Canada Film Board Remembers Peter Wintonick

The National Film Board of Canada has paid tribute to Peter Wintonick, a renowned Canadian filmmaker who recently passed away.
"A passionate filmmaker and mentor, blessed with an irrepressible wit and spirit, Peter made enormous contributions to Canadian cinema in just about every aspect of movie-making," a statement from the Board said.
"Peter is one of the greats of the documentary world," said Tom Perlmutter, Government Film Commissioner and NFB Chairperson.
"He knew everyone, and everyone knew him for his passion, his commitment, his generosity. He created a significant body of work; but his contribution was far greater than the sum of his films. It encompassed a larger view of the documentary as quintessential to the moral well-being of the universe.
"He expressed this in conversation, in his writings, in his globe-trotting mentoring and programming activities, and always with a sharp wit that could take your breath away with the subtlety of the thought and the sheerr joy in his manner of expression.
"He could unleash his anger too; it may have been rare, but befitting Peter, it had the denunciatory force of an Old Testament prophet. I know because I saw him unleash it on the NFB for committing to a project he thought we should never have done—not because of point of view or ideology, but because he felt lives were potentially at risk. We were chastised and the better for it.
"Personally, when I started working in documentaries and met Peter, we had a conversation that has always stayed with me and profoundly influenced my perception and understanding of the work of the documentary. It had to do with the necessity of iconoclasm, of questioning and challenging the orders that be. He was right. I, alongside everyone he has touched, will miss this man."
Peter and the NFB worked together on the acclaimed NFB/Necessary Illusions 1992 feature documentary Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media, which Peter co-directed with Mark Achbar.
Peter's partner, Christine Burt, worked as part of the NFB's marketing team to promote and book the film in cities and towns across Canada.
Peter worked with the NFB again on the 1999 feature documentary Cinéma Vérité: Defining the Moment, which received seven awards, including a Special Jury Award at the Banff World Media Festival and the Telefilm Canada Award for best Canadian feature-length work at the Festival du nouveau cinéma.
Honoured with a 2006 Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts, Peter was asked to serve on film juries around the world.
He was one of the founders of DocAgora, an international think tank and open webplex about digital documentary media, and was invited by the premier of South Australia to be a Thinker in Residence, examining the future of documentaries and the digital revolution.
onf-nfb.gc.ca
(IT/JP)