2022 Film Festival Overview
November 30 – December 4, 2022: In Person in Whistler
Enjoy 41 feature films and 45 shorts from 19 different countries, including award-season contenders, new breakthrough Canadian features, heart-stopping extreme adventure films, and previously unseen projects from around the globe. Select films will premiere exclusively in-theatre. The in-person festival also features filmmaker après events, conversations with top talent at WFF’s Signature Series, networking opportunities and time to explore.
December 5, 2022 – January 2, 2023: Online Across Canada
Audiences across Canada can enjoy 29 features and 43 shorts online, access filmmaker Q&As, and attend a virtual Awards Celebration in true Whistler style. Access is via WFF’s online screening platforms.
Here's a look at what happened for 2022. Please check back again for more information on the 2023 event.
Film Highlights
Whistler Film Festival’s full film lineup is now live, featuring some big movies with bigger stars; Adam Driver, Daniel Craig, Greta Gerwig, Don Cheadle, Anna Kendrick and Jon Hamm to name just a few.
WFF’s opening night sets the tone with the Western Canadian Premiere of WHITE NOISE, Noah Baumbach’s sly parody of an ideal American nuclear family under threat, featuring Adam Driver and Greta Gerwig.
Other significant award-contenders having their first Canadian festival showings in Whistler include Guillermo Del Toro’s PINOCCHIO, a stop-motion reinvention of the classic Collodi tale set in fascist Italy, and Alejandro Inarritu’s epic BARDO: FALSE CHRONICLE OF A HANDFUL OF TRUTHS, about a journalist returning to his country in the final lap of his career.
Rian Johnson’s crowd-pleasing GLASS ONION was People’s Choice runner-up at Toronto International Film Festival and Laura Poitras’ ALL THE BEAUTY AND THE BLOODSHED was surprise Golden Lion winner at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
World Premieres
In addition, five World Premiere titles will be presented for the first time ever at the Whistler Film Festival this year:
- Vancouver-born actor and director Jason Priestley returns to his home province with the World Premiere of his hockey exposé, the documentary OFFSIDE: THE HAROLD BALLARD STORY, which explores the controversial legacy of the former majority owner of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- Relationship dynamics are examined in Vanessa Matsui’s first feature, MIDNIGHT AT THE PARADISE, which deals with three couples at different stages in their relationships and includes extraordinary performances by Liane Balaban, Allan Hawco and the late Kenneth Welsh in his final screen role.
- EXILE, directed by Jason James, stars actor Adam Beach in his most haunting and mature performance yet as a father trying to deal with guilt when protecting his family following a DUI incident.
- French director Thierry Donard taps into the mind of extreme sports athletes in the World Premiere of his film HUMAN EXTREME in WFF’s closing night selection.
- Music fans will love BOY CITY, a funny throwback to the era of boy bands and those who loved them, directed by Sean Cisterna and featuring Jonas Chernick.
Film and Event Tickets
The box office is now closed.
Industry Access
Content Summit
In Whistler, November 30 – December 3 and Online (Worldwide), December 6 – 8, 2022
The Content Summit serves up a unique hybrid event, starting with a robust four-day calendar of in-person programming, keynotes, panel discussions, workshops, 1+1 meetings and networking events in Whistler, BC from November 30 to December 3.
From December 6 - 8, the Summit moves online with three more days dedicated to networking and gathering virtually for 1+1 Virtual Market Meetings and Round Table discussions.
Featuring more than 25 sessions including keynotes, masterclasses, fireside chats, roundtables, and 1+1 meetings with forward thinkers, innovators, and decision-makers, there’s something for everyone online and in-person. Topics include global financing, cinematography, music on film, international formats, audience building, Web3, sustainability, and creative collaboration. WFF is known for bringing people together, and their priority is to create opportunities for filmmakers, creators, and executives to connect, discover, and create.
Discover more Summit highlights and how to participate. Summit Overview
About the Whistler Film Festival Society
The Whistler Film Festival Society (WFFS) is a charitable cultural organization dedicated to furthering the art and business of film by providing programs that focus on the discovery, development and promotion of new talent culminating with a must-attend festival for artists, industry and audiences. WFFS fulfills its mission by producing a highly respected and recognized international film festival (WFF) and industry summit that draw industry, audiences and global exposure for Canadian talent; delivering a robust slate of talent programs for Canadian artists including screenwriters, producers, directors, actors and musicians; and through year-round film and event programming that enriches community life beyond the festival. In all its programs, WFF strives for gender parity, inclusivity and diversity.
The Whistler Film Festival Society acknowledges that the land on which their office and venues are located are within the unceded territories of the Sk̲wx̲wú7mesh (Squamish) and Lil̓wat7úl (Lil'wat Nations).