Rob Stewart (December 28, 1979 – January 31, 2017) was a Canadian photographer, filmmaker and conservationist. He was best known for making and directing the documentary films '' Sharkwater'' and ''
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
''. He drowned at the age of 37 while scuba diving in Florida, filming ''
Sharkwater Extinction
''Sharkwater Extinction'' is a 2018 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Stewart. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. A sequel to his 2006 film ''Sharkwater'', the film, which Stewart was working on at the time of h ...
''.
Early life
Stewart was born in 1979, in
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
, Ontario, the son of Sandra and Brian Stewart. He began
underwater photography
Underwater photography is the process of taking photographs while under water. It is usually done while scuba diving, but can be done while diving on surface supply, snorkeling, swimming, from a submersible or remotely operated underwater veh ...
as a teenager, and became a scuba diving trainer at eighteen years old. He attended Lawrence Park Collegiate Institute and Crescent School in Toronto as a youth.
For four years, Stewart was chief photographer for the
Canadian Wildlife Federation
The Canadian Wildlife Federation () is a Canadian non-profit organization dedicated to wildlife conservation.
History and mission
The Canadian Wildlife Federation was founded in 1961 and chartered in 1962.
The Canadian Wildlife Federation is de ...
's magazines, and a
freelance journalist
''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...
. He won awards for his journalism. He held a
bachelor's degree
A bachelor's degree (from Middle Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate academic degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six ...
in biology from the
University of Western Ontario
The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...
, and studied zoology and marine biology in
Kenya
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and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
.
Career
Stewart got the idea to make the movie '' Sharkwater'' at age 22, when he found illegal
longline fishing
Longline fishing, or longlining, is a commercial fishing angling technique that uses a long ''main line'' with baited hooks attached at intervals via short branch lines called ''snoods'' or ''gangions''.Galapagos Marine Reserve. He travelled through fifteen countries for the next four years, studying and filming sharks, and going undercover to confront the shark fin industry. ''Sharkwater'' went on to win more than 40 awards at top film festivals. His follow-up film, 2012's ''
Revolution
In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
'', builds on ''Sharkwater'', examining environmental collapse. In 2013, it was the highest grossing Canadian documentary, and it received 19 awards from global film festivals.
In 2012 Stewart released the book ''Save the Humans'', a biography detailing the importance of sharks in his life and the importance of making a positive impact in the ocean.
In 2016, Stewart launched a
Kickstarter
Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...
to fund ''Sharkwater: Extinction'', a sequel to ''Sharkwater'' that would focus on the 80 million sharks killed per year that are unaccounted for by scientists. He was working on the film at the time of his death.
Awards and nominations
Stewart won more than 40 international awards for ''Sharkwater'' and 19 for ''Revolution''.
''Sharkwater'' earned Stewart the Best Documentary and the Audience Favorite Award at the 2006 Fort Lauderdale International Film Festival, the People's Choice Award at the 2006 Atlantic Film Festival and a Special Jury Award at the 2006 Hawaii International Film Festival, and the film was selected by the
Toronto International Film Festival Group
The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...
as one of the top ten Canadian films of 2006. In 2007, his film won the Audience and Best Feature awards at the Gen Art Film festival.
In 2008, he received a Genie Awards nomination for Best Documentary. He received a
Genesis Award
The Genesis Awards are awarded annually by the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) to individuals in the major news and entertainment media for producing outstanding works which raise public awareness of animal issues. Presented by the HSUS ...
for Outstanding Documentary, and an Environmental Vision award at the 35th annual Vision awards in 2008, held in Los Angeles.
Death
In late January 2017, Stewart was in Florida filming ''
Sharkwater Extinction
''Sharkwater Extinction'' is a 2018 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Stewart. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. A sequel to his 2006 film ''Sharkwater'', the film, which Stewart was working on at the time of h ...
'', a sequel to ''Sharkwater''. On January 31, he and his dive partner resurfaced from a deep wreck dive of the '' Queen of Nassau''. His dive leader Peter Sotis fell unconscious while boarding the crew's boat, and as the ship team rushed to provide assistance, Stewart, who was still in the water, vanished.
