# Richard Raymond (filmmaker)

Richard Raymond is a British film director. He is known for films such as Heartless, Souls of Totality, A Million Eyes and Desert Dancer.

## Early life and education

Richard Raymond was born in London, England, into a Jewish Indian family. He loved films from a young age, and started making his own short films aged 15.

## Career

Raymond started his career as an assistant at Pinewood Film Studios, working under directors including Kenneth Branagh, Richard Attenborough, and Neil Jordan. He also worked on British television commercials for directors such as Tarsem, Daniel Barber, Tony Kaye, and Jonathan Glazer.
Raymond started his career in 2009 by producing Heartless, a British feature film starring Jim Sturgess, Eddie Marsan, and Timothy Spall.
In 2015, he made his directorial debut with Desert Dancer, starring Freida Pinto. The film was distributed by Relativity Media and opened the Santa Barbara Film Festival. It also screened Lincoln Center, the US Capitol, the United Nations, and the Edinburgh International Film Festival, where it received the Audience Award. Desert Dancer was also nominated for the Golden Frog film award at Camerimage and won Best Dance Choreography at the Fred and Adele Astaire Awards.
In 2018 Raymond made Souls of Totality with actress Tatiana Maslany, where he filmed a single-take sequence during an actual solar eclipse. The film premiered at the 2018 HollyShorts Film Festival & won 12 Best Film awards, including Best Film of the Festival at Raindance Film Festival, the Grand Jury Award at HollyShorts Film Festival, and the Grand Prix at the Hiroshima International Film Festival. Richard won a Best Director award at the Edinburgh International Film Festival for this film and was also short-listed for an Oscar.
He directed the short film A Million Eyes in 2019, featuring Joe Morton and Katie Lowes. A Million Eyes won 10 Best Film awards, including the Grand Prix award at the Hiroshima International Film Festival and the and a Special Jury Award at HollyShorts Film Festival, and was long-listed for the 2020 Oscars.
In May 2019, a film directed by Raymond titled One Thousand Paper Cranes was announced to begin production, with Evan Rachel Wood playing Eleanor Coerr, who wrote the 1977 book Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes about the story of Sadako Sasaki, a victim of the Hiroshima bombing in 1945.

## Filmography

| Year | Title | Director | Producer |
| 2009 | Heartless | | Yes |
| 2015 | Desert Dancer | Yes | Yes |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Yes | Yes |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Yes | Yes |
| 2025 | Heart of the Beast (upcoming) | | Yes |

## Awards

| Year | Title | Category | Awards | Result |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Director | Edinburgh International Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | BestShort of the Festival | Raindance Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Grand Jury Prize | HollyShorts Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Short of the Festival | St. Louis International Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Grand Prix Best Film Award | Hiroshima Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Film of the Festival | New Renaissance Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Most Popular Film | Rhode Island International Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Special Mention | Edinburgh International Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Maverick Spirit Award | Cinequest Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Special Jury Award for Best Cinematography | Bend Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Film Audience Award | El Festival Americana | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Northern Film | Klamath Independent Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Actress Tatiana Maslany | Love Story Film Festival | Won |
| 2018 | Souls of Totality | Best Actor Tom Cullen | Love Story Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Grand Prix Best Film Award | Hiroshima Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Film of the Festival | ME Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Short of the Festival | New Renaissance Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Film of the Festival | Dam short International Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Special Jury Recognition | HollyShorts Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Short Film | Gold Movie Awards London | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Cinematography | New Renaissance Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Young Actor | New Renaissance Film Festival | Won |
| 2019 | A Million Eyes | Best Film Jury Prize | Providence Children's Film Festival | Won |