Norman Wilner is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, best known as a longtime film critic for

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

's alternative weekly newspaper ''

Now Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Na ...

''. Previously a writer for a variety of publications including the ''

Toronto Star The ''Toronto Star'' is a Canadian English-language broadsheet daily newspaper. It is owned by Toronto Star Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary of Torstar Corporation and part of Torstar's Daily News Brands (Torstar), Daily News Brands division. ...

'' and Canadian editions of the ''

Metro Metro may refer to: Geography * Metro City (Indonesia), a city in Indonesia * A metropolitan area, the populated region including and surrounding an urban center Public transport * Rapid transit, a passenger railway in an urban area with high ...

'' chain of newspapers, he joined ''Now'' in 2008 as its senior film writer.Eric Veillette, "A drink with ... NOW magazine's film critic Norm Wilner". ''

'', February 7, 2014. In a 2014 interview with ''Toronto Star'' writer Eric Veillette, he attributed his interest in film to the influence of his grandfather Percy, a longtime owner of Toronto's now-defunct Orpheum movie theatre. After ''Now'' was acquired by Media Central Corporation in 2019, making it a sister publication to

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

's ''

The Georgia Straight ''The Georgia Straight'' is a free Canadian weekly news and entertainment newspaper published in Vancouver, British Columbia, by Overstory Media Group. Often known simply as ''The Straight'', it is delivered to newsboxes, post-secondary schools ...

'', his reviews also sometimes appeared in that publication. Shortly after Media Central announced that it was filing for bankruptcy in April 2022, he left the publication to take a job as a programmer for the

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the most prestigious and largest publicly attended film festivals in the world. Founded in 1976, the festival takes place every year in early September. The organi ...

's digital initiatives."Revolving Door"
''Broadcast Dialogue'', April 21, 2022. Following the retirement of

Steve Gravestock Steve Gravestock is a Canadian film festival programmer, best known as a longtime programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival. Formerly a freelance film critic for various Toronto magazines and newspapers, he first joined TIFF's programm ...

from the festival in late 2022, he became the festival's lead programmer for Canadian films beginning with the

2023 Toronto International Film Festival The 48th annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 7 to 17, 2023.Victoria Ahearn"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details" '' Playback'', April 20, 2023. The most noted change from past years was tha ...

,Victoria Ahearn
"TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details"
'' Playback'', April 20, 2023. before departing the festival programming team in 2025. He has also served as secretary and vice-president of the

Toronto Film Critics Association The Toronto Film Critics Association (TFCA) is an organization of film critics from Toronto-based publications. As of 1999, the TFCA is a member of the FIPRESCI. History The Toronto Film Critics Association is the official organization of Toro ...

from 2008 to 2016,Peter Howell, "Hello, my name is Sally: Oscar winner talks about her long career and what's next for women in Hollywood and Washington". ''

'', April 22, 2016. and as host of ''Someone Else’s Movie'', a podcast where he interviews a film industry figure about other filmmakers' work that they admire. His brother,

Mike Wilner Michael Samuel Wilner (born March 14, 1970) is a Canadian former baseball broadcaster for the Toronto Blue Jays. From 2014 through 2020, he called play-by-play for the Blue Jays' radio broadcasts, and authored a blog on Sportsnet.ca/590. He former ...

, is a sportswriter for the ''Toronto Star'' and a former play-by-play announcer for

Toronto Blue Jays The Toronto Blue Jays are a Canadian professional baseball team based in Toronto. The Blue Jays compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) American League East, East Division. Since 1989, the team has p ...

games.

References

Canadian film critics Jewish Canadian journalists Toronto International Film Festival people Living people Canadian podcasters Year of birth missing (living people) {{Canada-journalist-stub