Noted Canadian filmmaker Peter Wintonick dies in Montreal of rare liver cancer

MONTREAL – Peter Wintonick, a renowned Canadian documentary filmmaker with a career that spanned more than 35 years, was remembered Monday as a generous mentor who always found new ways to make socially engaging flims.

Wintonick, 60, was born in Trenton, Ont., but based in Montreal. He died of a rare form of liver cancer.

“Peter was a mentor to me, was a mentor to a lot of people,” said Bob Moore, himself an award-winning producer at EyeSteelFilm where Wintonick was an executive producer.

“He was sort of one of the icons of cinema. He was also one of the most generous people. He brought everyone together but was also one of the most intelligent, astute minds in cinema and around the world.”

Wintonick was involved in more than 100 films and transmedia projects, one of the most notable being 1992’s “Manufacturing Consent: Noam Chomsky and the Media,” which looked at the life and ideas of the political activist and intellectual.

He co-directed the National Film Board of Canada-Necessary Illusions production with Mark Achbar.

The NFB describes that film as one of the most commercially successful documentaries in Canadian history.

Another of his films, “Cinema Verite: Defining the Moment,” which was released in 1999, took home seven awards including a Special Jury Award at the Banff World Media Festival.

He won the Governor General’s Award in Visual and Media Arts in 2006, a year after he was named Thinker in Residence by the premier of South Australia.

Wintonick also co-founded DocAgora, an event that explores new platforms and ways of funding socially engaging documentaries.

His latest film, “Be Here Now,” will be completed by EyeSteelFilm, Moore said in an interview.

A fundraising effort is underway to help finance the film and pay Wintonick’s medical bills.

Moore said Wintonick was only diagnosed with cancer about a month ago and his health went into a rapid decline last Thursday.

“It’s been pretty intense as word got around,” Moore said. “It has been an absolute explosion of love and warmth.

“Being so generous and considerate, he (Wintonick) didn’t really want to trouble people with the news at first.”

The Montreal International Documentary Festival, which is currently underway, had a tribute screening Sunday night for Wintonick, showing his film ”PilgrIMAGE” before a large crowd.

NFB chairman Tom Perlmutter called Wintonick “one of the greats of the documentary world” who was known to everyone for his passion, commitment and 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.”

Perlmutter said that came through in Wintonick’s writing, his conversation and his globe-trotting mentoring.

“He could unleash his anger too — it may have been rare but, befitting Peter, it had the denunciatory force of an Old Testament prophet,” Perlmutter said.

“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.”

Perlmutter said Wintonick influenced his perception of the documentary.

“I, alongside everyone he has touched, will miss this man.”

Chris McDonald, president of the Hot Docs international documentary festival held annually in Toronto, said Wintonick’s “kind heart and enormous talent were the stuff of legend.”

The event’s executive director, Brett Hendrie, described Wintonick as “the best friend a documentary film festival could have.”

“He poured his heart into supporting filmmakers and building camaraderie through the international doc community” Hendrie said.

”The entire Hot Docs family is deeply and personally saddened by this major loss, yet we know his great work and the many friendships and partnerships he helped to foster will endure.”

He was also hailed in an outpouring of praise on social media.

“Gutted to hear about the loss of Peter Wintonick,” tweeted filmmaker Morgan Spurlock, adding the documentary world had lost “an amazing friend and champion.”

Wintonick was often asked to serve on film festival juries and was known internationally.

“He was known by everyone in the industry as Canada’s doc ambassador,” said Moore. “If you went anywhere in the world, any festival, event, whatever, everyone would say, ‘Do you know Peter?'”

Moore said Wintonick was always striving to enable filmmaking. Only a month ago he was working with Nobel Peace Prize laureate Aung San Suu Kyi to set up a human rights film festival in Burma.

“We’re talking about a legacy of real social change through filmmaking,” said Moore, who pointed out that one of Wintonick’s films had been instrumental in the creation of East Timor.

“It would creep up on you because he was a very unassuming, funny, self-deprecating guy.”