{{Short description|Canadian filmmaker}} {{Infobox person | name = Mark Raso | image = Mark Raso Kodachrome 12 (37179156735).jpg | birth_date = | birth_place = Toronto, Ontario, Canada | occupation = Filmmaker | notable_works = ''Under'', ''Copenhagen'', ''Kodachrome'' | years_active = 2009–present | education = University of Toronto {{small|(BA)}}<br>Columbia University {{small|(MFA)}} }} '''Mark Raso''' is a Canadian narrative filmmaker and co-owner of the production company Fidelio Films. He is best known for writing and directing the feature-length film ''Copenhagen'' in 2014, directing ''Kodachrome'' starring Ed Harris, Jason Sudeikis and Elizabeth Olsen, and the Netflix original sci-fi film ''Awake'' in 2021, which was number one worldwide on the platform when it was released<ref>{{cite web|url=https://flixpatrol.com/top10/netflix/world/2021-06-11/|title=TOP 10 on Netflix in the World on June 11, 2021|website=Flixpatrol|date=June 11, 2021|accessdate=2021-09-08|archive-date=2021-09-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210908172027/https://flixpatrol.com/top10/netflix/world/2021-06-11/|url-status=dead}}</ref> and his Student Academy Award–winning short film ''Under'' in 2012. His work has won numerous awards and has been seen by audiences worldwide.

== Early life ==

Raso was born in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. After attending the University of Toronto where he received a BA in English Literature and Cinema Studies, Raso went on to study directing and screenwriting at Columbia University where he received an MFA in film. While attending Columbia, Raso wrote, directed, and produced a number of short films that culminated in winning the Gold Medal, the highest honor a student can receive, from the Student Academy Awards of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.{{citation needed |date=March 2021}}

After graduating from Columbia in 2012, Raso wrote, directed, his first feature-length film Copenhagen, a critically acclaimed movie that won the Audience Award at Slamdance Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.thewrap.com/slamdance-2014-names-copenhagen-rezeta-festival-winners/ |title=Slamdance Names 'Copenhagen,' 'Rezeta' 2014 Festival Winners |date= 24 January 2014|accessdate=2021-09-08}}</ref> Since its premiere, Raso has been called "a talent to watch," <ref>{{cite web|author=David DeWitt |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/03/movies/copenhagen-a-debut-by-the-writer-director-mark-raso.html?_r=0 |title='Copenhagen,' a Debut by the Writer-Director Mark Raso - The New York Times |work=The New York Times|date=2014-10-03 |accessdate=2019-11-15}}</ref> by New York Times writer David DeWitt.

== Awards ==

Raso's short film ''Under'' has received numerous awards including the Student Academy Gold Medal, the CINE Gold Eagle Award, the Golden ACE Award, and the CINE Special Jury award. In addition, Mark received the David Jones Memorial Award for Excellence in Directing and the Hollywood Foreign Press Award for Excellence in Filmmaking. By 2013 he was named on The Tracking Board's "Young and Hungry" list as a rising talent to keep an eye out for. In 2014 his first feature film Copenhagen premiered at the Slamdance Festival, where it won the Audience Award. The film also won the grand jury award at the Florida Film Festival, Gasparilla International Film Festival, and Slamdance Film Festival.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://blogs.kqed.org/filmschoolshorts/filmmakers/mark-raso/ |title=KQED &#124; Film School Shorts |publisher=Blogs.kqed.org |date= |accessdate=2019-11-15}}</ref>

== Fidelio Films ==

Raso is co-owner of the production company Fidelio Films,<ref>[http://www.fideliofilms.com Fidelio Films]</ref> a New York City-based independent film production company founded by producers David Figueroa García, Mauro Mueller and Mauricio Leiva-Cock in 2010. All four of them met while studying at the MFA program in directing and screenwriting at Columbia University. The company has produced a number of acclaimed short films, winning twice in a row in the Student Academy Awards with ''Under'' in 2012<ref>[http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa/winners/raso.html Student Academy Awards | 39th (2012) | Winners: Mark Raso] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131109181449/http://www.oscars.org/awards/saa/winners/raso.html |date=2013-11-09 }}</ref> and ''A World for Raúl'' in 2013.<ref>[https://variety.com/2013/film/news/student-academy-awards-2013-1200481071 Variety | 2013 Student Academy Awards winners revealed]</ref> In 2014, for the third time in a row, they had a short ''Perfidia'' in the regional final of the Student Academy Awards. Their first feature film ''Copenhagen'', featuring Gethin Anthony, Bodil Awards winner Frederikke Dahl Hansen, Sebastian Armesto, Mille Dinesen, Baard Owe, and Tamzin Merchant<ref>[https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2459156/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm imdb | Copenhagen | Full Cast & Crew]</ref> was theatrically released in North America in 2014.

== Filmography ==

* ''Groomed'' (2004, short film, producer) * ''The Engagement Party'' (2007, short film, writer, editor, director) * ''Tomorrow'' (2009, short film, writer, director) * ''Brand New Day'' (2010, short film, director, producer, editor) * ''In for a Surprise'' (2010, short film, director, writer) * ''Under'' (2011, short film, co-producer, writer, director, editor) * ''Un Mundo Para Raul'' (''A World for Raúl'') (2012, short film, co-producer) * ''Copenhagen'' (2014, feature film, writer, director, editor, co-producer) * ''Kodachrome'' (2017) * ''Awake'' (2021) * ''The Ugly Chickens'' (2024, short film)

== Television == * ''Guideposts Junction'' (1995–1996)

== References ==

{{Reflist}}

== External links ==

*{{IMDb name|id=1764816|name=Mark Raso}} * [http://www.fideliofilms.com/#about official website Fidelio Films Mark Raso] *http://blogs.kqed.org/filmschoolshorts/2014/02/04/interview-with-mark-raso-under/

{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Raso, Mark}} Category:Living people Category:20th-century Canadian screenwriters Category:20th-century Canadian male writers Category:21st-century Canadian screenwriters Category:21st-century Canadian male writers Category:Canadian emigrants to the United States Category:Canadian male screenwriters Category:Columbia University School of the Arts alumni Category:Film directors from Toronto Category:Film producers from Toronto Category:Screenwriters from Toronto Category:Student Academy Award winners Category:University of Toronto alumni Category:Year of birth missing (living people)