Roger Ross Williams (born September 16, 1962) is an American director, producer and writer and the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

director to win an

Academy Award The Academy Awards, better known as the Oscars, are awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international film industry. The awards are regarded by many as the most prestigious, significant awards in the entertainment in ...

(Oscar), with his short film '' Music by Prudence''; this film won the

Academy Award for Best Documentary Short Film This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are anno ...

in 2009.

Life and career

Williams is a member of a

Gullah The Gullah () are an African American ethnic group who predominantly live in the Lowcountry region of the U.S. states of Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, and North Carolina, within the coastal plain and the Sea Islands. Their language and cul ...

family from South Carolina, and has lived and worked in New York City for a over twenty-five years. Williams attended

Northampton Community College Northampton Community College is a public community college in Pennsylvania with campuses in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Bethlehem in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, Northampton County and Tannersville, Pennsylvania, Tannersville in Monroe County ...

Bethlehem, Pennsylvania Bethlehem is a city in Northampton and Lehigh Counties in the Lehigh Valley region of eastern Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2020 census, Bethlehem had a total population of 75,781. Of this, 55,639 were in Northampton County and 19,3 ...

and

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private research university in New York City. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded by a group of New Yorkers led by then- Secretary of the Treasury Albert Gallatin. In 1832, ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the U ...

. Williams began his career in 1985, producing

political satire Political satire is satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where su ...

for

Comedy Central Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by Paramount Global through its network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared towards young adults aged 18–34 and carries comedy program ...

and

Michael Moore Michael Francis Moore (born April 23, 1954) is an American filmmaker, author and left-wing activist. His works frequently address the topics of globalization and capitalism. Moore won the 2002 Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature for ...

's Emmy Award-winning series ''

TV Nation ''TV Nation'' is a satirical news magazine television series written, co-produced, directed and hosted by Michael Moore that was co-funded and originally broadcast by NBC in the United States and BBC2 in the United Kingdom. The show blended humo ...

''. He has since produced and directed for

NBC News NBC News is the news division of the American broadcast television network NBC. The division operates under NBCUniversal Television and Streaming, a division of NBCUniversal, which is, in turn, a subsidiary of Comcast. The news division's ...

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and politic ...

, BBC, CNN and has produced work for

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a joint venture and general partnership between Warner Bros. Discovery Networks (which holds a 69% ownership stake of the network) and Nexstar Media Group ...

, TLC,

VH1 VH1 (originally an initialism of Video Hits One) is an American basic cable television network based in New York City and owned by Paramount Global. It was created by Warner-Amex Satellite Entertainment, at the time a division of Warner Commun ...

, including numerous primetime specials for

Public Broadcasting Service The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is an American public broadcaster and non-commercial, free-to-air television network based in Arlington, Virginia. PBS is a publicly funded nonprofit organization and the most prominent provider of educa ...

(PBS),

American Broadcasting Company The American Broadcasting Company (ABC) is an Television in the United States, American Commercial broadcasting, commercial broadcast television network. It is the flagship property of the Disney General Entertainment Content#Current assets, ...

(ABC) and

ABC News ABC News is the journalism, news division of the American broadcast network American Broadcasting Company, ABC. Its flagship program is the daily evening newscast ''ABC World News Tonight, ABC World News Tonight with David Muir''; other progra ...

, CBS, Sundance Channel and New York Times Television. He has also produced a documentary series for

Discovery Networks Discovery, Inc. was an American multinational mass media factual television conglomerate based in New York City. Established in 1985, the company operated a group of factual and lifestyle television brands, such as the namesake Discovery Channel ...

and a lifestyle series, ''Sheila Bridges Designer Living'', for Scripps Networks. He has won numerous awards for his TV work including a NAMIC Vision Award and the National Headliner for Best Human Interest Feature documentary. Williams has directed a number of films including '' Life, Animated'', which won the

Sundance Film Festival The Sundance Film Festival (formerly Utah/US Film Festival, then US Film and Video Festival) is an annual film festival organized by the Sundance Institute. It is the largest independent film festival in the United States, with more than 46,6 ...

