Cairo-born,
Canadian-raised, and of Armenian descent, Atom Egoyan is one of the most
celebrated contemporary filmmakers on the international scene today. His
works have received both critical acclaim and commercial success around
the world. Saluted and honoured at Cannes, Berlin, Moscow, Paris, London,
New York, Taipei, Budapest, Greece, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United
States as an immensely talented filmmaker, Atom Egoyan, viewed left on
set with actor Ian Holm, galvanized international stature as a film artist
when The Sweet Hereafter (1997) became the most-honoured film of the 1997
Cannes Film Festival, winning the Grand Prize of the Jury, and was nominated
the same year for a double Academy Award for both Best Director and Best
Adapted Screenplay. In 1999, Mr. Egoyan was made an Officer of the Order
of Canada and Brock University awarded him an honorary Doctor of Letters
degree. [Photo, courtesy Johnnie Eisen]