Peter Raymont (born February 28, 1950) is a Canadian filmmaker and producer and the president of White Pine Pictures, an independent film, television and new media production company based in Toronto. Among his films are Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire (2005), A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman (2007), The World Stopped Watching (2003) and The World Is Watching (1988). The 2011 feature documentary West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson and 2009's Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould were co-directed with Michèle Hozer.

Peter Raymont
Born
Peter Raymont

(1950-02-28) February 28, 1950 (age 74)
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Occupation(s)film director, screenwriter, producer, film editor & cinematographer
Years active1971-present
SpouseLindalee Tracey (May 14, 1957 - October 19, 2006) her death
Websitehttp://www.whitepinepictures.com/

Education

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Raymont attended Crighton Street School, Rockcliffe Park Public School and Lisgar Collegiate Institute. He graduated from Trinity College School in Port Hope in 1968.

At Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario he was honoured with the Tricolour Award for contribution to the university community. Raymont graduated from Queen's University in 1971 with a Bachelor of Arts, majoring in Political Science and Film Studies. Raymont is a graduate of The Canadian Centre for Advanced Film Studies in North York, Ontario (First Year, 1988), now the Canadian Film Centre. He was a co-founder of the Canadian Independent Film Caucus, now The Documentary Organization of Canada and is a member of The Directors' Guild of Canada and The Canadian Media Producers' Association.

Early career

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Raymont's career began at age 21 at the National Film Board of Canada in Montreal. From 1971 to 78, he worked as an editor, director and producer. While at the NFB, Raymont also taught film and video production in the Canadian Arctic. In 1978, Raymont moved to Toronto and established his independent film and television production company, Investigative Productions now operating as White Pine Pictures. He co-partnered the company for many years with his late wife, award-winning filmmaker and author Lindalee Tracey.

Career

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Raymont was executive producer of the television drama series The Border, which he co-created with Lindalee Tracey, Janet MacLean and Jeremy Hole, and Cracked, a Toronto-based police procedural which explores the intersection of the law and mental illness.[1] Cracked's 2 seasons are also broadcast in France, Germany, USA and elsewhere.

Raymont's documentary feature Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire was honoured with the 2005 Audience Award for World Cinema Documentaries at The Sundance Film Festival and the 2007 Emmy Award for Best Documentary. A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman]' was longlisted for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.

Genius Within premiered at the 2009 Toronto International Film Festival, followed by invitational presentations at the International Documentary Film Festival in Amsterdam (IDFA) and several other festivals worldwide (Full Frame, Vancouver, Seattle, Sydney, Melbourne, Hawaii, Bermuda). The film opened theatrically across Canada, USA and Australia in 2010, playing in over 50 US cities. A two-hour version of the film was broadcast on the PBS series American Masters in December, 2010. Genius Within won the 2010 Gemini Award for Best Biography Documentary presented by the Canadian Academy of Cinema and Television, and was short-listed for an Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature.[2]

In 2015 Raymont received an Honorary Doctor of Letters Degree from[3] Trent University

In 2019 he was named the winner of the Don Haig Award at the Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Festival.[4]