Directing Award, was nominated for an

Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film The Academy Award for Best Documentary Feature Film is an award for documentary films. In 1941, the first awards for feature-length documentaries were bestowed as Special Awards to ''Kukan'' and ''Target for Tonight''. They have since been bestow ...

and won three

Emmy Awards The Emmy Awards, or Emmys, are an extensive range of awards for artistic and technical merit for the American and international television industry. A number of annual Emmy Award ceremonies are held throughout the calendar year, each with the ...

in 2018, including the award for Best Documentary. The film ''

God Loves Uganda ''God Loves Uganda'' is a 2013 American documentary film produced and directed by Roger Ross Williams, which premiered at the 2013 Sundance Film Festival. It explores connections between evangelicalism in North America and in Uganda, suggesting t ...

'' that he directed, which was shortlisted for an

and ''

American Jail American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...

'', examined the U.S. prison system and premiered on CNN and the BBC. Williams directed ''

Traveling While Black ''Traveling While Black'' is a Canadian-American coproduced virtual reality documentary film project, directed by Roger Ross Williams and released in 2019.Dream McClinton"Traveling While Black: behind the eye-opening VR documentary on racism in A ...

'', a

virtual reality Virtual reality (VR) is a simulated experience that employs pose tracking and 3D near-eye displays to give the user an immersive feel of a virtual world. Applications of virtual reality include entertainment (particularly video games), e ...

documentary / transmedia project made for Facebook's

Oculus Oculus (a term from Latin ''oculus'', meaning 'eye'), may refer to the following Architecture * Oculus (architecture), a circular opening in the centre of a dome or in a wall Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Oculus'' (film), a 2013 American s ...

, which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2019. His 2019 film ''The Apollo'', a documentary about Harlem's legendary

Apollo Theater The Apollo Theater is a music hall at 253 West 125th Street between Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard (Seventh Avenue) and Frederick Douglass Boulevard (Eighth Avenue) in the Harlem neighborhood of Upper Manhattan in New York City. It is a n ...

, was the opening night film of the 2019

Tribeca Film Festival The Tribeca Festival is an annual film festival organized by Tribeca Productions. It takes place each spring in New York City, showcasing a diverse selection of film, episodic, talks, music, games, art, and immersive programming. Tribeca was ...

. His first narrative feature film for

Amazon Studios Amazon Studios is an American television and film producer and distributor that is a subsidiary of Amazon. It specializes in developing television series and distributing and producing films. It was started in late 2010. Content is distributed t ...

is in pre-production. His production company, One Story Up, which he founded with

Geoff Martz Geoffrey, Geoffroy, Geoff, etc., may refer to: People * Geoffrey (name), including a list of people with the name * Geoffroy (surname), including a list of people with the name * Geoffrey of Monmouth (c. 1095–c. 1155), clergyman and one of the m ...

, is producing a variety of projects including documentary series for

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a ...

. The documentary film ''Master of Light'', directed by Rosa Ruth Boesten and produced by Geoff Martz, Ilja Roomans, Anousha Nzume and Williams, was played at the music and film festival

South by Southwest South by Southwest, abbreviated as SXSW and colloquially referred to as South By, is an annual conglomeration of parallel film, interactive media, and music festivals and conferences organized jointly that take place in mid-March in Austin, ...

(SXSW) in March 2022. It is a production of One Story Up and the Dutch documentary collective 'Docmakers'. It is a film about the artist George Anthony Morton. The film was included in

HBO Max HBO Max is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service owned by Warner Bros. Discovery. Launched in the United States on May 27, 2020, the service is built around the libraries of HBO, Warner Bros., Cartoon Netwo ...

that same year. Williams is the first

director to win an

(Oscar) with his short film '' Music by Prudence''; this film won the

in 2009. Williams serves on the board of Docubox Kenya, a documentary fund and mentorship program based in

Nairobi Nairobi ( ) is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase ''Enkare Nairobi'', which translates to "place of cool waters", a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city prope ...

that supports African filmmakers. Williams serves on the alumni advisor board of None On Record, the alumni advisory board of the

Sundance Institute Sundance Institute is a non-profit organization founded by Robert Redford committed to the growth of independent artists. The institute is driven by its programs that discover and support independent filmmakers, theatre artists and composers fr ...

, and, since 2016, the Board of Governors for the

Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS, often pronounced ; also known as simply the Academy or the Motion Picture Academy) is a professional honorary organization with the stated goal of advancing the arts and sciences of motion ...

, serving as chair of the Documentary Branch and the Documentary Diversity Committee He is also a trustee of the Zeitz Museum of Contemporary Art Africa, the first major museum in Africa dedicated to contemporary art. Furthermore, he is a member of the Advisory Board of

Full Frame Documentary Film Festival The Full Frame Documentary Film Festival is an annual international event dedicated to the theatrical exhibition of non-fiction cinema. The festival is a program of the Center for Documentary Studies, a non-profit, 501(c)(3) at Duke University ...

