John N. Smith OC (born July 31, 1943 in

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

) is a Canadian

film director A film director or filmmaker is a person who controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfillment of that Goal, vision. The director has a key role ...

and

screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...

Career

Smith graduated with a B.A. in political science from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

in 1964. He joined the

Canadian Broadcasting Corporation The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (), branded as CBC/Radio-Canada, is the Canadian Public broadcasting, public broadcaster for both radio and television. It is a Crown corporation that serves as the national public broadcaster, with its E ...

in 1968 as producer of ''The Way It Is'', and the

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; ) is a Canadian public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary films, animation, web documentaries, and altern ...

in 1972 as a producer and director. In 1981 he directed ''First Winter'', a short period drama that went on to be nominated for an Academy Award. He then made a string of feature-length docudramas that earnestly probed issues such as male sexuality (''The Masculine Mystique''), teen pregnancy (''Sitting in Limbo''), and

immigration Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as Permanent residency, permanent residents. Commuting, Commuter ...

(''Welcome to Canada''). With collaborators such as

Giles Walker Giles Walker (January 17, 1946 – March 23, 2020) was a Scottish-born Canadian film director. Biography Giles Walker, born in 1946 in Dundee, Scotland, received a B.A. from the University of New Brunswick and an M.A. from Stanford University ...

, Smith made economic use of non-professional actors and documentary techniques. In 1993, he filmed ''The Boys of St. Vincent'', a powerful and controversial television two-part drama depicting the sexual violation of children in a Catholic orphanage. Excellent reviews and ratings in the United States led to Hollywood assignments. His work has been nominated in the

Academy Awards The Academy Awards, commonly known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit in film. They are presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS) in the United States in recognition of excellence in ...

Genie Award The Genie Awards were given out annually by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to recognize the best of Canadian cinema from 1980–2012. They succeeded the Canadian Film Awards (1949–1978), known as the "Etrog Awards" for sculptor ...

s, and

Gemini Award The Gemini Awards were awards given by the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television between 1986–2011 to recognize the achievements of Canada's English-language television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in t ...

s, but has only won the latter. He is best known for the 1995 drama ''

Dangerous Minds ''Dangerous Minds'' is a 1995 American drama film directed by John N. Smith, written by Ronald Bass, and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the 1992 autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by retired U.S. Mar ...

'', starring

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer ( ; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress. She was one of the most bankable stars in Cinema of the United States, Hollywood during the 1980s and 1990s, and her List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, performances ...

, the TV movie '' The Boys of St. Vincent'', and his work on the TV miniseries ''

The Englishman's Boy ''The Englishman's Boy'' is a novel by Guy Vanderhaeghe, published in 1996 by McClelland and Stewart, which won the Governor General's Award for English-language fiction in 1996 and was nominated for the Giller Prize. It deals with the events of ...

''. Smith was appointed an Officer of the

Order of Canada The Order of Canada () is a Canadian state order, national order and the second-highest Award, honour for merit in the system of orders, decorations, and medals of Canada, after the Order of Merit. To coincide with the Canadian Centennial, ce ...

in 2008. He is married to filmmaker

Cynthia Scott Cynthia Scott (born January 1, 1939) is a Canadian award-winning filmmaker who has produced, directed, written, and edited several films with the National Film Board of Canada (NFB). Her works have won the Academy Awards, Oscar and Canadian Fil ...

. Their son is actor Dylan Smith.

Selected filmography

* "The New Boys" (episode of ''

West West is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth. Etymology The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some Romance langu ...

'', 1974) * ''Ready When You Are'' (short film, with Douglas Kiefer, 1975) *''

Happiness Is Loving Your Teacher ''Happiness Is Loving Your Teacher'' is a Canadian short drama film directed by John N. Smith and released in 1977. The film stars Martin Kevan as Mr. Todrick, a wheelchair-using substitute teacher facing an unruly high school class, and Marina Dim ...

