Roger Graef
Encyclopedia
Roger Arthur Graef OBE
(born April 18, 1936) is a criminologist and film-maker. Born in New York, he moved to Britain in 1962, where he has made ground-breaking documentary films with his ability to gain access to hitherto closed institutions, including Government ministries and court buildings.
, and started directing plays at Harvard University, staging the première of Robert Penn Warren
's Brother to Dragons, and the New England première of Virgil Thomson
and Gertrude Stein
's opera The Mother of Us All
.
He directed twenty-four plays in theatres up and down the East Coast, and was chosen by CBS for its new TV drama directors' program. He directed two network dramas for CBS, including The Seven who were Hanged, an hour special adapted and produced by Robert Herridge
from the Leonid Andreyev
novel of the same name
.
at the Royal Court
and Wyndham's Theatre
in the West End of London.
His first film was One of them is Brett for the Society of Thalidomide Children, to demonstrate to head teachers of primary schools that the physical handicaps of the children did not stop them from being active mentally. It won the Silver Dragon at Cracow, and was shown on the BBC, CBC and ABC Scope
in the US. It entered medical school curricula as well.
His film The Life and Times of John Huston, Esq for the BBC, CBC and NET in the US, was one of the very first documentary co-productions for television. He subsequently produced the 13-part series Who Is on artists, architects, writers, and composers for BBC, CBC, NET and Bayerischer Rundfunk, directing the episodes on Jacques Lipchitz, Pierre Boulez, Walter Gropius and Maurice Bejart himself.
His film Why Save Florence? (BBC/BR/NET) in 1968 revealed the scandalous state of the city's defences against flooding.
His 1970 film In the Name of Allah: the life cycle of a Muslim community (Fes, Morocco) for BBC/BR/NET was the first long documentary on Islam shown in the West.
Working with his collaborator cameraman Charles Stewart, he made the first 'fly-on-the wall' purely observational series The Space between Words in 1972 for the BBC and PBS, including Politics, the first film inside the US Senate, and Diplomacy, the first unstaged film inside the UN.
He then made a series of ground breaking access films for Granada Television. Working with Norma Percy
and Brian Lapping, he made the first film inside the UK Government: State of the Nation: A Law in the Making, and in 1976 the first film inside the EU: Inside the Brussels HQ. His three part series Decision followed top level decision making inside Occidental Petroleum, Hammersmith Council and British Steel. The steel film was adapted as a short course by Harvard and London Business Schools.
His 1978 series Decision; British Communism followed the evolution of a manifesto over several years. It won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Current Affairs Documentary.
In 1973 he became a member of the board of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
(ICA) in London, and created and chaired its Architectural Forum. He also became a part-time tutor at the Architectural Association. In 1975 he was appointed to the Development Control Review of Planning Law, chaired by Goerge Dobry QC and chaired the Sub-Group on Public Involvement in Planning. He promoted the early publication of planning officers' recommendations for approval or refusal of applications before the meeting which is now standard practice. He was also on the three-man Inquiry into Control of Demolition. In 1976 he was made a member of the board of London Transport. He subsequently co-designed the London Bus Map with Andrew Holmes. His BBC film, Is this the Way to Save a City? co-directed by Mike Dibb for Omnibus, delayed the redevelopment of Cardiff. Together with Simon Jenkins, he made a film for Arena showing that a Grade II listed building was demolished every day during Save Britain's Heritage Year.
1982 he made a ground-breaking observational documentary titled Police
about the Thames Valley Police
. The reaction to the programme's portrayal of insensitive police handling of a rape victim changed the way in which the UK police handled rape cases. He directed the films/TV specials of the first three Amnesty International
comedy galas in 1976, 1977 and 1979 - the last of which was the first Secret Policeman's Ball
film. In 1984 he co-produced the first Comic Relief with Richard Curtis, and Look at the State We're In (BBC), a series of short satirical films on constitutional reform, with John Cleese, Hugh Laurie, Dawn French, Anthony Sher.
Graef became a UK citizen in 1995. He was a trustee and then a patron of the Koestler Trust
for art in prisons, the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, the Irene Taylor Trust for Music in Prisons, the Voice of the Child in Care, Who Cares? Trust and Prisoners Abroad
, a charity which supports Britons imprisoned outside the UK. He is a patron of the Mulberry Bush School
in Oxfordshire, the subject of Kim Longinotto
's Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go for Films of Record.
