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People & Places In The News
THE BEST
THESUNALSOSETS
MIKEROBERTS
AsserieseditorofBBC2’s Under The Sun, David Pearson has grown used to chronicling offbeat and fasci- nating stories from around the world. But the real story may have been closer to home. Though he is too discreet to say so, the decision that this series of programmes running through the summer, will be the last, must have been galling to a man with a passion for high quality factual film- making.
It may be one reason why he has left the BBC after many years to join Bristol based United Productions, in order to concentrate on making factually- based drama, some- thing he admits he has been keen to work on for years.
Citing acclaimed dramas like
Hillsborough and
Warriors as exam-
ples he would like to
follow, Pearson
brings with him a wealth of experience, having produced or executive produced over 100 films, including Love Tory (about the late Alan Clark MP), A Change of Sex, the 10 x 10 strand and the Signs of the Times series. One that really got away, however, was Kim Longinotto’s recent BAFTA winning doc- umentary Divorce Iranian Style.
“Kim has been an Under The Sun regular for the best part of ten years,” Pearson explains, “and her next film has been made for us. The irony is that Divorce Iranian Style was originally intended for us too. But it wasn’t because the BBC was trying to negoti-
ate adealwithTheDiscoveryChannel at the time we were trying to get it made. It’s a long story, but the gist of it is that there was a potential clash of interests, so for while I couldn’t com- mission things. She was going to lose her access in Iran, so she made it at Channel 4 and has now – deservedly - won a BAFTA.”
If there is a note of frustration in Pearson’s voice, then this is under- standable. He expresses pride and pleasure at having been associated
with the BBC during a highly productive period of 25 years. But he is clearly frustrated at seeing this genre become so recently margin- alised.
“There have been reports in the last couple of years saying that factual television is decreasing its cover- age of places out- side Britain. I think not renewing Under The Sun fits that
trend. I’m sure if you asked the BBC they would say they would be replacing it at some point. But it is undeniably a blow.
“These sort of projects typically take a long time to do, and there are obvious complexities in getting access and permissions overseas. The film might be shot over a continuous period of three months, which is long time.
“You can only do that if you have an ongoing commitment to making these kind of things work, have a good technical background and know exactly how to solve the problems that eventu- ally occur. It’s a great shame to break
Intrepid cameraman Mike Roberts, who won the 1997 Michael Balcon Award for Outstanding British Contribution to Cinema, has died suddenly aged 60.
Typically, he was hard at work in Bath on Lasse Hallstrom’s Chocolat, the latest of more than 65 films as cam- era operator over the past 24 years.
So... The story goes that director Alan Parker, fed up with hysterical jour- nalists in Buenos Aires during a promo- tional tour for his film of Evita, decided to take a few days off at the beautiful, and remote, Iguazu Falls in the far north of the country. He walked into the hotel and was spotted by the bar- man, who grinned and said: “Alan Parker?” The director nodded smugly, awaiting the usual autograph request when the local asked him, in halting English, “Do you know Mike Roberts?”
According to Parker, who worked closely with Roberts on eight movies (from Birdy to Angela’s Ashes), the Surrey-born technician was “a rare and
brilliant individual... the best in the world by far. His ability to put a camera in exactly the right spot and execute the most difficult ‘choreographed’ shot” was, added Parker, “uncanny.”
Roberts’ career path began in the 1950s when on the same day he and fel- low film-maker Peter Macdonald both became office boys at the Fleet Street offices of an Australian newspaper. He then joined Pearl & Dean at Southall Studios before moving to Associated British where he stayed six years.
His big break was joining Ted Moore’s Oscar-winning team on A Man For All Seasons in 1966. Since then he was part of more Academy Award win- ners like The Killing Fields, The Mission and Mississippi Burning, as well as more recent nominees such as Michael Collins, Evita and The End Of The Affair. HealsowonthreeOperator Trophies during his long and distin- guished career. He leaves a wife, Eileen, and two daughters, Danielle and Georgina. ■ Quentin Falk
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Photos: above left, David Pearson; and above right, Mike Roberts recently on location for Angela’s Ashes
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