Overview
A filmmaker grapples with his past in a city that feels like a dream.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Strong
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- None
- surreal
- witty
- melancholic
- curious cinephile viewing
- canadian cinema showcase
What critics said
Critics widely praised the film as an extraordinary, heartfelt, hilarious, and formally inventive fusion of documentary, autobiography, civic history, and surreal fantasy.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
Maddin combines civic history and autobiographical narration with actors reenacting his family life and deliberately unstable recollections of Winnipeg.
Winnipeg's strikes, landmarks, hockey culture, family history, and supposed sleepwalking identity are filtered through Maddin's affectionate and mocking imagination.
The film uses stylized reconstruction and deliberately old-fashioned cinematic textures to evoke childhood, civic legend, and private recollection.
Maddin narrates his effort to depart Winnipeg while investigating the family and civic forces that keep drawing him back.
Films like My Winnipeg, and why
The Gleaners and I
experimental autobiographical documentary blending factual history with theatrical reconstruction and surreal personal mythology
Sans Soleil
formally inventive essay film using subjective memory, archival textures, and poetic urban portraiture
F for Fake
surreal, darkly comic autobiographical filmmaking centered on family memory and theatrical artifice
Sherman's March
idiosyncratic city portrait combining documentary observation, historical anecdotes, and eccentric humor
Movie Details
- Director
- Guy Maddin
- Release Date
- 2008-06-13
- Runtime
- 80 min
- Rating
- 6.9 / 10 (117)
Cast
- Ann Savage
- Louis Negin
- Darcy Fehr
- Amy Stewart
- Brendan Cade
- Wesley Cade
- Lou Profeta
- Fred Dunsmore
- Kate Yacula
- Jacelyn Lobay
Where to watch in United States
- Streaming
- Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now
- Rent
- Apple TV Store
- Buy
- Apple TV Store
Streaming options come from TMDB and change over time.
Common questions
- What is My Winnipeg about?
- A fever-dream self-portrait turns Winnipeg’s civic legends, family memories, and frozen identity into a hilarious elegy for a hometown that refuses to let go.
- What is My Winnipeg like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of My Winnipeg as measured, its intensity as strong and its storytelling as layered.
- Is My Winnipeg violent?
- No — Ember's analysis finds no violence in My Winnipeg.
- What did critics think of My Winnipeg?
- Critics widely praised the film as an extraordinary, heartfelt, hilarious, and formally inventive fusion of documentary, autobiography, civic history, and surreal fantasy.
- Which films are like My Winnipeg?
- Films with a similar feel include The Gleaners and I, Sans Soleil, F for Fake, and Sherman's March.
- How long is My Winnipeg?
- My Winnipeg runs 80 minutes.
- Where can I watch My Winnipeg?
- In United States, My Winnipeg streams on Philo, AMC Plus Apple TV channel, AMC+ Amazon Channel, AMC+ Roku Premium Channel, AMC+, Sundance Now.
