'Blue Rodeo: Lost Together' takes home 2024 Audience Award at Whistler Film Festival
WHISTLER FILM FESTIVAL
Corey Russell, Jim Cuddy, Dale Heslip, Greg Keelor
The music documentary Blue Rodeo: Lost Together by director Dale Heslip was named winner of the 2024 Audience Award for a feature-length film, while The Beginning by director Cristóbal Ruiz won the Audience Award in the shorts category at the Whistler Film Festival this week.
WFF audience members were asked to vote for their favourite feature and short film of the festival, viewed in theatres in Whistler from December 4 to 8. All narrative and documentary feature-length were eligible for the feature-length Audience Award, and all short films across Shortworks, Mountain Culture, and BC Student Short Films program strands were eligible for the Audience Award for short film.
“The Audience Awards are a fun, yet important, way for our guests to have their say in the programming we put together at the Whistler Film Festival,” said Director of Film Programming Robin Smith. “We have just as good a time selecting cinematic experiences for patrons as they do attending all these films. It’s only fair that they can participate in some way.”
The world premiere of Blue Rodeo: Lost Together was attended by band founders Greg Keelor and Jim Cuddy, along with Heslip and producer Corey Russell. Francine Dibacco is also billed as a producer on the project. Fittingly, a Q&A with Keelor, Cuddy, and Heslip was moderated by media personality and MuchMusic veteran George Stroumboulopoulos, also featured in the film.
“We were completely thrilled with having our world premiere at the Whistler Film Festival and the magical night we shared with the audience,” said Russell. “This award means so much and we want to thank the fans who took the time to see our film.”