McSporties Local Film Makers’ Contest. Photo by Noah Lara
Headlined by Warren Miller’s 75, the far-flung footage at this year’s Sun Peaks Film Festival will transport attendees around Canada, the U.S., U.K., Bolivia, Guatemala, Peru, Argentina and Chile. Over the three-day festival from Jan. 16 to Jan. 18, mountain movie buffs will watch 14 films from the Vancouver International Film Festival World Tour (VIMFF) at the Sun Peaks Centre.
Back by popular demand, the McSporties Local’s Filmmakers Contest has been elevated to Saturday night spotlight, followed by the Warren Miller tribute and capped off with an after party for the audience, organizers, sponsors, filmmakers and actors to mix and mingle.
“It’s hard to believe it’s been five years of film festivals,” said ArtZone president, Marj Knive. “When we brought the Vancouver International Film Festival World Tour to Sun Peaks, it seemed we had the perfect place and audience to host the world’s best mountain films, and provide an arts and culture event that had not been tried here before.”
Since the first festival in 2019, the venue has been changed three times to accommodate growing numbers.
“In 2024, we expanded into the Sun Peaks Centre Conference Room and sold out 150 seats on each of the three nights,” Knive said. “Our local’s film contest expanded by 500 per cent with five entries! The community turned out with huge support for their friends and the local’s evening was bigger and better than ever.”
Last year’s first prize winner was Noah Lara with his film Rush, starring Brock Hawes.
A new aspect in 2024 was the Fan’s Favourite Prize. This is awarded to the film that gets the most electronic votes from the audience. Fan’s Favourite 2024 was Project 10×10 by Dawn and Dan Matte. The duo are back this year with another Sun Peaks spectacular shot last season, featuring a star-studded cast of local ladies against the backdrop of Sun Peaks slopes. It was actually in the interval at last year’s festival, when fans were busy entering their electronic votes, that Dawn Matte mooted the idea for this film.
From there, the process went from planning, to script writing, casting/conscripting and location scouting. After filming in February and March, many hours were spent editing and arranging music.
“It was a true labour of love,” Matte said. “I’ve toyed with video editing ever since you had to install a card into your PC in order to capture video from a video camera and then spit it out to a VHS tape. These days, the process is so much easier!”
Most of the movie-making process was pure fun and Matte said capturing the stunning landscape of Sun Peaks resort was straightforward.
“It’s hard to go wrong filming in such an awe-inspiring location.”
This year, Knive has been making it clearer to contestants that the criteria includes any films of any subject or location made by locals from Sun Peaks or Kamloops.
“It doesn’t have to be about skiing or Sun Peaks to be eligible,” she said.
Two of the 2024 judges are returning this year, with a third joining for the first time.
“McSporties is on deck with their full sponsorship and support, so who knows what might come out of Matthias’ back room,” Knive said. Another new sponsor is the Thompson-Nicola Film Commission. “We hope to build on this affiliation to attract more filmmakers and grow the capacity for filmmaking in Sun Peaks.”
On Friday, Jan. 17, Rob O’Toole from Vertical Café, is sponsoring an Indigenous film called Slides on the Mountain, about two young brothers from the Lill’wat Nation.
“Rob has done some research about the film and is really stoked to present it,” Knive said. The goal of the film festival is to bring the community together to promote positive values and active lifestyles.
“It gives our community the chance to enjoy some of the world’s best mountain films, support ArtZone and support talented filmmakers. It also gives our rural community a chance to see unique outdoor films and content that illustrate experiences and cultures from all corners of the globe.
What did you think of this story?
Sun Peaks Independent News is your essential source for community news in Sun Peaks. Your feedback after we publish a story helps ensure we're always improving our reporting to better serve you.
