Sydney Samuelson

Sir Sydney Herchel Wylie Samuelson (7 December 1925 – 14 December 2022) was a British film director and cinematographer. He was appointed in 1991 by the government of the UK as the first British Film Commissioner.

Early life Sydney Herchel Wylie Samuelson was born in Paddington, London on 7 December 1925, to George Berthold Samuelson, a cinema pioneer of the silent film era, and Marjorie Emma Elizabeth Vint. He was educated at the Irene Avenue Council School in Lancing, West Sussex. he got a job as a trainee cameraman with the Colonial Film Unit. He then went on to work for Rayant Pictures, for whom he filmed the Coronation of Elizabeth II in 1953.

He wrote the foreword featured in the book In Conversation with Cinematographers by David A. Ellis, published by the American publisher Rowman & Littlefield. He was the first President of the UK Jewish Film Festival. He remained in the role until 2005, and as of 2010 was the UKJFF Honorary Lifetime Patron.

Death Samuelson died at his home on 14 December 2022, aged 97.