Filmography

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Year Title Contribution
1970 Blue Director/Producer
1971 Have You Ever Been North of Princess Street? Director/Producer
1972 Just Another Job
The Point: Community Legal Clinic
Editor
1973 The Innocent Door Associate Producer/Editor
1974 The Coldspring Project Producer/Editor
1975 Sikusilarmiut
Lumsden
The Forest Watchers
Natsik Hunting
Director/Producer
Director
Director
Producer
1977 The Hunters
River: Planet Earth
Whale Hunting
Flora: Scenes from a Leadership Convention
Producer
Director
Producer
Director
1978 Reflections of a Leadership Convention
The Art of the Possible
Director
1979 History on the Run: The Media and the ’79 Election Director/Producer
1981 Magic in the Sky Director/Producer
1982 Arctic Spirits
Falasha: Agony of the Black Jews
Director/Producer
Director
1983 On to the Polar Sea: A Yukon Adventure
Prisoners of Debt: Inside The Global Banking Crisis
Director/Writer
1985 With Our Own Two Hands Director/Producer
1986 At The Brink: The Cuban Missile Crisis Director
1987 The Brokers
The Politics of Aid
Director/Producer
Director
1988 The World Is Watching Director/Writer
1989 Only The News That Fits Director/Producer
1990 As Long As the Rivers Flow (5 x 1hr Episodes)
Between Two Worlds
Producer
1992 Voices From the Shadows Director/Producer
1993 Chasing the Dream Director/Producer
1994 Hearts of Hate: The Battle for Young Minds Director/Producer
1995 Abby, I Hardly Knew Ya
The Skeptic’s Journey
Producer
Director
1997 Invisible Nation: Policing the Underground
The New Ice Age: A Year in the Life of the NHL (6 Episodes
Passing the Flame: The Legacy of Women’s College Hospital
Producer
Director/Producer
Producer
1998 A Scattering of Seeds (52 x ½ hr Episodes) Producer
1999 Rwanda: In Search of Hope Director/Producer
2000 Toronto: City of Dreams (3 x 1hr Episodes) Producer
2001 Graveyard Shift (6 x ½ hr Episodes) Director/Producer
2002 The Undefended Border (3 x 1 hr Episodes)
King of Hearts
Director/Producer
Director
2003 Into the Light
The World Stopped Watching
Arctic Dreamer: The Lonely Quest of Vilhjalmur Stefansson
The Hero’s Hero: The Forgotten Life of William Barker
The Anatomy of Burlesque (2 x 1 hr Episodes)
Director/Producer
Director/Producer
Director/Producer
Executive Producer/Creative Advisor
Producer
2004 Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire
Bhopal: The Search for Justice
The Killer Cure
Director/Producer
Director/Producer
Producer
2005 The Idealist: James Beveridge, Film Guru Producer
2007 A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman
Tsepong: A Clinic Called Hope
The Border (38 x 1hr Episodes)
Director/Producer
Producer
Executive Producer
2008 Worlds Collide: The Saga of Herschel Island
I Nuligak: An Inuvialuit History of First Contact
Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta
Radical Dreamer: The Passionate Journey of Graham Spry
Triage: Dr. James Orbinski’s Humanitarian Dilemma
Producer
Producer
Producer
Director/Producer
Producer
2009 Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould
City Sonic (20 Webisodes)
Hugh Hefner: Playboy, Activist and Rebel
Director/Producer
Producer
Producer
2010 Pets on Prozac
Experimental Eskimos
Winds of Heaven: Emily Carr, Carvers and The Spirit of The Forest
The Team
Prosecutor
Producer
2011 West Wind: The Vision of Tom Thomson Co-Director/Producer
2012 Cracked
Fight Like Soldiers, Die Like Children
Executive Producer
Producer
2014 Guantanamo's Child
Painted Land: In Search of the Group of Seven
Producer
2015 Premier: The Unscripted Kathleen Wynne
Where the Universe Sings: The Spiritual Journey of Lawren Harris
Producer
Co-Director/Producer
2016 All Governments Lie: Truth, Deception and the Spirit of I. F. Stone
Girls' Night Out
Arctic Secrets (8 x 1 hr Episodes)
Producer
Producer
Producer, Executive Producer
2017 We Are Canada (6 x 1 hr Episodes)
PTSD: Beyond Trauma
The Truth Is In The Stars
Executive Producer
2018 In the Making (16 x ½ hr Episodes)
The Corporate Coup D'État
Executive Producer
2019 Toxic Beauty
Once Were Brothers: Robbie Robertson and The Band
Margaret Atwood: A Word After a Word after a Word is Power
Executive Producer
Executive Producer
Co-Director/Producer
2020 CitizenKid: Earth Comes First Executive Producer
2021 Wild Pacific Rescue (3 x 1 hr Episodes)
The Price of Cheap
Sleeping Warrior
Executive Producer
2022 Unloved: Huronia's Forgotten Children
Ice-Breaker: The 1972 Summit Series
Buffy Sainte-Marie: Carry It On
Executive Producer
Producer/Executive Producer
Executive Producer
2023 Balancing Act Executive Producer
2024 Plastic People: The Hidden Crisis of Microplastics
Shadow Man: William Stephenson and the Art of Political Warfare
Executive Producer