As a criminologist, he has made more than thirty films on police and criminal justice issues, including Police, Operation Carter, In Search of Law and Order UK (Channel 4)and In Search of Law and Order - USA (pbs and Channel 4) on positive ways to address youth offending, which influenced the National Youth Justice Board. Police 2001 (BBC) looked at how policing had changed since his 1982 series, Panorama: Rape on Trial looked at how much had changed in the handling of rape since his 1982 film. His 1987 fiction film Closing Ranks (ITV/Zenith) about domestic violence in the police was used in training for many years. Since 1995 he has been a Visiting Fellow of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics
. He is an advisor to the England and Wales Sentencing Council
.
He has written Talking Blues: Police In Their Own Words (Harper Collins), Living Dangerously: young offenders in their own words (Harvill) and Why Restorative Justice? (Gulbenkian).
He broadcasts regularly on Radio 4 and 5 and writes for the Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, the Observer and the Guardian.
Graef was a founding board member of Channel Four. He was News International Visiting Professor of Media and Communications at Oxford University. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the Media Standards Trust.
(BBC), and a series on family discord Who Needs Fathers? (BBC). Graef's most recent productions are Kids in Care, a Panorama Special, The Trouble with Pirates on the impact of Somali piracy.
Films of Record is now part of factual media group Ten Alps
.
Requiem for Detroit? directed by Julien Temple for Films of Record won the Grierson Award
for Best Historical Documentary in 2010.
Feltham Sings, directed by Brian Hill and produced by Roger Graef won a BAFTA for Best Documentary in 2004.
Hold me tight let me go
Best Documentary at Britdoc, Grand Jury Prize at IDFA, Amsterdam,
Best Documentary Bird's Eye Festival, Best Documentary Britspotting, Berlin
Malaria: Fever Road - One World Awards: Best Documentary
Race for the Beach
CBA-Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme
Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is an order of chivalry established on 4 June 1917 by George V of the United Kingdom. The Order comprises five classes in civil and military divisions...
(born April 18, 1936) is a criminologist and film-maker. Born in New York, he moved to Britain in 1962, where he has made ground-breaking documentary films with his ability to gain access to hitherto closed institutions, including Government ministries and court buildings.
Early life
Graef was born in New YorkNew York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
, and started directing plays at Harvard University, staging the première of Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren
Robert Penn Warren was an American poet, novelist, and literary critic and was one of the founders of New Criticism. He was also a charter member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers. He founded the influential literary journal The Southern Review with Cleanth Brooks in 1935...
's Brother to Dragons, and the New England première of Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson
Virgil Thomson was an American composer and critic. He was instrumental in the development of the "American Sound" in classical music...
and Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein
Gertrude Stein was an American writer, poet and art collector who spent most of her life in France.-Early life:...
's opera The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All
The Mother of Us All is an opera by Virgil Thomson to a libretto by Gertrude Stein. It chronicles the life of Susan B. Anthony, one of the major figures in the fight for women's suffrage in the United States...
.
He directed twenty-four plays in theatres up and down the East Coast, and was chosen by CBS for its new TV drama directors' program. He directed two network dramas for CBS, including The Seven who were Hanged, an hour special adapted and produced by Robert Herridge
Robert herridge
Robert Herridge , was a television producer and writer who created the CBS television program Camera Three, among more than 1,700 hours of TV programming, beginning in 1950....
from the Leonid Andreyev
Leonid Andreyev
Leonid Nikolaievich Andreyev was a Russian playwright, novelist and short-story writer. He is one of the most talented and prolific representatives of the Silver Age period in Russian history...
novel of the same name
The Seven Who Were Hanged
The Seven That Were Hanged is a 1909 novel by Russian author Leonid Andreyev. Herman Bernstein translated the novel from Russian to English.-Plot:...
.
Career in Britain
He moved to Britain in 1962 and directed Tennessee Williams' Period of AdjustmentPeriod of Adjustment
Period of Adjustment is a 1960 play by Tennessee Williams that was adapted for the screen in 1962.Both the stage and film versions are set on Christmas Eve and tell the gentle, light-hearted story of two couples, one newlywed and the other married for five years, both experiencing pains and...
at the Royal Court
Royal Court Theatre
The Royal Court Theatre is a non-commercial theatre on Sloane Square, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It is noted for its contributions to modern theatre...
and Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre
Wyndham's Theatre is a West End theatre, one of two opened by the actor/manager Charles Wyndham . Located on Charing Cross Road, in the City of Westminster, it was designed by W.G.R. Sprague about 1898, the architect of six other London theatres between then and 1916...
in the West End of London.
His first film was One of them is Brett for the Society of Thalidomide Children, to demonstrate to head teachers of primary schools that the physical handicaps of the children did not stop them from being active mentally. It won the Silver Dragon at Cracow, and was shown on the BBC, CBC and ABC Scope
ABC Scope
ABC Scope is a public affairs program that appeared on the ABC television network from 1964–1968, hosted by Howard K. Smith, the future anchor of the ABC Evening News. News reporters Louis Rukeyser, Frank Reynolds and John Scali also appeared...
in the US. It entered medical school curricula as well.