'' (short film, 1977) *''

Revolution's Orphans ''Revolution's Orphans'' is a 1979 Canadian short film, produced by the National Film Board of Canada and directed by John N. Smith. It is about a man who flees Hungary, with his daughter Clara, for Canada as the 1956 Hungarian Revolution happens. ...

'' (short film, 1979) *'' First Winter'' (short film, 1981) *''

Gala Gala may refer to: Music * ''Gala'' (album), a 1990 album by the English alternative rock band Lush * Gala (singer), Italian singer and songwriter *'' Gala – The Collection'', a 2016 album by Sarah Brightman * GALA Choruses, an association of ...

'' (1982) *''

The Masculine Mystique ''The Masculine Mystique'' is a Canadian docufiction film directed by Giles Walker and John N. Smith and released in 1984. The film centres on Alex ( Sam Grana), Blue ( Stefan Wodoslawsky), Mort (Mort Ransen) and Ashley (Ashley Murray), four me ...

'' (1984) *'' Sitting in Limbo'' (1986) *''

Train of Dreams ''Train of Dreams'' is a 1987 Canadian film directed by John N. Smith and starring Jason St. Amour, Christopher Neil and Frederick Eugene Ward as a popular teacher. In this documentary-style drama, a delinquent teenager tries to put his life on ...

'' (1987) *''

Welcome to Canada ''Welcome to Canada'' is a 1989 Canadian docufiction film directed by John N. Smith. Loosely based on a real-life incident, the film depicts the interactions of a small community in Newfoundland with a group of Sri Lankan Tamil refugees who turn ...

'' (1989) *'' The Boys of St. Vincent'' (TV movie, 1992) *''

Dieppe Dieppe (; ; or Old Norse ) is a coastal commune in the Seine-Maritime department, Normandy, northern France. Dieppe is a seaport on the English Channel at the mouth of the river Arques. A regular ferry service runs to Newhaven in England ...

'' (TV miniseries, 1993) *''

'' (1995) *''

A Cool, Dry Place ''A Cool, Dry Place'' is a 1998 American drama film directed by John N. Smith and written by Matthew McDuffie, based on the 1996 novel ''Dance Real Slow'' by Michael Grant Jaffe. The film stars Vince Vaughn, Monica Potter, Joey Lauren Adams and ...

'' (1998) *'' Random Passage'' (TV miniseries, 2002) *''

Geraldine's Fortune ''Geraldine's Fortune'' is a 2004 Canadian comedy-drama film. It was directed by John N. Smith, written by Tim Burns and based on the play ''Les Belles-sœurs'' by Michel Tremblay. Plot Geraldine Liddle (Curtin) is a small town woman from New B ...

'' (2004) *'' Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story'' (TV miniseries, 2006) *''

'' (TV miniseries, 2008) *''

Love and Savagery ''Love and Savagery'' is a Canadian- Irish drama film directed by John N. Smith and released in 2009. The film stars Allan Hawco as Michael, a geologist from Newfoundland and Labrador who travels to Ballyvaughan, Ireland to study limestone, and ...

'' (2009)

References

External links

John N. Smith archives
at the

Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections Clara may refer to: Arts and entertainment * ''Clara'' (2018 film), a Canadian sci-fi drama * ''Clara'' (2019 film), a Ukrainian animated fantasy film * ''Clara'' (TV series), a German TV series * Clara the Cow, mascot of the Greek TV show '' P ...

York University Libraries York University Libraries (YUL) is the library system of York University in Toronto, Ontario. The four main libraries and one archives contain more than 2,500,000 volumes. History The first York library opened in 1961 at Glendon College and ...

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*
Watch films by John N. Smith
at NFB.ca {{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John N. Officers of the Order of Canada 1943 births Living people Canadian male screenwriters Canadian film editors Film producers from Quebec Film directors from Montreal Writers from Montreal National Film Board of Canada people Canadian television directors Anglophone Quebec people 20th-century Canadian screenwriters 20th-century Canadian male writers 21st-century Canadian screenwriters 21st-century Canadian male writers Canadian Screen Award winning writers Screenwriters from Quebec Canadian Screen Award winning directors