To KickOff the 2017 Spirit of Hope Season, Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center isThrilled and Excited to Announce Iconic Canadian Film Producer 
                                                                                                                            
       ROBERT LANTOS

    As CHAIRof the 2017 Benefit Gala

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Robert Lantos was born in Hungary and spent much of hischildhood in Uruguay, where his family emigrated after the Hungarian Revolutionof 1956. He and his family arrived in Canada in 1963.

In 1972, when Robert was still a student at McGill University,he co-founded the company that grew into Alliance Communications Corporation,which for 25 years was Canada's largest film and televisionproduction/distribution company and a leading specialty broadcaster. He wasAlliance's Chairman and CEO until he sold his controlling interest in 1998.

He is a distinguished producer who has made some 40 featurefilms. Four of his films - The Sweet Hereafter, Being Julia, Eastern Promisesand Barney's Version - received Academy Award® Nominations, while Sunshine andEastern Promises were nominated for a Golden Globe for Best Picture and BeingJulia and Barney's Version each won Golden Globes. His most recent film isRemember, starring Academy Award® Winners Christopher Plummer and Martin Landauand directed by Atom Egoyan. His next production is Through Black Spruce, adaptedfrom the Giller Prize winning novel by Joseph Boyden.

Eight of Robert's films have been in the Official CannesSelection, where The Sweet Hereafter won the Grand Prix and the InternationalCritics Prize. Crash won a Special Jury Prize and Adoration won the EcumenicalPrize.

Robert has four times been awarded the Canadian Screen Award forBest Picture for Black Robe, The Sweet Hereafter, Ararat and Sunshine. Ten ofhis films have been chosen as the opening night galas of TIFF. Among themJoshua Then and Now, based on the novel by Mordecai Richler; Fugitive Pieces,based on the novel by Anne Michaels; Whale Music based on the novel by PaulQuarrington; Black Robe based on the novel by Brian Moore and Being Julia basedon the novel by W. Somerset Maugham. His numerous televisioncredits include Due South, North of 60, E.N.G, Night Heat, Sword of Gideon, TheHunchback and Shot Through the Heart. He has won the award for bestCanadian television drama ten times. 

In 1995, Robert launched the specialty network Showcase and two yearslater, History Television.

Robert is a member of the Order of Canada, a recipient of theGovernor General's Performing Arts Award, the Royal Canadian Academy ofthe Arts Award and The Toronto Arts Award.  He received the Academy ofCanadian Film and Television's Award for "Outstanding Contribution to theBusiness of Filmmaking". He is also an inductee in the Canadian Film andTelevision Hall of Fame. Robert is a member of the Academy of Motion PictureArts and Sciences, British Academy of Film and Television Arts, European Film Academyand holds honorary doctorates from McGill University and the University ofHaifa.

The Spiritof Hope Benefit funds award-winning educational initiatives like the Tour forHumanity, recipient of the 2016 "BestPractices" Award of Excellence from the Canadian Race RelationsFoundation.

Pleasejoin Robert Lantos & Friends of Simon Wiesenthal Center at the 2017Benefit. ContactTracey Steyn: tsteyn@fswc.ca for information and registration.