Amnon Buchbinder (June 17, 1958 - November 30, 2019) was an American-born Canadian screenwriter and film director,Patricia Robertson, "Film stories feed the soul". Yukon News, March 4, 2006. most noted for his feature films The Fishing TripRay Conlogue, "Director doesn't rise to the bait of making a simple revenge film". The Globe and Mail, November 13, 1998. and Whole New Thing.Bill Rankin, "Believable characters keep Whole New Thing from getting old". Edmonton Journal, October 4, 2005.
Born in Missouri, he moved to Canada with his family in childhood, before studying film at the California Institute of the Arts. He was based in Vancouver in the early 1980s, where he was a board member of the Pacific CinemathequeMarke Andrews, "Cinematheque members go for moderate board". Vancouver Sun, January 28, 1987. and a programmer for the Vancouver International Film Festival.Marke Andrews, "Film festival gets a new look". Vancouver Sun, September 24, 1987. He made a number of short films, most notably 1983's Oroboros, before studying directing at the Canadian Film Centre."Film centre selects residents for 1992". The Globe and Mail, June 3, 1992. He joined the faculty of York University as a professor of screenwriting in the film department in 1995,Peter Goddard, "Unique festival's for those just mad about movies". Toronto Star, November 17, 1999. and eventually became chair of the department."Passings: Amnon Buchbinder, filmmaker, director and screenwriter". York University, December 4, 2019.
The Fishing Trip, his first feature film as a director, was written by Michelle Lovretta, one of his students at York.Judy Gerstel, "Toronto teens get lost in their Fishing Trip roles". Toronto Star, November 13, 1988. In 2005 he published the screenwriting text The Way of the Screenwriter, and released Whole New Thing as his second feature film.
Following Whole New Thing he worked on Mortal Coil, a television pilot. Although it was never picked up to series, he published a novel based on it in 2014. In 2015 he released the film Traveling Medicine Show, a compilation of three short docufiction films in which he and his own family had played fictionalized versions of themselves. The following year he released his final film, the interactive documentary Biology of Story.
Buchbinder died on November 30, 2019, of cancer.
He is the brother of musician David Buchbinder.
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