, and of the board of the

Tribeca Film Institute The Tribeca Film Institute (TFI) is a year-round non-profit arts organization founded by Robert De Niro, Jane Rosenthal, and Craig Hatkoff, based in New York. The Tribeca Film Institute was created in 2003 in the wake of September 11, 2001. TFI ...

. He splits his time between upstate New York and Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

Filmography

Director

*1997: ''Discovered At Sundance'' (TV) *2000: ''Reagan: A Life In Pictures'' (TV) *2001: ''Time'' (TV) *2001: ''Challenge America With Erin Brockovich'' (TV) *2002: ''Secret Son'' (TV) *2003: ''Power, Privilege & Justice'' (TV) *2003: ''Boys Will Be Girls'' (TV) *2003: ''First Off The Tee'' (TV) *2003: ''New York Underground'' (TV) *2004: ''The Lives They Lived'' (TV) *2004: ''Moroccan Style'' (TV) *2005: ''Sheila Bridges Designer Living: Morocco Special'' (TV) and ''Sheila Bridges Designer Living'' *2006: ''Amazing Families'' (TV) *2010: ''Undercover Boss'' (TV, 1 episode: 7-Eleven) *2010: '' Music by Prudence'' *2013: ''

'' *2014: ''Tutu: The Essence of Being Human'' *2015: ''Gospel of Intolerance'' *2015: ''Blackface'' *2016: '' Life, Animated'' *2018: ''American Jail'' *2019: ''The Apollo'' *2023: '' Cassandro''

Producer

*1995: ''People Yearbook '95'' (TV) (segment producer) *1996: ''Sex, Drugs and Consequences'' (TV) (producer) *1997: ''

'': ''Volume One'' (segment producer) *2000: ''Reagan: A Life In Pictures'' (TV) (producer) *2001: ''Time'' (TV) (producer) *2002: ''Secret Son'' (TV) (producer) *2002: ''Life 360'' (segment producer) (1 episode:Telling the Children) (segment producer) *2003: ''Power, Privilege & Justice'' (TV) (producer) *2003: ''First Off The Tee'' (TV) (producer) *2003: ''New York Underground'' (TV) (producer) *2004: ''The Lives They Lived'' (TV) (producer) *2004: ''Moroccan Style'' (TV) (producer) *2004 - 2005: ''Sheila Bridges Designer Living'' (series supervising producer) *2006: ''Amazing Families'' (TV) (producer) *2007: ''Alone No Love'' (co-producer) *2007: ''Yearbook'' (TV) (series producer) *2010: ''Music by Prudence'' (producer) *2013: ''God Loves Uganda'' (producer) *2014: ''Tutu: The Essence of Being Human'' (producer) *2016: '' Life, Animated'' *2022: ''Master of Light''

Screenwriter

*2000: ''Reagan: A Life In Pictures'' (TV) *2003: ''Power, Privilege & Justice'' (TV) *2003: ''First Off The Tee'' (TV) *2003: ''New York Underground'' (TV) *2004: ''The Lives They Lived'' (TV) *2004: ''Moroccan Style'' (TV) *2005: ''Sheila Bridges Designer Living: Morocco Special'' (TV) *2006: ''Amazing Families'' (TV)

Awards

* NAMIC Vision Award for the television special ''Moroccan Style'' * The National Headliner for Best Human Interest Feature for his documentary ''New York Underground'' *

Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject) This is a list of films by year that have received an Academy Award together with the other nominations for best documentary short film. Following the Academy's practice, the year listed for each film is the year of release: the awards are annou ...

for '' Music by Prudence'' in 2010. * Inspiration Award,

for ''God Loves Uganda'' *Best Feature Documentary, Ashland Independent Film Festival for ''

'' * Best Feature Documentary

Dallas International Film Festival The Dallas International Film Festival (DIFF), presented by Dallas Film, is an annual film festival that takes place in Dallas, Texas. About Dallas Film Dallas Film, established as Dallas Film Society, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organizatio ...

for ''

'' * Directing Award: U.S. Documentary Sundance Film Festival 2016 for "Life, Animated"

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Williams, Roger Ross 1962 births Living people African-American film directors American documentary filmmakers Directors of Best Documentary Short Subject Academy Award winners Easton Area High School alumni Film directors from Pennsylvania Primetime Emmy Award winners 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American people