{{Short description|Canadian documentary filmmaker}} '''Tom Radford''' {{postnominals|country=CAN|CM}} (born March 12, 1946) is a Canadian documentary filmmaker from Edmonton, Alberta.<ref name=canenc>Tom Murray, [https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/tom-radford "Tom Radford"]. ''The Canadian Encyclopedia'', March 22, 2010.</ref> A cofounder with Anne Wheeler and P. J. Reese of the Filmwest Associates studio, Radford is most noted for films on the history, culture and politics of Western Canada.<ref name=canenc/>
Born in Edmonton, Radford was the son of diarist Gertrude Hogg and the grandson of a former editor of the ''Edmonton Journal''.<ref name=canenc/> He studied Canadian history at the University of Alberta, but left halfway through his master's program to begin working on his first documentary film, ''Ernest Brown: Pioneer Photographer''.<ref name=canenc/> The film won the Golden Sheaf Award for Best of Festival at the Yorkton Film Festival in 1973;<ref name="Leader-Post-1973">{{cite news |title=Edmonton film chosen best at Yorkton festival |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38600879/silvester_reg_festival_far_cry_from/ |accessdate=November 7, 2019 |publisher=Regina Leader-Post |date=October 22, 1973 |ref=Leader-Post-1973 |location=Regina, Saskatchewan |page=2}}</ref> in 1975, he won both Best of Festival and Best Director at Yorkton for ''The Man Who Chooses the Bush''.<ref name="Leader-Post-Humphries-1975">{{cite news |last1=Humphries |first1=Don |title=Film board shows dominate film festival. |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/38597218/humphries_don_film_board_shows/ |accessdate=November 7, 2019 |publisher=Regina Leader-Post |date=October 27, 1975 |ref=Leader-Post-Humphries-1975 |location=Regina, Saskatchewan |page=7}}</ref>
In 1980 Radford left Filmwest to launch the Northwest Studio of the National Film Board of Canada, serving as executive producer of the division until 1985.<ref name=canenc/> He was subsequently a founding partner in the National Screen Institute, and in the commercial firms Film Frontiers, Great North Productions and Clearwater Media.<ref name=canenc/>
His other films have included ''Land'' (1971),<ref name=canenc/> ''Death of a Delta'' (1972),<ref name=canenc/> ''Every Saturday Night'' (1973), ''The Forests and Vladimir Krajina'' (1978), ''Life After Hockey'' (1989),<ref name=canenc/> ''The Buffalo Ground'' (1995),<ref name=canenc/> ''Tickling the Dragon's Tail'' (1999),<ref name=canenc/> ''The Honour of the Crown'' (2000), ''Arctic Dreamer: The Lonely Quest of Vilhjalmur Stefansson'' (2003),<ref>"Documentary on discoverer of Arctic "blond Eskimos" makes TV debut". Canadian Press, January 29, 2004.</ref> ''Tar Sands: The Selling of Alberta'' (2008)<ref name=canenc/> and ''Lost Years: A People's Struggle for Justice'' (2011), as well as episodes of the television documentary series ''West'', ''Pacificanada'', ''The Nature of Things'' and ''A Scattering of Seeds''.
He won the Gemini Award for Best Science and Nature Documentary at the 26th Gemini Awards in 2011 for "Code Breakers", a ''Nature of Things'' episode he produced in collaboration with director Niobe Thompson;<ref>Fish Griwkowsky, "Locally produced doc wins two Geminis". ''Edmonton Journal'', September 1, 2011.</ref> he also previously won Gemini Awards in 1988 for ''Foster Child'' and in 2004 for ''Arctic Dreamers'',<ref>Olenka Melnyk, "Study of last great Arctic explorer yields Gemini for filmmaker". ''Edmonton Journal'', December 20, 2004.</ref> and received nominations for ''Tipping Point: The Age of the Oil Sands'' and ''The Perfect Runner''.
He was inducted as a member of the Order of Canada in 2020.<ref>Josee St-Onge, [https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/edmonton/order-of-canada-tom-radford-filmmaker-1.5818646 "'Such a surprise': Edmonton filmmaker awarded Order of Canada"]. CBC News Edmonton, November 27, 2020.</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==External links== *{{imdb name|0705544}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Radford, Tom}} Category:1946 births Category:Living people Category:Canadian documentary film directors Category:Canadian documentary film producers Category:Film directors from Edmonton Category:Members of the Order of Canada Category:National Film Board of Canada people Category:University of Alberta alumni Category:Canadian Screen Award winners