When Canadian documentary titan Peter Wintonick died in 2013, he left behind over three decades’ worth of released work and 300 private video tapes. Shot over the last 15 years and labelled “Utopia,” these private tapes documented Peter’s quixotic and poetic quest to find a place on Earth where everyone is happy. When his daughter Mira Burt-Wintonick finds this treasure trove of diaristic travelogues, she uses his words and images as a way to connect to her enigmatic father. By alternating between his archives, recent interviews with his collaborators, her own observations and candid conversations with her mother Christine, Burt-Wintonick proves her father’s favourite saying: “Life is more complex than any camera can record.” Emotional and whimsical, Wintopia ultimately guides us on a daughter’s journey in pursuit of reconciliation, between father and family and between dreams and reality. Aisha Jamal
A live Q&A, hosted by the NFB, took place on June 4. You can watch it on Vimeo.
Artscapes program sponsored by
MEDIA COVERAGE