Blog - Movies

Hello dahlings. Time for my latest social butterfly diary entry.

Last Thursday (June 19), the non-profit Whistler Film Festival Society held their 2008 annual gala and auction La Dolce Vita. Talk about the good life. What a classy affair it was.

The soirée was held in the Sutton Place Hotel and was created to help raise funds for the WFFS’s professional development programs for filmmakers and youth.

Host Erin Cebula, entertainment reporter for ET Canada and HGTV’s Makeover Wish host, was decked out in a scarlet Christian Dior dress supplied by Leone that had many onlookers admiring. The woman sitting next to me whispered “I’ve never been so close to a real Christian Dior!” I can’t imagine what she would have said if she were actually wearing one.

A silent auction gave attendees the chance to bid on long table of items such as spa treatments (Belllissima Spa, Spa at Fitness World), accommodations (Four Seasons Whistler, Mission Hill Family Estate Package), dinners (Saltaire, Chophouse, Araxi, Blue Water Café, CinCin, West), and more. There was even a youth expedition to Antarctica with Students On Ice Expeditions worth $11,500. Wow. That's a lot of money, but who wouldn't pass up the chance to go march with the penguins?

A main highlight of the evening was a five-course dinner by Sutton Place executive chef Kim Thai.

I particularly enjoyed the artichoke, spinach, and cheese cannelloni. Wonderfully cooked. Just as delicious was the tender pistachio breast of chicken with Dauphinoise potato gratin. Sumptuous.

And for the final course: the mandarin orange Grand Marnier ice soufflé. Mmm. I’m always of the opinion that dessert should be light and mildly sweet. And this was exactly that. Plus I love chocolate with orange. A personal favourite.

I sat next to Peter Leitch of North Shore Studios. We chatted about the state of the industry, and he pointed out that though B.C. has faced many challenges this past year, he thought it must be even harder for Toronto since they face increased competition in more concentrated geographic proximity on the East Coast than we do here. Very good point. It’ll be interesting to see how things play out in the years to come, and what can be done to help keep film productions coming to Canada.

At the next table, I spotted local director Carl Bessai, who has been filming his latest project, Cole. The feature stars local actor Sonja Bennett, who was also at the gala. She had just returned to Vancouver from Lytton, where Cole was being shot, when I interviewed her for Young People Fucking.

After dessert was finished, a live auction started a fierce bidding war for four items. The first was a vacation package at Hotel des Artistes at Punta de Mita in Mexico worth $3,500. The second was a Rivers Inlet Sportsman Club fishing trip valued at $6,700. Third was a Bearfoot Bistro Wine Cellar Dinner for ten worth $2,500. And lastly, there was a $2,000 vacation package for the Okanagan Wine Festival.

Ah, it’s nice to have a glimpse of the good life every now and then.

But being the Cinderella boy that I am, it’s time for me to go back to my instant noodles. Ciao!