Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. After earning a B.A. in English literature and philosophy from the University of Manitoba in 1959, Cynthia Scott joined the CBC in Winnipeg as a script assistant. From 1961 to 1963, she divided her time between travelling in Europe and working at the Manitoba Theatre Centre as a second assistant director. She eventually moved to England to work as a researcher at the CBC's London office. In 1965, she returned to Canada to take up a position as director/producer for the CBC television program "Take Thirty" and in the next seven years worked on various other programs as well. In 1972, the CBC loaned Scott to the National Film Board to direct "The Ungrateful Land: Roch Carrier Remembers Ste-Justine", a program in the "Adieu Alouette" series. This first short film won Scott an award at the Canadian Film Festival in Montreal. Soon after that, the NFB hired her as a staff director. Over the next several years, Scott directed and produced a number of documentaries that tended to focus on individuals or communities in the different regions of Canada. In the early 1980s, she made three films that reflected her interest in dance: FOR THE LOVE OF DANCE (1981), GALA (1982) and FLAMENCO AT 5:15, which won the Oscar® for best documentary short in 1984. During the same period, she also researched and co-wrote FIRST WINTER with Gloria Demers. Directed by John N. Smith, it received an Oscar nomination for best short drama in 1982. In 1986, Scott made her first dramatic film, JACK OF HEARTS. Based on a humorous short story by Isabel Huggen which also takes place in the dance world, it won second prize at the 1986 Chicago International Festival of Children's Films. However, it was her feature film THE COMPANY OF STRANGERS (1990) that brought Scott the greatest popular and critical acclaim. This alternative drama received a standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival and was a box-office hit in Canada and the United States (where it was released under the title of STRANGERS IN GOOD COMPANY). It grossed over $4 million outside Canada in 1994 and was held over in one Toronto theatre for five months. Scott has won numerous awards for her films, including the Alberta/Quebec Award for innovation in cinema in 1991 (shared with Marcel Simard). She is currently working on a film adaptation of The Stone Diaries.  Documentary (Short Subjects) 1983: FLAMENCO AT 5:15 - Producer (w. Adam Symansky) 1 nomination