Whistle

You can whistle while you work, whistle like a lark, or whistle in the face of danger. There’s a reason so many expressions use the word to evoke joy conquering gloom. Surely, we can use more of that. In this delightful film, we meet some of the world’s virtuosos as they gather to compete in the Masters of Musical Whistling competition.

At the helm is competition founder Carole Anne Kaufman, who operates the Hollywood event as a labour of love. She alternates between charm and grit to manage fraught finances, technical mishaps, and tender personalities. Filmmaker Christopher Nelius is attuned to the comic aspects of putting on a show with hints of Waiting for Guffman. Indeed, the whistling contestants are a bit quirky, but they’re also talented and charming.

Among the international participants are Japan’s Yuki Takeda, a regular contender who has repeatedly come in second; Spain’s Ayna Ziordia Botella, the daughter of a circus performer, who has nurtured hopes of winning since childhood; Molly Lewis, a Los Angeles–based performer who whistled in the movie Barbie and recorded the album On the Lips; and Jay Winston, who gave up on Broadway dreams to teach at a New Jersey high school.

Whistle joins the beloved subgenre of competition documentaries exemplified by titles such as Spellbound, Air Guitar Nation, and The Speed Cubers. The allure of these films is that we enter a world where people master a skill more for love than money. These whistlers may never achieve fame and fortune, but they will win a place in your heart.

THOM POWERS