Peter Raymont

Biography

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Peter Raymont (born February 28, 1950 in Ottawa, Canada) is an award-winning 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 most internationally regarded films are the 2009 feature documentary "Genius Within: The Inner Life of Glenn Gould" and "Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Romeo Dallaire" (2005), both of which he co-directed with Michele Hozer. Other significant films include "A Promise to the Dead: The Exile Journey of Ariel Dorfman" (2007), "The World Stopped Watching" (2003) and "The World Is Watching" (1988). Raymont is Executive Producer of the television drama series, The Border, which he co-created with Lindalee Tracey, Janet MacLean and Jeremy Hole. The Border's 3-season, 38 X 1 hr episodes have been broadcast in more than 25 countries. Raymont has produced and directed over 100 documentary films and television programmes (Drama and Documentary) during his 40-year career. His films have taken him to Ethiopia, Nicaragua, India, Rwanda, Chile, the High Arctic and throughout North America and Europe. Raymont is the recipient of 35 international awards including an Emmy, The Sundance Film Festival Audience Award, a Canadian Genie, 5 Gemini Awards, several Gold and Silver Hugos, The Sesterce d'Argent and other international honours. Raymont's films are often provocative investigations of "hidden worlds" in politics, media and big business. His films are informed with a passion for human rights and social justice and are regularly broadcast on private and public TV networks worldwide. His documentary feature, Shake Hands with the Devil: The Journey of Roméo Dallaire was honoured with the 2005 Audience Award for World Cinema Documentaries at Sundance Film Festival and the 2007 Emmy Award for Best Documentary. "A Promise To The Dead" was short-listed for the 2007 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature and was honoured with the Donald Brittain Award for Best Social-Political Documentary by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television. "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.