Derek Williams

Derek Williams (20 August 1929 – 2 August 2021) was a British documentary film director, writer and historian, who was active in film craft from the 1950s until 1990. His films received four British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTAs) and five Oscar nominations (four as director and writer and one as writer only), all in the short documentary classification.

Early life and education Derek Williams was born in 1929, in Walker, Newcastle upon Tyne within half a mile of Hadrian’s Wall, an association that was to shape his life. His father, Edward W Williams (who worked for J Collet, a Luton-based milliner) had married his mother, Gertrude (née Scheinman, of Russian Jewish descent) the previous year in Hackney, London. Williams attended the Newcastle Royal Grammar School, where he indulged his childhood passion for cinema, joining the Tyneside Film Society in 1937 when it took up residence in the Tyneside Cinema, and which frequently ran documentaries. Williams was inspired by British filmmakers such as John Grierson, Paul Rotha, Harry Watt and Basil Wright. He was also drawn to foreign language features by filmmakers such as Jean Renoir, who had just released his La Grande Illusion (1937) and The Rules of the Game (1939), Marcel Carné working with Alexander Korda in England exploring surrealism, and adapting plays to film such as Vittorio De Sica. After the War, Williams enlisted for mandatory National Service, which he served in Northern Germany before returning to England in 1949, matriculating to Corpus Christi College, Cambridge to read the Historic Tripos. Williams became a member of the sixteen-person party who sailed to the Weddell Sea aboard MV Theron with the intention of establishing an advance base for the main party due to arrive the following year. During the outward journey the ship became frozen in sea ice and so had to depart more rapidly than originally intended, having deposited the shore party who were to remain onshore throughout the Antarctic winter. After 5 months in Antarctica, when Williams was on location as a one-man-crew equipped with film stock and a 35 mm camera, the resulting film, Foothold on Antarctica, was released in 1956. His favourite film from his freelance days was Turkey the Bridge, because it indulged his other great passion, which was history, and in particular, the archaeology of Asia Minor.

In 1969, Williams rejoined Greenpark Films, beginning with a light dramatisation - The Taking Mood - followed by one of his most celebrated documentaries, The Shadow of Progress. By now, Williams was a trusted hand and the most celebrated of Greenpark’s directors. The Shadow of Progress was an early foreshadowing of an environmental crisis starkly presented but with an upbeat message that global catastrophe could be averted with the right technology. "There is a balance" Williams wrote "if we can find it". The film exposed the consequences of industrialization from pollution, and the visual impact and damage to wildlife and the lived environment, which was an unparalleled success winning 25 film and environmental awards.

Three of Williams' next five films received awards or were nominated for Oscars but the 1973 oil crisis meant that crucial sponsorships from oil giants like BP and Shell started to dry up just as Williams’ own career peaked. The industry of shorts and documentary films were in sharp decline, partly because there was no distribution outlet for new releases.efn films had relied on circuit releases as support for major features, which effectively disappeared in the 70s and was not picked up by television who had their own crews featuring journalistic or educational content at the time. The loss of distribution outlet, the rise of television and later environmental distrust of large corporations sealed the decline of prestige documentaries. The film was a contemplative portrayal of the Shetland Islands and its place in the oil industry and was arguably Williams' best film, which was Oscar-nominated. thumb

Williams was unable to produce his own films, lacking the business skills or the inclination, relying completely on sponsorships, which were increasingly hard to come by in the late 1970s and 1980s. He continued making documentaries freelance for an increasing variety of clients, and working on films in an advisory capacity in both the United States and the Soviet Union in the 80s.

Filmography Year Title Role Notes 1950 Hadrian's Wall Writer / Director / Cameraman University dissertation 1955 Oil Harbour, Aden Writer / Director / Cameraman Released by Worldwide Films 1956 Oxford Writer / Director commissioned by the Central Office of Information 1957 From the Good Earth Writer / Director released by Greenpark Films 1957 There was a Door Writer / Director released by Greenpark Films (televised by BBC) 1959 The Road to MIS Writer / Director released by Greenpark Films 1960 Bank of England Writer / Director 1961 Hunted in Holland Writer / Director Drama documentary 1962 Cattle Carters Writer / Director Drama documentary (televised by BBC) 1963 Treasure in Malta Writer / Director Drama documentary 1964 North Slope - Alaska Writer / Director Documentary for BP 1964 I Do - And I Understand Writer / Director Documentary on behalf of the Nuffield Maths Project (Won SFTA Award) 1965 Health of a City Writer / Director released by Fils of Scotland (unaccredited) Writer / Director Documentary released by Greenpark Productions 1975 A Heritage to Build On Writer / Director Documentary released by Greenpark Productions 1975 The End of the Road Writer Documentary released by Pelican Films for BP (Oscar nominated) 1976 The Science of Art Writer / Director Documentary for Windsor & Newton 1977 The Shetland Experience Writer / Director Documentary released by Pelican Films for BP (Oscar nominated) 1978 Not like other ships Writer / Director Documentary for Panocean-Anco. 1979 Planet Water Writer / Director Documentary released by Balfour Films for BP (BAFTA nominated) 1979 The Chemistry of India Writer / Director Documentary released by ICI 1980 Army Cadet Writer / Director Documentary / Short released by Central Office Information 1980 South East Pipeline Writer / Director Documentary / Short released by Wadlow Grosvenor Productions for ESSO 1982 Fair Wear and Tear Writer / Director Documentary for BP 1982 Diamond Day Writer / Director Documentary for De Beers 1985 Configuration Management Writer / Director Documentary for UK Armed Forces 1986 Replenishment at Sea Writer / Director Documentary for UK Armed Forces 1990 A stake in the Soil Writer / Director Documentary released by Shell Film Unit 1992 Oman - Tracts of Time Writer / Director Documentary released by Shell Film Unit (Chicago International Film Festival Award)

Retirement and legacy Williams had spent forty years shooting films in some fifty countries on every continent on the globe, acquiring a particular reputation for adventurous filmmaking in remote, inhospitable locations. All his films were sponsored, mostly by industry, but he managed to avoid any marketing or commercial content in so-called prestige documentaries of the period. Williams achieved four Oscar nominations in the live action short subject category, which hasn't been equalled by any other British Writer Director.

Derek Williams' films and the awards and nominations they received made him one of the leading post-war UK documentary film directors. He was the subject of a retrospective at the British Film Institute on 6 December 2010.

Personal life and death Williams married Olive Minnie Warren on 19 November 1960. They lived in Kent, England from 1961.

Williams died on 2 August 2021, at the age of 91.

Notes and references