Norman Wilner

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Norman Wilner is a Canadian film critic and festival programmer, best known as a longtime film critic for Toronto's alternative weekly newspaper Now . [1]

Previously a writer for a variety of publications including the Toronto Star and Canadian editions of the Metro chain of newspapers, he joined Now in 2008 as its senior film writer. [2] In a 2014 interview with Toronto Star writer Eric Veillette, he attributed his interest in film to the influence of his grandfather Percy, a longtime owner of Toronto's now-defunct Orpheum movie theatre. [2] After Now was acquired by Media Central Corporation in 2019, making it a sister publication to Vancouver's The Georgia Straight , his reviews also sometimes appeared in that publication.

Shortly after Media Central announced that it was filing for bankruptcy in April 2022, he left the publication to take a job as a programmer for the Toronto International Film Festival's digital initiatives. [3] Following the retirement of Steve Gravestock from the festival in late 2022, he became the festival's lead programmer for Canadian films beginning with the 2023 Toronto International Film Festival, [4] before departing the festival programming team in 2025. [5]

He has also served as secretary and vice-president of the Toronto Film Critics Association from 2008 to 2016, [6] and as host of Someone Else’s Movie, a podcast where he interviews a film industry figure about other filmmakers' work that they admire. [3]

His brother, Mike Wilner, is a sportswriter for the Toronto Star and a former play-by-play announcer for Toronto Blue Jays games.

References

  1. ↑ Andrew Cruickshank, "Canadian Journalists Are Second Tier—even at TIFF". Review of Journalism , September 25, 2018.
  2. 1 2 Eric Veillette, "A drink with ... NOW magazine's film critic Norm Wilner". Toronto Star , February 7, 2014.
  3. 1 2 "Revolving Door". Broadcast Dialogue, April 21, 2022.
  4. ↑ Victoria Ahearn, "TIFF reveals new programmers and other 2023 festival details". Playback , April 20, 2023.
  5. ↑ Nicholas Sokic, "Three programmers depart TIFF, team realigned". Playback , March 21, 2925.
  6. ↑ Peter Howell, "Hello, my name is Sally: Oscar winner talks about her long career and what's next for women in Hollywood and Washington". Toronto Star , April 22, 2016.


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