Roger Ross Williams

Roger Ross Williams (b. 1973, South Carolina) is a respected documentary filmmaker, screenwriter and producer. He began his career as a producer of TV projects, among them politically satirical sketches for Comedy Central and Michael Moore's Emmy-winning "TV Nation."

As director, he gained fame for the Academy Award-winning documentary short Music by Prudence (2010), making him the first African-American director to take home this prize. Three years later he completed the feature-length documentary God Loves Uganda (2013), which was shown at Sundance, nominated for an Oscar, and screened at more than 60 festivals throughout the world. This harrowing film about gay persecution in Uganda was presented to Czech audiences at the One World film festival. Life, Animated took Best Director at this year's Sundance.

MFF Karlovy Vary