Paul Watson
Paul Franklin Watson (born December 2, 1950) is a Canadian-American conservation and environmental movement, environmental activist, who founded the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, an anti-poaching and direct action group focused on marine c ...
, a marine wildlife conservation and environmental activist and friend of Stewart, noted that he had been using a
rebreather
A rebreather is a breathing apparatus that absorbs the carbon dioxide of a user's breathing, exhaled breath to permit the rebreathing (recycling) of the substantially unused oxygen content, and unused inert content when present, of each breath. ...
, which could have rendered him unconscious as well.
A search was launched, and on February 3, the
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard (USCG) is the maritime security, search and rescue, and law enforcement service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the country's eight uniformed services. The service is a maritime, military, mult ...
located Stewart's body in the water approximately down, close to where he disappeared. His funeral was held at
Bloor Street United Church
Bloor Street United Church is a United Church of Canada church in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Bloor Street West in the Downtown Toronto, downtown core near the intersection with Huron Street. It is just north of the University of Tor ...
in Toronto on February 18, 2017. Released months later, the autopsy report from the Monroe County medical examiner said he died from drowning after falling to
hypoxia
Hypoxia means a lower than normal level of oxygen, and may refer to:
Reduced or insufficient oxygen
* Hypoxia (environmental), abnormally low oxygen content of the specific environment
* Hypoxia (medical), abnormally low level of oxygen in the tis ...
at the surface of the ocean.
In spring 2017, Stewart's family filed a wrongful death lawsuit, alleging it was caused by the negligence of the dive operators who provided equipment that did not meet US safety standards and left him in the water without a dive leader.
Legacy
Stewart was working on a sequel film, ''
Sharkwater Extinction
''Sharkwater Extinction'' is a 2018 Canadian documentary film directed by Rob Stewart. It premiered at the 2018 Toronto International Film Festival. A sequel to his 2006 film ''Sharkwater'', the film, which Stewart was working on at the time of h ...
'', at the time of his death. Using footage already shot by Stewart as well as his written comments, the movie was completed by film and story editor
Nick Hector
Nick Hector is a British Canadian film producer and editor, and professor of film production at the University of Windsor.
Career
Hector collaborated with Canadian filmmaker Allan King and exclusively cut his films during the last decade of K ...
and director
Sturla Gunnarsson
Sturla Gunnarsson (born August 30, 1951) is an Icelandic-Canadian film and television director and producer.
Gunnarsson was born in Reykjavík in 1951. He moved to Vancouver, British Columbia, with his parents when he was seven years old. As he ...
for the Rob Stewart Foundation. It premiered at the
2018 Toronto International Film Festival
The 43rd annual Toronto International Film Festival was held from September 6 to 16, 2018. In June 2018, the TIFF organizers announced a program to ensure that at least 20 percent of all film critics and journalists given press accreditation to ...
in September, as a "Special Event" screening that also incorporated a memorial tribute to Stewart and his legacy; the official release date was set for October 5. His mother Sandy Stewart said about the completion of the film that " heentire team stayed with it, everybody stepped up. We have people from all over the world – cinematographers, filmmakers, really important people – offering to help finish this, and that was really heartwarming."
At the
5th Canadian Screen Awards
The 5th annual Canadian Screen Awards were held on March 12, 2017, to honour achievements in Canadian film, television, and digital media production in 2016. Nominations were announced on January 17, 2017.
Awards in many of the technical categor ...
Rob Stewart Award The Rob Stewart Award, formerly known as the Gemini/Canadian Screen Award for Best Science or Nature Documentary Program, is a Canadian television award, presented by the Academy of Canadian Cinema and Television to honour the year's best television ...
in Stewart's memory.
In October 2018, Robert Osborne's documentary film ''The Third Dive: The Death of Rob Stewart'', investigating the possible role of safety violations by the dive operator in Stewart's death, was broadcast by
CBC Television
CBC Television (also known as CBC TV) is a Canadian English-language broadcast television network owned by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, the national public broadcaster. The network began operations on September 6, 1952. Its French-l ...
as an episode of the documentary series ''
CBC Docs POV
''CBC Docs POV'' is a Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist ...