John N. Smith OC (born July 31, 1943 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian

film director A film director controls a film's artistic and dramatic aspects and visualizes the screenplay (or script) while guiding the film crew and actors in the fulfilment of that vision. The director has a key role in choosing the cast members, p ...

and

screenwriter A screenplay writer (also called screenwriter, scriptwriter, scribe or scenarist) is a writer who practices the craft of screenwriting, writing screenplays on which mass media, such as films, television programs and video games, are based. ...

Career

Smith graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1964. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1968 as producer of ''The Way It Is'', and the National Film Board of Canada 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 (''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,

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; also known as the "Etrog Awards," for scu ...

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 television industry. The Gemini Awards are analogous to the Emmy Awards given in the United States ...

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 and produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer. It is based on the autobiography ''My Posse Don't Do Homework'' by retired U.S. Marine LouAnne Johnson, who in 1989 too ...

'', starring

Michelle Pfeiffer Michelle Marie Pfeiffer (; born April 29, 1958) is an American actress and producer. A prolific performer whose List of Michelle Pfeiffer performances, screen work spans over four decades, she became one of Hollywood's most bankable stars and ...

, the TV movie ''

The Boys of St. Vincent ''The Boys of St. Vincent'' is a 1992 Canadian television miniseries directed by John N. Smith for the National Film Board of Canada. It is a two-part docudrama inspired by real events that took place at the Mount Cashel Orphanage in St. John's, ...

'', and his work on the TV miniseries '' The Englishman's Boy''. Smith was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008. He is married to filmmaker Cynthia Scott.

Selected filmography

*''

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) *'' Gala'' (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 men ...

'' (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 Canadian docufiction film directed by John N. Smith and released in 1989. 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 ...

'' (1989) *''

'' (TV movie, 1992) *'' Dieppe'' (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 Bo ...

'' (1998) *''

Random Passage ''Random Passage'' is a 1992 novel by Newfoundland author Bernice Morgan. It was published by Breakwater Books Ltd. of St. John's. It was followed by a sequel, ''Waiting for Time''. It is a historical novel about the inhabitants of Cape Random, ...

'' (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 ...

'' (2004) *'' Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story'' (TV miniseries, 2006) *'' The Englishman's Boy'' (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 cau ...

'' (2009)

References

External links

John N. Smith archives
at the Clara Thomas Archives and Special Collections, York University Libraries, Toronto, Ontario *
Watch films by John N. Smith at NFB.ca
{{DEFAULTSORT:Smith, John N. Officers of the Order of Canada 1943 births Living people Canadian screenwriters Canadian film editors Canadian film producers Film directors from Montreal Writers from Montreal National Film Board of Canada people Canadian television directors Anglophone Quebec people