Rob Stewart

Director and documentarian Rob Stewart spent four years traveling the world as chief photographer for the Canadian Wildlife Federation’s magazines and as an award-winning freelance photojournalist.

While on assignment to photograph sharks in the Galapagos Islands, Stewart discovered illegal long lining, indiscriminately killing sharks within the marine reserve. He decided to make a film to promote awareness about this occurrence resulting in the award-winning 2007 documentary Sharkwater.

While filming what was meant to be a beautiful underwater film, the documentary also became a human drama filled with corruption, espionage, attempted murder charges and mafia rings. Sharkwater has gone on to become the most award-winning documentary of that year, winning over 30 awards at the most prestigious film festivals around the world. It has also made box office history with the largest opening weekend of any Canadian documentary and the third largest opening weekend of a documentary in Canadian history.

Stewart’s book, Sharkwater: An Odyssey to Save the Planet was released in 2007.