Rich Williamson (filmmaker)

Rich Williamson
Occupation(s)film director, producer, cinematographer, editor
Years active2010s-present
Known forFrame 394, Scarborough

Rich Williamson is a Canadian film director, cinematographer and editor, most noted as codirector with Shasha Nakhai of the 2021 film Scarborough.[1] The film won the Canadian Screen Award for Best Picture, and Nakhai and Williamson won the award for Best Director, at the 10th Canadian Screen Awards in 2022.[2]

A partner with Nakhai in the production firm Compy Films,[3] he first became known for his 2016 short documentary film Frame 394, which was a CSA nominee for Best Short Documentary at the 5th Canadian Screen Awards in 2017.[4]

He was also a CSA nominee for Best Editing in a Documentary at the 7th Canadian Screen Awards in 2019 for his work on Nakhai's documentary film Take Light,[5] and at the 12th Canadian Screen Awards in 2024 for Cynara.[6]

Scarborough, codirected by Nakhai and Williamson as their debut narrative feature film, premiered at the 2021 Toronto International Film Festival.[7] It was named the winner of the Changemaker Award, was first runner-up for the People's Choice Award, and received an honorable mention from the jury for the Best Canadian Film award.[8] It was nominated for the Toronto Film Critics Association's Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.[9]

His other films have included Prom Day (2009), The Sugar Bowl (2011), Joe (2012), Freelance (2014), The Unsinkable Captain John (2014), The Hole in Reservoir Hill (2018)[10] and Thirty Eight Minutes (2020).

  1. ^ Barry Hertz, "How Scarborough’s filmmakers overcame a pandemic, Plexiglass and a pint-sized budget to make a new Canadian masterpiece". The Globe and Mail, February 24, 2022.
  2. ^ Jenna Benchetrit, "Scarborough wins 3 Canadian Screen Awards, including best motion picture". CBC News, April 10, 2022.
  3. ^ Lauren Malyk, "Cameras roll on Compy Films’ Scarborough". Playback, August 26, 2019.
  4. ^ Brent Furdyk, "2017 Canadian Screen Awards nominees revealed". Global News, January 17, 2017.
  5. ^ "“Anthropocene”, “Amazing Race Canada” among Canadian Screen Award nominees". RealScreen, February 8, 2019.
  6. ^ "BlackBerry Leads CSA Nominations". Northern Stars, March 6, 2024.
  7. ^ Rebecca Rubin, "Toronto Film Festival Unveils Contemporary World Cinema and Discovery Lineup". Variety, July 28, 2021.
  8. ^ Steve Pond, "‘Belfast’ Wins Toronto Film Festival’s People’s Choice Award". TheWrap, September 18, 2021.
  9. ^ Pat Mullen, "Drive My Car Leads TFCA Award Winners". That Shelf, January 16, 2022.
  10. ^ "Short doc explores North Bay's cold war past". CBC Northern Ontario, September 19, 2018.