Awards

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  • International Emmy Award Winner for Best Arts Programming - Buffy Sainte Marie 2023 [5]
  • Allan King Award for Excellence in Documentary (Guantanamo's Child), 2016
  • Academy of Television Arts & Sciences [6]
  • NEWS AND DOCUMENTARY EMMY AWARD - Best Documentary 2007[7]
  • GENIE AWARD[8][9]

Gemini Awards:

  • Best Sports Program or Series 1999
  • Best History-Biography Documentary, 2004
  • Best Direction of a Documentary, 2004
  • Best Biography Documentary, 2010

Canadian Film and Television Awards

  • Best Documentary 1983

Sundance Film Festival

  • AUDIENCE AWARD - World Cinema Documentary, 2005

Philadelphia Film Festival

  • JURY AWARD - Best Documentary, 2005

Chicago International Film Festival

  • SILVER HUGO - Best Social/Political Documentary 1991
  • GOLD HUGO - Best Social/Political Documentary 1988
  • GOLD PLAQUE - Social/Political Documentary 1983

American Film Festival, New York City

  • Blue Ribbon, Best Social/Political Documentary 1976
  • Red Ribbon Social/Political Documentary 1983

Nyon International Documentary Film Festival, Switzerland

  • Sesterce d'Argent, 1990
  • Ecumenical Prize and Second Public Jury Prize, 1988

Leipzig International Film Festival

  • Best Short Documentary 1976
  • International Jury Award, 1991

Festival International de Programmes Audiovisuels (FIPA), Biarritz, France

  • Special Jury Mention, 2004
  • Honourable Mention, 2004

Association of Canadian Television and Radio Artists, ACTRA Awards

  • Top Ten Award, 1999
  • Best Writing, TV Documentary 1984

Yorkton International Film Festival, Canada

  • Best Documentary, Sports/Recreation and Best Cinematography 1985
  • Best Broadcast Documentary 1991
  • Best Documentary 2010

Alberta Film and Television (AMPIA)

  • Best Documentary 1986

International Arctic Film Festival (Rovaniemi, Finland)

  • Special Award, Television 1986

23rd International Festival of Short Films (Cracow, Poland)

  • Polish National Peace Committee Prize, 1986

National Film and Video Association, Oakland, California

  • Bronze Apple 1990, Gold Apple 1991, Bronze Apple 1994, Gold Apple 1995

Worldfest Houston

  • Gold, Special Jury Prize, 2001
  • Gold Award for Documentary Series 2000
  • Special Jury Prize, 2000
  • Gold Award for Sports Documentary 1999
  • Gold Medal for Best Documentary Television Series 1998
  • Silver Award 1992, Certificate of Merit-Finalist 1995

Academy Awards, Los Angeles, USA

  • Honourable Mention, Documentary category, 1983

Berlin Film Festival

  • Honourable Mention, Peace Prize Committee 1989

References

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  1. ^ "CBC Gets Cracked Cop Drama to Pilot". The Hollywood Reporter. 20 May 2011.
  2. ^ "Canadian Documentary on Oscar Shortlist".
  3. ^ "Five Distinguished Canadians to Receive Honorary Degrees at Trent University's 2015 Convocation". 25 March 2015.
  4. ^ Lauren Malyk, "Peter Raymont wins the Don Haig Award". Playback, April 29, 2019.
  5. ^ "International Emmy Award for Best Arts Programming".
  6. ^ "Latest Academy News". 10 September 2014.
  7. ^ http://emmyonline.com/news_28th_winners Archived 2013-05-29 at the Wayback Machine [bare URL]
  8. ^ http://www.telefilm.gc.ca/en/news/whats-new/2011/01/04/conversation-peter-raymont [bare URL]
  9. ^ "Peter Raymont - Awards". IMDb. Retrieved 2023-06-27.
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