Six NFB Films Featured at the 2008 Whistler Film Festival (WFF)

The Whistler Film Festival (WFF) kicks off this week and the NFB is proud to have six titles featured this year.

Winner of the 2008 Dioraphte Audience Award at IDFA, RiP: A remix manifesto continues its festival run at WFF. Exploring copyright and content creation in the digital age, Brett Gaylor’s documentary continues to push the debate and entertain crowds at the same time.

Najeeb Mirza’s documentary The Sweetest Embrace tells the story of Soorgul and Amir, two of many Afghan children sent to Tajikistan during the Soviet occupation of their country. Eventually they were accepted into Canada as refugees, and the film follows them as they return to their country many years later in search of their families.

Carts of Darkness, Murray Siple’s documentary about the extreme sport of shopping-cart racing, offers a unique perspective on the homeless population in the affluent neighbourhood of North Vancouver. The film marks Siple’s return to filmmaking after a ten-year absence following a serious car accident.

In Tiger Spirit, Min Sook Lee sets out on a revelatory, emotionally charged journey into Korea’s Demilitarized Zone, which divides the North from South. Exploring the rhetoric and reality of Korean reunification, the film tells the extraordinary stories of ordinary people living along this famous border.

Also fresh from IDFA, Fierce Light takes viewers on a global journey tracing spiritual activism’s historical roots and captures the powerful personalities that are igniting a new wave of spiritual action around the globe.

Hungu, an animated short from Nicolas Brault, celebrates the power of music. Screening as part of the Shortfest One – Between the Poles program, the film portrays the story of how a mother’s soul, resurrected by music, will return strength and life to her child.

The Festival runs from December 4 – 7 and is committed to celebrating, promoting and developing a strong film industry in Western Canada.

Watch the trailers for RiP: A remix manifesto and Carts of Darkness.

Watch a clips for The Sweetest Embrace and meet Nicolas Brault, the director of Hungu.