DESIBUZZCanada Founder and Editor R. Paul Dhillon, who is also a filmmaker with his second feature The Fusion Generation recently finishing post-production and scheduled to be released in 2018 in theatres worldwide, was also blown away by the film, saying it gave him the same feeling of emotional satisfaction as Breaking Away did when he watched that great film as a teenager.

By Don Fiorvento – DESIBUZZCanada Film Columnist-Writer

While she was honoured with the Artist Spotlight and a Luminary Award, it is Kyra Sedgwick’s undeniable talent as a director that really made her appearance at Whistler International Film Festival memorable on Friday.

Sedgwick’s directorial debut “Story Of A Girl” is a emotionally gripping drama that follows a family struggling to deal with the social media shaming of their teenage daughter who was 13 when a sex video she made with her boyfriend gets released to the world

The film opens three years later with a father still fighting repressed feelings about what happened and unable to express support  for his daughter due to his ongoing feelings of shame.

A kitchen scene is “the belly of the beast” according to Sedgwick. The teenage girl, her brother, mother and father gather for a heated discussion with the father lashing out and unable to tell his daughter he loves her.

Sedgwick’s husband Kevin Bacon plays a pizza restaurant owner who hires the teenage girl and during the question period an audience member said they thought it was Bacon’s best performance. Sedgwick smiled, blushed and said “Ya, I bring out the best in him.”

Made for Cable TV, the film looks like a Sundance hit that starts a bidding war for with the big film studios. And as Whistler Film Festival Q and A moderator rightfully declared, Story Of A Girl should be a theatrical release that could easily figure into the Awards season as it will now do in the Prime Time Emmys race.

DESIBUZZCanada Founder and Editor R. Paul Dhillon, who is also a filmmaker with his second feature The Fusion Generation recently finishing post-production and scheduled to be released in 2018 in theatres worldwide, was also blown away by the film, saying it gave him the same feeling of emotional satisfaction as Breaking Away did when he watched that great film as a teenager

Sedgwick had earlier noted that it was nice to screen “Story Of A Girl” at Whistler for its Canadian debut since the film was shot over three weeks in the Vancouver area.