Peter Kenneth Wintonick (June 10, 1953 – November 18, 2013) was a Canadian independent
documentary filmmaker based in
Montreal
Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...
. A winner of the 2006
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, former
Thinker in Residence for the Premier of
South Australia
South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a States and territories of Australia, state in the southern central part of Australia. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories by area, which in ...
, prolific award-winning filmmaker, he was one of Canada's best known international documentarians.
Biography
Born in
Trenton, Ontario in 1953, Wintonick was the son of John Wintonick and Norma Latham. He was of Ukrainian descent.
He founded Necessary Illusions Productions with Mark Achbar, and subsequently ran it with Francis Miquet. Wintonick was a co-founder of
DocAgora, an event inserted into various film festivals showcasing cutting-edge digital strategies. He co-directed, with his daughter,
Mira Burt-Wintonick, the 2009 documentary ''PilgrIMAGE'', a film about documentary filmmaking.
Wintonick died of
cholangiocarcinoma on November 18, 2013, aged 60.
Select filmography
*''
Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media'' (1992) with
Mark Achbar
Mark Achbar (born 1955) is a Canadian filmmaker, best known for '' The Corporation'' (2003), '' Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media'' (1994), and as an Executive Producer on over a dozen feature documentaries.
Biography
Achbar ...
and Francis Miquet
*''
Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment'' (1999) with the
National Film Board of Canada
The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...
*''
Seeing is Believing: Handicams, Human Rights and the News'' (2002) winner of the Dan & Ewa Abraham and Tammy Abraham Award for Films of Conflict & Resolution at the 2002
Hamptons International Film Festival and
Gemini Award nominee, co-directed with
Katerina Cizek
Other work
In early 2005, at the invitation of the premier of South Australia, he filled the post of
Thinker in Residence, examining the future of documentaries and the
digital revolution with a focus on educational and cultural legislation.
Governor General's Award
Wintonick was the winner of a 2006
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. His body of work includes dramatic features, theatrical documentaries, educational and socio-political works.
Legacy
In 2014, a new award called the Peter Wintonick Award was given at
Sheffield Doc/Fest to ''
Vessel''. The award was presented by Martin Rosenbaum, who read a message from Wintonick's daughter Mira, which said that she was very happy to see the award go to "a filmmaker who embodies his activist spirit." Wintonick's film ''Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media'' was also screened at the festival.
He is the subject of his daughter Mira's 2019 film ''
Wintopia''.
[Alex Rose]
"Montreal filmmaker Peter Wintonick is the subject of a very personal new film"
'' Cult MTL'', March 26, 2021.
References
External links
Necessary IllusionsDocAgoraSeeing is BelievingFilms we Like
*
Obituary at ReelScreen
{{DEFAULTSORT:Wintonick, Peter
1953 births
2013 deaths
Film directors from Ontario
Canadian documentary film directors
People from Quinte West
Anglophone Quebec people
Deaths from cholangiocarcinoma in Canada
Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts winners
Canadian people of Ukrainian descent
Deaths from cancer in Quebec