Donald Winkler was born in Winnipeg in 1940, graduated from the University of Manitoba in 1961, and as a Woodrow Wilson Scholar, did graduate study at the Yale School of Drama. From 1967 to 1995 he was a film director and writer at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal, and since the 1980s, a translator of Quebec literature: in 1994 he won the Governor General’s Award for French to English translation, and has been a finalist for the prize on two other occasions.

Winkler's films have dealt largely with the world of culture and the arts. His work has included short experimental films (Doodle Film and Travel Log); films on crafts and the graphic arts (In Praise of Hands and Bannerfilm); on theatre (Breaking a Leg - Robert Lepage and the Echo Project); on social history (The Summer of ’67); and, notably, a series of films on Canadian literary figures, collected under the overall title “Poets: A Sestet.” These documentaries provide a film record of six cultural pioneers who helped lay the foundations for modern Canadian writing. They include F.R. Scott: Rhyme and Reason; Poet: Irving Layton Observed; and films on Al Purdy, Earle Birney, Ralph Gustafson, and P.K. Page.

Winkler's more recent films include Tomson Highway: Thank You for the Love You Gave, a biographical profile of the remarkable native-Canadian playwright; The Diva in Winter, on the great Canadian contralto Maureen Forrester; A Red Carpet for the Sun, on the life and career of poet Irving Layton; and A Voice for All Seasons, a profile of the brilliant young Quebec contralto Marie-Nicole Lemieux.

In 2004-2005 Winkler directed Moshe Safdie: the Power of Architecture, a portrait of the distinguished Canadian-Israeli architect, and The Pines of Emily Carr, based on the musical composition by Canadian composer Jean Coulthard (described by the Toronto Globe and Mail as “a film both stark and stirring”). He also co-directed The Colour of Memory: Conversations with Guido Molinari, a contemplative portrait of the Quebec artist, filmed during the last months of his life (“a surprisingly intimate and personal profile... quiet and thoughtful” – Montreal Gazette). All three of these films were featured at the 2005 International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal, and the film on Moshe Safdie was declared Best Educational Film.

2007 saw the release of Ode to a Requiem, featuring a performance of Mozart’s Requiem by the Quebec based ensemble Les Violons du Roy, along with a consideration of the work’s history and musicology. It was premiered at the International Festival of Films on Art in Montreal in 2007, was broadcast on CBC’s Opening Night, and received two Gemini nominations. (“Engaging, excellent, and educational” – The Toronto Globe and Mail. “Gorgeous to look at, and gorgeous to listen to” - The Ottawa Citizen). Winkler’s most recent film, Suzie LeBlanc: A Musical Quest, focuses on soprano Suzie LeBlanc’s quest for and performance of traditional Acadian music.

2007 also saw the release of A Secret Between Us, Winkler’s translation of La Kermesse, a novel by Daniel Poliquin, published by Douglas and McIntyre. The book was a finalist for the 2007 Giller Prize. Terracide (Mal de terre), astrophysicist Hubert Reeves' inquiry into the future of human life on earth, appeared in 2009 with Cormorant Books.