Jennifer Peedom’s River topped the documentary winners at this year’s Whistler Film Festival. The film won the World Documentary Award at the festival’s awards ceremony this morning. Narrated by Willem Dafoe, River is a cinematic essay about the role of water in the global ecosystem. With her signature visuals and an approach that invites comparison to Jennifer Baichwal and Nick de Pencier’s Watermark, the film considers the impact of human activity on bodies of water worldwide.
“The film is a meditative, yet urgent odyssey,” remarked the jury in a statement. “River is cinematographically beautiful and the camerawork felt as if it was caressing the globe. It makes you fall in love with nature and explicates the fragile relationships that humans have with rivers.”
An honourable mention in Whistler’s World Documentary Award category went to Out in the Ring, directed by Ry Levey. The film explores the stories of LGBTQ athletes in pro wrestling and the homophobia and transphobia they encounter.
Award winners on the mountain movie front were Know Before You Go: To the Hills and Back and The Trapline. The films won Best Mountain Culture Feature Film and Short Film, respectively.
The big winner of the Borsos Competition for Best Canadian Feature Film, meanwhile, was Coyote, directed by Katherine Jerkovic. Coyote won Best Film and Best Performance for Jorge Martinez Colorado.
Additional winners from the Whistler Film Festival will be announced on December 13 and 28.
The full list of winners from the 2022 Whistler Film Festival is as follows:
World Documentary Award: River, directed by Jennifer Peedom
-Honourable mention: Out in the Ring, directed by Ry Levey
Best Mountain Culture Short Film: The Trapline by Andrea Wing
–Honourable mention: Snowblind, directed by Anthony Bonello and Mike Douglas
Best Mountain Culture Feature Film: Know Before You Go: To the Hills and Back, directed by Mike Quigley
Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature Film: Coyote – directed by Katherine Jerkovic and produced by Nicolas Comeau
Best Director of a Borsos Competition Film, sponsored by Directors Guild of Canada, BC: Joëlle Desjardins Paquette for Rodeo
Best Screenplay of a Borsos Competition Film: Guillaume Lambert for Niagara
Best Performance in a Borsos Competition Film: Jorge Martinez Colorado in Coyote
-Honourable mentions: Viva Lee in Polaris and Lilou Roy-Lanouette in Rodeo
Best Cinematography in a Borsos Competition Film, presented by ICG 669: David Schuurman for Polaris
–Honourable mention: Stirling Bancroft for Exile
Best Editing in a Borsos Competition Film, presented by IATSE 891: Arthur Tarnowski for The 12 Tasks of Imelda
Best BC Director Award: Carl Bessai for Félie@6.15
-Honourable mention: Jules Koostachin for Broken Angel
Canadian ShortWork Award: Togue, directed by Kaho Yoshida
International ShortWork Award: Warsha, directed by Dania Bdeir
-Honourable mention: Ice Merchants, directed by João Gonzalez
BC Student ShortWork Award: Omukama, directed by Zane Klassen
Power Pitch Competition: Jonathan Chuby – Duck Race
MPPIA Short Film Pitch: – Nessa Aref – My Roommate Ahrima
-Honourable mention: Rosie Choo Pidcock – Sorry for Your Cost
