Actualités

Variety and Whistler Film Festival have teamed for 10 Canadians to Watch, a new program unique to Wff that celebrates top Canadian talent in the film and entertainment industry.

The 10 Canadians to Watch honorees will be celebrated at the Whistler Film Festival on Dec. 3.

“The Whistler Film Festival has proven to be a wonderful destination for Variety, first with a focus on screenwriters and now with the 10 Canadians to Watch,” says Steven Gaydos, Variety executive VP of content. “It’s inspiring to be able to celebrate the diverse talent in this convivial atmosphere where international film professionals gather to experience the best in the screen industry.”

Meet the honorees:

Bilal Baig

Credit: Tyler J. Sloane

Bilal Baig

Playwright, Performer, Showrunner, Producer

In 2018, not long after the well-received premiere of their first full-length play, “Acha Bacha,” at a prestigious alternative theater, Baig was making ends meet by working as a nanny. That fall,...

By Jennie Punter

From icons and industry veterans to emerging directors and new faces, the stories and creative power of Indigenous women are featured at the 2022 Toronto festival.

Buffy Sainte-Marie alighted opening night Sept. 8 to launch Toronto’s streetfest, just an hour before the premiere of Madison Thomas’ “Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On,” The doc explores the artistry and activism of the Cree singer-songwriter — the only Indigenous person to win an Oscar (for song “Up Where We Belong” from “An Officer and a Gentleman” in 1983).

Buoyed by the ascendant advocacy and investment of Canada’s Indigenous Screen Office (Iso) and the longstanding grassroot networks across the arts, this year’s slate further broadens the festival’s evolving programming ethos with narrative films that reflect the histories, dreams, and day-to-day realities of Indigenous women filmmakers and their communities.

For the “Bones of Crows,” esteemed multihyphenate Marie Clements held close the stories...