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.
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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.
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About the NFB
For more than 80 years, the National Film Board of Canada (NFB) has produced, distributed and preserved those stories, which now form a vast audiovisual collection—an important part of our cultural heritage that represents all Canadians.
To tell these stories, the NFB works with filmmakers of all ages and backgrounds, from across the country. It harnesses their creativity to produce relevant and groundbreaking content for curious, engaged and diverse audiences. The NFB also collaborates with industry experts to foster innovation in every aspect of storytelling, from formats to distribution models.
Every year, another 50 or so powerful new animated and documentary films are added to the NFB’s extensive collection of more than 14,000 titles, half of which are available to watch for free on nfb.ca.
Through its mandate, its stature and its productions, the NFB contributes to Canada’s cultural identity and is helping to build the Canada of tomorrow.