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A box of tapes uncovered. A lifelong Utopian obsession. Mira Burt-Wintonick’s award-winning EyeSteelFilm/NFB feature Wintopia opens March 26.

PRESS RELEASE
15/03/2021

March 15, 2021 – Montreal – National Film Board of Canada

The National Film Board of Canada (NFB) joins Quebecers in returning to cinemas with Montreal filmmaker Mira Burt-Wintonick’s award-winning feature Wintopia, a moving portrait of her late father, renowned documentarian Peter Wintonick, which opens March 26.

Wintopia will be presented in English with French subtitles beginning March 26 at the Cinéma du Musée and Cinémathèque québécoise in Montreal, followed two weeks later by its online national theatrical debut, starting April 9 at Online Cinema, presented by the Cinémas Beaubien, du Parc and du Musée.

This theatrical premiere caps a distinguished festival run for Wintopia, which captured the Colin Low Award for Canadian Documentary at the 2020 DOXA Documentary Film Festival in Vancouver. Beginning with the 2019 International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA), the film has also been featured in the official selection at such 2020 events as the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival and the Montreal International Documentary Festival (RIDM).

About the film

A box of tapes uncovered. A lifelong Utopian obsession. A daughter’s attempt to complete her father’s final film. Wintopia traces the enigmatic footsteps of Peter Wintonick through the lens of his daughter, Mira, as she tries to decipher the map he has left behind. Reverberating with emotion and whimsy, the film guides us on a journey through possible worlds in pursuit of reconciliation, both between artist and family and between dreams and reality. Even for audiences unfamiliar with Peter’s work, the film is a touching story of grief, love and hope.

“When my dad found out he was sick, the first thing he said was that he wanted to make one final film. A tribute to his life’s work. On and off for 15 years, he had travelled around the world by himself shooting a film about Utopia. The word itself is an alluring contradiction, meaning both perfect place and no place, and my dad became obsessed with untangling its impossibility, spending long stretches away from home. Lots of fathers leave their children with some dying wish, to scatter their ashes someplace significant perhaps. Mine left me with the task of completing his lifelong search for Utopia,” said Mira.

Produced by Bob Moore (EyeSteelFilm) and Annette Clarke (NFB), with Daniel Cross and Mila Aung-Thwin as executive producers for EyeSteelFilm.

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Related Products

Electronic Press Kit | Images, trailer, synopses: Wintopia

Associated Links

Cinéma du Musée
Cinémathèque québécoise
Online Cinema
EyeSteelFilm

French version here | Version française ici.

Media Relations

  • About EyeSteelFilm

    Daniel Cross spent six years making his first film, THE STREET (1997). The arduous production process alternated between filming on Montreal’s gritty streets with the local homeless population, and trying to ‘find’ precious 16mm film (i.e., he had to beg, borrow and steal). As a result, ‘EyeSteelFilm’ was chosen as a company name by founders Daniel and Mila Aung-Thwin, during the making of S.P.I.T. Squeegee Punks in Traffic in 1998. The production of that film involved sharing a camera with homeless Squeegee Punk/co-director Eric “Roach” Denis, setting the tone for the company’s interactive, inclusive direct filmmaking ethos. As EyeSteelFilm began expanding, Bob Moore joined as a partner with a deft focus on international co-producing. Today, EyeSteelFilm looks to work with engaged, like-minded filmmakers from around the world who seek to engage with reality using the language of documentary cinema.

     

  • About the NFB

    Founded in 1939, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) is a one-of-a-kind producer, co-producer and distributor of distinctive, engaging, relevant and innovative documentary and animated films. As a talent incubator, it is one of the world’s leading creative centres. The NFB has enabled Canadians to tell and hear each other’s stories for over eight decades, and its films are a reliable and accessible educational resource. The NFB is also recognized around the world for its expertise in preservation and conservation, and for its rich and vibrant collection of works, which form a pillar of Canada’s cultural heritage. To date, the NFB has produced more than 14,000 works, 6,500 of which can be streamed free of charge at nfb.ca. The NFB and its productions and co-productions have earned over 7,000 awards, including 11 Oscars and an Honorary Academy Award for overall excellence in cinema.