William Weintraub
Photo: 1997, Alex Cherney
William Weintraub was raised in Montreal and educated at McGill before becoming a journalist and later a filmmaker for the NFB. In a film career spanning decades, Weintraub was involved with more than 150 National Film Board (NFB) productions, serving variously as writer, producer and director. Productions ranged from Canada: Beef Cattle to historical documentaries to a portrait of Canadian writer Margaret Laurence. His 1993 documentary The Rise and Fall of English Montreal, according to a 2006 article in The Globe and Mail “offended political sensitiviies everywhere, including the NFB.” He is the author of three novels, Crazy About Lili, Why Rock the Boat? and The Underdogs, and two non-fiction books, City Unique and Getting Started. In 2003, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada. The citation reads (in part): “As a journalist, author, filmmaker and lecturer, William Weintraub has played a major role in our country’s artistic and intellectual life.”