His film The Life and Times of John Huston, Esq for the BBC, CBC and NET in the US, was one of the very first documentary co-productions for television. He subsequently produced the 13-part series Who Is on artists, architects, writers, and composers for BBC, CBC, NET and Bayerischer Rundfunk, directing the episodes on Jacques Lipchitz, Pierre Boulez, Walter Gropius and Maurice Bejart himself.
His film Why Save Florence? (BBC/BR/NET) in 1968 revealed the scandalous state of the city's defences against flooding.
His 1970 film In the Name of Allah: the life cycle of a Muslim community (Fes, Morocco) for BBC/BR/NET was the first long documentary on Islam shown in the West.
Working with his collaborator cameraman Charles Stewart, he made the first 'fly-on-the wall' purely observational series The Space between Words in 1972 for the BBC and PBS, including Politics, the first film inside the US Senate, and Diplomacy, the first unstaged film inside the UN.
He then made a series of ground breaking access films for Granada Television. Working with Norma Percy
Norma Percy
Norma Percy is an American-born award winning documentary film maker and producer. The documentaries produced in collaboration with Brian Lapping have covered many of the crises of the 20th Century and were described by the Wall Street Journal as "the Rolls-Royce of documentary-making".-Early...
and Brian Lapping, he made the first film inside the UK Government: State of the Nation: A Law in the Making, and in 1976 the first film inside the EU: Inside the Brussels HQ. His three part series Decision followed top level decision making inside Occidental Petroleum, Hammersmith Council and British Steel. The steel film was adapted as a short course by Harvard and London Business Schools.
His 1978 series Decision; British Communism followed the evolution of a manifesto over several years. It won the Royal Television Society Award for Best Current Affairs Documentary.
In 1973 he became a member of the board of the Institute of Contemporary Arts
Institute of Contemporary Arts
The Institute of Contemporary Arts is an artistic and cultural centre on The Mall in London, just off Trafalgar Square. It is located within Nash House, part of Carlton House Terrace, near the Duke of York Steps and Admiralty Arch...
(ICA) in London, and created and chaired its Architectural Forum. He also became a part-time tutor at the Architectural Association. In 1975 he was appointed to the Development Control Review of Planning Law, chaired by Goerge Dobry QC and chaired the Sub-Group on Public Involvement in Planning. He promoted the early publication of planning officers' recommendations for approval or refusal of applications before the meeting which is now standard practice. He was also on the three-man Inquiry into Control of Demolition. In 1976 he was made a member of the board of London Transport. He subsequently co-designed the London Bus Map with Andrew Holmes. His BBC film, Is this the Way to Save a City? co-directed by Mike Dibb for Omnibus, delayed the redevelopment of Cardiff. Together with Simon Jenkins, he made a film for Arena showing that a Grade II listed building was demolished every day during Save Britain's Heritage Year.
1982 he made a ground-breaking observational documentary titled Police
Police (TV series)
Police was a BBC Television documentary television series about Thames Valley Police, first broadcast in 1982. Produced by Roger Graef and directed by Charles Stewart, it won the BAFTA award for best factual series....
about the Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police
Thames Valley Police, formerly known as Thames Valley Constabulary, is the territorial police force responsible for policing the Thames Valley area covered by the ceremonial counties of Berkshire, Buckinghamshire and Oxfordshire....
. The reaction to the programme's portrayal of insensitive police handling of a rape victim changed the way in which the UK police handled rape cases. He directed the films/TV specials of the first three Amnesty International
Amnesty International
Amnesty International is an international non-governmental organisation whose stated mission is "to conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights, and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated."Following a publication of Peter Benenson's...
comedy galas in 1976, 1977 and 1979 - the last of which was the first Secret Policeman's Ball
The Secret Policeman's Balls
The Secret Policeman's Balls is the collective name informally used to describe the long-running series of benefit shows staged in England to raise funds for the human rights organisation Amnesty International...
film. In 1984 he co-produced the first Comic Relief with Richard Curtis, and Look at the State We're In (BBC), a series of short satirical films on constitutional reform, with John Cleese, Hugh Laurie, Dawn French, Anthony Sher.
