The man who directed an acclaimed documentary on Bermuda’s Theatre Boycott passed away on Saturday.

Errol Williams, the writer and director of ‘When Voices Rise’ had just begun shooting his newest project, a film on the Bermuda Industrial Union, when he became ill and was admitted to hospital two weeks ago. He died as a result of complications arising from cancer treatments.

Though Mr. Williams, 56, began his career in Bermuda as a teacher at Robert Crawford in 1976, family and friends say he always loved telling stories and was driven to get to the bottom of a story.

His interest in stories that focused on overcoming adversity was a long running theme in his life. In 1998 he received accolades for ‘Echoes in the Rink: The Willie O’Ree Story’, a documentary on the triumphal life story of the first black player in the National Hockey League who remained unnoticed in history books despite his achievement.

But it wasn’t until the release of his Bermuda based documentary ‘When Voices Rise’ about the 1959 Theatre Boycott that his talent was fully realised on the Island. Speaking to The Royal Gazette in 2002 before the documentary debuted at the Bermuda International Film Festival, Mr. Williams said: “It deals with the many attempts to dismantle segregation in Bermuda. The most successful attempt was organised by the Progressive Group. Working in secret they organised a boycott of the cinemas in 1959. This triggered mass support from the public and resulted in unprecedented change for the Island.

“I developed a passion for this story especially when I discovered that the people who helped bring about such momentous changes were still around to tell their story. It is a story of quiet determination; it is a story about people working together; and, it is a story of triumph.”

Mr. Williams spent two years making the film, collecting hundreds of hours of interviews with the surviving members of The Progressive Group and other boycott leaders. His hard work resulted in the film winning the BIFF Audience Choice Award and the film went on to be shown at festivals around the world.

The local response to ‘When Voices Rise’ was immediate with screenings being sold out — tickets for the final screening at the film festival went in just 40 minutes. Additional screenings were run after the festival at the Liberty Theatre.

His daughter, Kitwana Williams, spoke yesterday of his passion for film and his legacy.

She said: “I helped him out when he was making that film but I didn’t understand how big it was until I saw the film on its opening night. It was something that needed to be done, I think it was definitely something that Bermudians, young and old, appreciated. I hope that people start to talk more about Bermuda’s history, what the Island has gone through and what we have overcome.”

She added that she hoped final touches to her father’s follow up documentary, ‘Walking on a Sea of Glass’ — which was debuted in the 2006 BIFF — would be done and that his latest project on the BIU would be completed.“He would have wanted that,” she said. “He had already started speaking to people who were involved in forming the BIU and were influential, like Dame Lois Evans Browne (who passed away in June). He was just starting to shoot some things when he fell ill.”

Ms Williams — who is studying Hospitality at Niagara College in Ontario and will graduate next year — said she will always remember her father as an amazing man, who was her hero. “He was the most engaging person I have ever met,” she said. “He wasn’t just my father but my best friend and I am going to make sure I do what I can to make him proud. That’s what he would have wanted.”

His business partner Rotimi Martins said one of Mr. Williams’ strengths was his fascination with facts, which made him a consummate documentary maker. “He was a great man who lived his life doing what he loved,” he said. “He loved facts, when he heard a story he wanted to know exactly what happened and who the people involved were. He was thorough and an amazing researcher.”

Cathy Stovell, one of Mr. Williams best friends, said she found it remarkable that a man born in Guyana and raised in Canada was the person to highlight a milestone moment of Bermuda’s history.

She said: “He was so fascinated in the things that have happened in Bermuda. It is amazing that it took someone for Guyana to make a film about the Bermuda Boycott. I think a lot of Bermudians are not interested in their history. I think what he did is special, to come to a country and realise how important their history is and make a film about it.

“He was always an advocate for Bermudians working in the field here and elsewhere, he was eager to show them what they could do in telling their own story.”