Cynthia Scott

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Cynthia Scott
Born (1939-01-01) 1 January 1939 (age 85)
film editor, film producer

Cynthia Scott

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) at the 56th Academy Awards in 1984.[2] She is married to filmmaker John N. Smith.[3]

Background

Cynthia Scott was born and raised in

English Literature and Philosophy at the University of Manitoba, graduating with a B.A. in 1959, at the age of 19.[4]

Early career in media

After graduation, Scott worked at the

Oscar award or her documentary Flamenco at 5:15.[5] In an interview with fellow filmmaker Sarah Kernochan
Scott insists that there were other filmmakers who had ideas around casting a film with only female actors however, she was the first woman filmmaker to come forward with the idea.

Filmmaking with the NFB

Scott's career took a turn in 1972 when the

Canadian Film Award for direction in a TV Information program.[6] In 1976, Scott produced the controversial Barbara Greene documentary Listen Listen Listen (1976) for the NFB.[4]

Once she had been working at the NFB for about a decade, she co-wrote, co-edited and co-produced a NFB joint project titled For The Love of Dance (1981).[4] Over the next several years, Scott would work on several documentaries set in the dance world, including Flamenco at 5:15 (1983), which won an Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Subject.

She also researched and co-wrote First Winter (1981), directed by John N. Smith (her spouse and fellow filmmaker), which received an Academy Award nomination for Best Live Action Short at the 54th Academy Awards.[7]

During her time with the National Film Board of Canada, Scott went on to participate in a women in the directors chair workshop [8] in Banff, Alberta. In her Sarah Kernochan interview Scott describes this intensive workshop is an opportunity to educate and bring women directors together.[5]

The Company of Strangers

In the late 1980s, Scott began developing a full-length docufiction film with the NFB featuring eight non-actresses, all but one of whom were senior citizens. The Company of Strangers (US title: Strangers in Good Company), released in 1990, features a heavily improvised script based on the real lives of the women cast.[9] The film was a huge success in both Canada and international markets; it became the highest grossing NFB produced film ever at the time.[10]

In an interview with Sarah Kernochan Scott states that while she was working on her film The Company of Strangers her production team members were all women.[5] Scott chose to have a strictly female team in order to place emphasis on the importance of women in the film industry supporting each other.[5] Scott's team for this movie consisted of female assistants, producers, writers and artists.[5]

Flamenco at 5:15

Cynthia Scott directed the short documentary film

Oscar award winning film that jump started Scott's career.[11] Flamenco at 5:15 focuses on the reality of what it is like to be inside a Flamenco dance class at the National Ballet of Canada.[11] Flamenco at 5:15 went on to win the best short documentary award at the 56th annual Academy Awards.[12]

After career

Scott is currently[when?] recovering from cancer. Before being diagnosed, she was in development on an adaptation of The Stone Diaries, a 1993 fictional autobiography written by Carol Shields. She has said she plans to go back into development on The Stone Diaries once her health has returned to normal.[3]

However, in a 2004 interview with Sarah Kernochan, Scott described herself to Kernochan as "retired now".[13]

In an interview about the success of her film

Oscar award winning documentary Flamenco at 5:15 was screened.[15]

Filmography

Director filmography

Co-writer filmography

  • First Winter (1982) (co-written with Gloria Demers)
  • The Company of Strangers (1990) (co-written with David Wilson, Sally Bochner and Gloria Demers)

Producer filmography

  • Take 30 series (1965–72) (TV, 71 episodes)[3] (co-producer)
  • Man Alive: Jack Chambers (1971)
  • West series: Ruth and Harriet: Two Women of the Piece (1973)
  • West series: Every Saturday Night
  • Some Natives of Churchill (1973)
  • Listen Listen Listen (1976) (co-produced with Roman Kroitor)
  • Canada Vignettes: Holidays (1978)
  • Canada Vignettes: The Thirties (1978)
  • You've Got the Power: Arioli: Running (1979)
  • You've Got the Power: Teenagers (1979)
  • Man of Might: Fit In (1979)
  • For the Love of Dance (1981) (co-produced with John N. Smith, Michael McKennirey, David Wilson and Adam Symansky)
  • Flamenco at 5:15 (1983) (co-produced with Adam Symansky)

Co-editor filmography

  • For the Love of Dance (1981) (co-edited with John N. Smith, Micheal McKennirey and David Wilson)
  • Flamenco at 5:15 (1983) (co-edited with Paul Demers)

Awards and nominations

The Ungrateful Land: Roch Carrier Remembers Ste-Justine (1972):

First Winter (1982):

Flamenco at 5:15 (1983):

The Company of Strangers (1990):

See also

References

  1. ^ "Rca-arc.ca". Archived from the original on 4 May 2019. Retrieved 29 March 2016.
  2. ^ a b Oscars.org
  3. ^ a b c d e f "Tiff.net". Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  4. ^ a b c d Femfilm.ca
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h "Sarah Kernochan - Women & Film - Interviews". www.sarahkernochan.com. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  6. ^ a b "Academy.ca". Archived from the original on 10 March 2016. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  7. Montreal Gazette
    , March 20, 1982.
  8. ^ Aftaab. "Home". WIDC. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  9. ^ "Movie Reviews". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 10 September 2017.
  10. ^ a b c "Tiff.net". Archived from the original on 8 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  11. ^ a b Canada, National Film Board of, First Winter, retrieved 29 October 2019
  12. ^ "Academy Awards Acceptance Speeches - Search Results | Margaret Herrick Library | Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences". aaspeechesdb.oscars.org. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  13. ^ Sarahkernochan.com
  14. ^ "Cynthia Scott -- femfilm.ca: Canadian Women Film Directors Database". femfilm.ca. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  15. ^ a b "Cynthia Scott: Oscar Winner, Dunany Lover. – Dunany". 24 July 2018. Retrieved 29 October 2019.
  16. ^ "Tiff.net". Archived from the original on 15 September 2015. Retrieved 10 March 2016.
  17. ^ Aqcc.ca

Further reading

  • Cinema Canada. NFB fetes Hollywood heroes Scott and Symansky. Interview with Cynthia Scott, Adam Symansky. Cinema Canada, May 1984.
  • Cloutier, Anne. Sereine complicité. Interview with Cynthia Scott. 24 Images, no. 54, Spring 1991. [in French]
  • Currat, Joëlle, Élodie François, Anna Lupien, and Pascale Navarro. 40 ans de vues rêvées : l'imaginaire des cinéastes québécoises depuis 1972. Edited by Marquise Lepage. Montréal: Réalisatrices Équitables/Éditions Somme toute, 2014. Photographies, Anna Lupien. [in French] (pp. 232–234)
  • D'Arcy, Jan. Magic shadows: Cynthia Scott. Canadian Forum, vol. 71, June 1992.
  • Floyd, Nigel. Nigel Floyd meets Cynthia Scott. Interview with Cynthia Scott. Time Out, May 1, 1991.
  • Watson, Patricia. Cynthia Scott and The Company of Strangers: An interview. Canadian Woman Studies / Les Cahiers de la femme 12, no. 2 (1992): 109–114.

External links

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