Graef became a UK citizen in 1995. He was a trustee and then a patron of the Koestler Trust
Koestler Trust
The Koestler Trust or award scheme,is a charity which helps prison inmates and detained psychiatric patients in the UK to express themselves creatively. The trust promotes the arts in special institutions, encouraging creativity and the acquisition of new skills as a means to rehabilitation...
for art in prisons, the Rehabilitation for Addicted Prisoners Trust, the Irene Taylor Trust for Music in Prisons, the Voice of the Child in Care, Who Cares? Trust and Prisoners Abroad
Prisoners Abroad
Prisoners Abroad is a UK-registered charity which supports British citizens who are imprisoned overseas. It also works with ex-prisoners returning to the UK and with families members and friends of those detained. The organisation aims to provide for the basic welfare needs of Britons who are held...
, a charity which supports Britons imprisoned outside the UK. He is a patron of the Mulberry Bush School
Mulberry Bush School
Mulberry Bush School is an independent residential special school in the village of Standlake in Oxfordshire, for children aged 5 to 12 years.The school was founded in 1948 by psychologist Barbara Dockar-Drysdale. It is a registered charity....
in Oxfordshire, the subject of Kim Longinotto
Kim Longinotto
Kim Longinotto is a British documentary film maker, well known for making films which highlight the plight of female victims of oppression or discrimination...
's Hold Me Tight, Let Me Go for Films of Record.
As a criminologist, he has made more than thirty films on police and criminal justice issues, including Police, Operation Carter, In Search of Law and Order UK (Channel 4)and In Search of Law and Order - USA (pbs and Channel 4) on positive ways to address youth offending, which influenced the National Youth Justice Board. Police 2001 (BBC) looked at how policing had changed since his 1982 series, Panorama: Rape on Trial looked at how much had changed in the handling of rape since his 1982 film. His 1987 fiction film Closing Ranks (ITV/Zenith) about domestic violence in the police was used in training for many years. Since 1995 he has been a Visiting Fellow of the Mannheim Centre for Criminology at the London School of Economics
London School of Economics
The London School of Economics and Political Science is a public research university specialised in the social sciences located in London, United Kingdom, and a constituent college of the federal University of London...
. He is an advisor to the England and Wales Sentencing Council
Sentencing Council
The Sentencing Council for England and Wales was established in April 2010, replacing the Sentencing Guidelines Council and the Sentencing Advisory Panel, its predecessor bodies....
.
He has written Talking Blues: Police In Their Own Words (Harper Collins), Living Dangerously: young offenders in their own words (Harvill) and Why Restorative Justice? (Gulbenkian).
He broadcasts regularly on Radio 4 and 5 and writes for the Sunday Times, Daily and Sunday Telegraph, Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, the Observer and the Guardian.
Graef was a founding board member of Channel Four. He was News International Visiting Professor of Media and Communications at Oxford University. He is also on the Board of Trustees of the Media Standards Trust.
Films of Record
In 1979, Roger Graef started Films of Record, a documentary production company that specialises in tackling difficult subjects, and securing access to previously impenetrable institutions. In the first months of 2010, it produced Julien Temple's Requiem for Detroit? (BBC), Ricardo Pollack's three part series on medical ethics Great Ormond Street (TV series)Great Ormond Street (TV series)
Great Ormond Street is a British television documentary series. It was first broadcast on BBC Two on 6 April 2010. Each episode focuses on a different department at the world famous Great Ormond Street Hospital.-Background:...
(BBC), and a series on family discord Who Needs Fathers? (BBC). Graef's most recent productions are Kids in Care, a Panorama Special, The Trouble with Pirates on the impact of Somali piracy.
Films of Record is now part of factual media group Ten Alps
Ten Alps
Ten Alps Plc is a UK-based media company, founded in 1999 by Alex Connock and Bob Geldof.The plc is now run by Peter Bertram and Nitil Patel...
.
Awards and honours
In 2004 Graef was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship. He was awarded an OBE in the 2006 New Year's Honours list for services to film-making and broadcasting.Requiem for Detroit? directed by Julien Temple for Films of Record won the Grierson Award
Grierson Awards
The Grierson Awards celebrate innovative and exciting new documentary films. The awards have been set up by The Grierson Trust to commemorate the life and work of world renowned Documentary Filmmaker John Grierson. The awards were first set-up in 1972 and have run annually...
for Best Historical Documentary in 2010.
Feltham Sings, directed by Brian Hill and produced by Roger Graef won a BAFTA for Best Documentary in 2004.
Hold me tight let me go
Best Documentary at Britdoc, Grand Jury Prize at IDFA, Amsterdam,
Best Documentary Bird's Eye Festival, Best Documentary Britspotting, Berlin
Malaria: Fever Road - One World Awards: Best Documentary
Race for the Beach
CBA-Amnesty International Award for Human Rights Programme
Further reading
- Encyclopedia of the Documentary Film, ed. Ian Aitken. London: Routledge (2005)