Filmmaker Roger Ross Williams has been enjoying an extremely busy year.
He premiered his documentary about Donna Summer at the Berlin Film Festival, and screened his first narrative directorial debut Cassandro and Hulu’s The 1619 Project at the Sundance Film Festival. Williams had previously won an Oscar for his short documentary, Music for Prudence in 2010, but had difficulty raising money for his first feature, God Loves Uganda.
However, things have changed for Williams, and his production banner One Story Up, after a successful year with new projects. Williams believes he had to prove himself to agents and studio heads who didn’t identify with him due to his skin color, stating, “They just didn’t think of me. So they didn’t call me”. Williams grew up in Easton, Pennsylvania, raised by a single mother who worked as a maid. His documentary subjects often include marginalized communities, such as the American evangelical movement in Uganda and its effects on the country’s LGBTQ community in God Loves Uganda.
In 2016, Williams became a member of the Academy’s Board of Governors, representing the documentary branch. During his time as governor, the doc branch achieved gender parity.
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