Sarah Erulkar (2 May 1923 â€" 29 May 2015) was a prolific and
multi-award-winning Indian-born Jewish British filmmaker, specialising
in sponsored documentary shorts.Erulkar worked in the British film
industry for almost forty years (1944-1983), producing over 80 films.
She won two prizes at the Venice Film Festival (1952, 1971), while her
documentary about the design of postage stamps, Picture to Post
(1969), won her her first Best Short Film BAFTA in 1970. Her second
would come with The Living City (1977), about her native
Kolkata.Erulkar began her career at the Shell Film Unit, where she had
a rapid rise, graduating from scripting and editing Aircraft Today and
Tomorrow (1946), to directing the second film she worked on, Flight
for Tomorrow (1947). Next she directed Lord Siva Danced (1947), which
featured celebrated Indian dancer and choreographer Ram Gopal, and was
well received in both India and Britain. Erulkar was forced to leave
Shell in 1952 after marrying fellow SFU filmmaker, Peter de
Normanville. She would work as a free-lancer for the rest of her long
career, first, as an editor at the National Coal Board Film Unit
before resuming directing for numerous sponsors, including the British
Productivity Council, the Central Office of Information (COI), the Gas
Council and the General Post Office (GPO).
multi-award-winning Indian-born Jewish British filmmaker, specialising
in sponsored documentary shorts.Erulkar worked in the British film
industry for almost forty years (1944-1983), producing over 80 films.
She won two prizes at the Venice Film Festival (1952, 1971), while her
documentary about the design of postage stamps, Picture to Post
(1969), won her her first Best Short Film BAFTA in 1970. Her second
would come with The Living City (1977), about her native
Kolkata.Erulkar began her career at the Shell Film Unit, where she had
a rapid rise, graduating from scripting and editing Aircraft Today and
Tomorrow (1946), to directing the second film she worked on, Flight
for Tomorrow (1947). Next she directed Lord Siva Danced (1947), which
featured celebrated Indian dancer and choreographer Ram Gopal, and was
well received in both India and Britain. Erulkar was forced to leave
Shell in 1952 after marrying fellow SFU filmmaker, Peter de
Normanville. She would work as a free-lancer for the rest of her long
career, first, as an editor at the National Coal Board Film Unit
before resuming directing for numerous sponsors, including the British
Productivity Council, the Central Office of Information (COI), the Gas
Council and the General Post Office (GPO).
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