOCKEY STORY

• Anna Cooley (AB) – 300 MILLION BC

• Cassie De Colling (BC) – LISTEN

• Duc Anh Quan Luong (MB) – TAILOR MADE

• Giovanna Morales Vargas (BC) – WOMEN OF REGGAETON

• Issa Shah (ON) – THE NINTH MONTH

• Katy Tooth (BC) – NAILIN’ THE COFFIN

• Marlene Castanos Ortega (BC) – GOOD TO GO

• Sally Bishop (AB) – COWGIRL CONFIDENTIAL

• Suzanne Jolly (BC) – A WILDER WAY

Doc Lab is facilitated and mentored by Lynn Booth, executive producer of Make Believe Media, with consultation and mentorship from award-winning Canadian documentary filmmakers Selwyn Jacobs and  Julia Ivanova as well as drawing on the advice and expertise of writers, directors, and producers attending the Festival.

These announcements join the Screenwriters Lab, Producers Lab, and Indigenous Filmmakers Fellowship which were all announced earlier this year.

Nurturing and championing Canadian talent has always been at the heart of WFF. The festival’s talent development programs have become a cornerstone for independent Canadian storytellers seeking to expand their knowledge and make the essential connections required to advance their projects and careers. Program participants receive year-round support, as well as access to WFF in the year of their program and its alumni community, which is almost 3,000+ members strong.

Discover more at whistlerfilmfestival.com
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