---
name: "John N. Smith"
canonical: "https://film.one/person/john-n-smith"
fi1m_id: "john-n-smith"
imdb_id: "nm0808807"
tmdb_id: 60295
wikidata_id: "Q3182154"
roles: ["Director"]
born: "31 July 1943"
reviewed_on_fi1m: 1
average_as: "director"
average_over: 1
updated: "2026-10-05T00:07:36.927606+00:00"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# John N. Smith

## Identity

John N. Smith

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/person/john-n-smith
- **Type:** Person
- **Fi1m ID:** john-n-smith
- **IMDb ID:** nm0808807
- **TMDB ID:** 60295
- **Wikidata ID:** Q3182154
- **Same entity:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_N._Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3182154, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808807/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/60295

Director. Born 31 July 1943 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

## Details

- **Work:** Director
- **Born:** 31 July 1943, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
- **Academy Awards:** 1 Oscar nomination
- **Elsewhere:** https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_N._Smith, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q3182154, https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0808807/, https://www.themoviedb.org/person/60295

## Biography

John N. Smith is a Canadian film director and screenwriter. Born in Montreal, he graduated with a B.A. in political science from McGill University in 1964. He joined the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1968 and the National Film Board of Canada in 1972, where he worked as a producer and director.

Smith is known for the television miniseries *The Boys of St. Vincent* (1992), which he also co-wrote, and the feature film *Dangerous Minds* (1995). His other credits include *Sitting in Limbo* (1986) and the miniseries *The Englishman's Boy* (2008). He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Canada in 2008 and has received multiple Gemini Awards.

He is married to filmmaker Cynthia Scott.

*Sources: en.wikipedia.org, imdb.com.*

## On Fi1m (1)

- *Dangerous Minds* (1995), Fi1m 42, Director — [page](https://film.one/film/dangerous-minds.md)

## Complete filmography (25)

Every credit, newest first. Titles without a page can be requested for review on the HTML page.

- *Love & Savagery* (2009), Director
- *The Englishman's Boy* (2008), series, Director
- *Prairie Giant: The Tommy Douglas Story* (2006), series, Director
- *Geraldine's Fortune* (2004), Director
- *Random Passage* (2002), Director
- *A Cool, Dry Place* (1998), Director
- *Sugartime* (1995), Director
- *Dangerous Minds* (1995), Director — Fi1m 42, [page](https://film.one/film/dangerous-minds.md)
- *The Boys of St. Vincent* (1994), Director, Writer
- *Dieppe* (1993), Director
- *The Boys of St. Vincent: 15 Years Later* (1992), Director, Writer, Story
- *The Company of Strangers* (1990), Production Consultant
- *Welcome to Canada* (1989), Director, Editor, Writer
- *Train of Dreams* (1987), Director, Writer, Editor
- *Sitting in Limbo* (1986), Director, Writer, Producer
- *A Gift for Kate* (1986), Director
- *First Stop, China* (1985), Director
- *The Masculine Mystique* (1984), Writer, Director, Producer
- *First Winter* (1982), Director, Producer
- *Gala* (1982), Director
- *The New Boys* (1974), Director, Producer, Writer
- *The Jews of Winnipeg* (1973), Producer
- *Starblanket* (1973), Executive Producer
- *Some Natives of Churchill* (1973), Executive Producer
- *Breathing Together: Revolution of the Electric Family* (1971), Editor

## Awards

### Academy Awards — 0 won, 1 nominated

- 1982: Best Live Action Short Film (nominated), for *First Winter*

*From Wikidata, which records wins more completely than nominations.*

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/person/john-n-smith