Christopher Nelius Finds Truth is Funnier than Fiction with WHISTLE

“We could have definitely thrown people under the bus, had all the worst bits, which would have been a pretty cool film, but the characters are so much more than that.”

Instead, director Christopher Nelius sought to have fun with the characters rather than making fun of them. A delicate balance when an eccentric bunch descend on Hollywood to compete in the Masters of Musical Whistling – the world’s greatest competition – if you’re a whistler.  

It’s an approach that was a hit with audiences at its Toronto International Film Festival Premiere, and is sure to be again as it premieres on opening night at DOC NYC this November. With the denizens of Letterboxd calling for ‘justice for Yuki,’ and suggesting Carol should have her own TV show, it’s clear that by finding humour in the truth, Nelius has hit a nerve. 

Egos clash, notes soar, and tears flow, but only one can be crowned the best whistler on earth. The hopefuls include Lauren, a New York theatre actress battling anxiety; Ayna, a fiercely ambitious Spanish competitor from a family of circus performers; Yuki, a musical prodigy from Japan determined to break his curse of always placing 2nd; and Molly, the pop star of whistling, who longs for more reverb. Not to mention the visionary behind the competition – a kind of PT Barnum character called Carole Anne Kaufman, a suburban hairdresser by day who navigates financial jeopardy, a group of quirky volunteers and backstage drama on a quest to elevate the art form of whistling…

With a background as a composer, Nelius had a shorthand with the contestants, many of whom had past lives as conventional musicians. “Contestants were competing for zero prize money – not one cent,” says Nelius. “Some people questioned if there would be enough stakes to hold an audience. But if there had been prize money, the film wouldn’t have been as good. You would’ve lost that beautiful, heartwarming – and at times slightly eccentric – feeling. Maybe it wouldn’t even have been funny.” 

With more dramatic fare under his belt, including Storm Surfers 3D, Girls Can’t Surf, and a branded TV series for Mercedes, Nelius took to the comedy doc subgenre like a whistler to Queen of the Night (one of the film’s central controversies, apart from the snack bar prices, is when multiple contestants whistle the same Mozart aria). 

In the absence of riches, the Whistlers are doing it for something purer. “They’re outsider artists, all of them. They’re looking for that little bit of attention, that sense of achievement, being able to say, ‘I won a world championship.’ Even if it’s only the 75 other competitors who care.”

Using techniques familiar from shows such as The Office, Modern Family and Parks and Rec, as well as the Christopher Guest canon, the project has left Nelius eager to do a mockumentary, in longform or in advertising, where he is repped by FINCH. “I know exactly how to do it – we talked a lot about the visual language of mockumentaries to the point where I was encouraging the camera people to use zooms almost like they’re imagining the comedy in their head, which worked a treat in the edit. Plus shots, framings, and lengths of shots that you wouldn’t normally do in a dry documentary, but we really wanted to push the visual humour and they just worked beautifully in the world of these people.”  

As one of the contestants puts it, “the world needs the whistlers right now”, and Nelius has delivered just that.

WHISTLE is a Songbird Studios Production and will be distributed theatrically by Madman Entertainment across Australia and New Zealand in 2026.