Ursula Grace Williams

Director Ursula Grace was immersed in the art of filmmaking from childhood, growing up on set with her mother and sister working as wardrobe designers and her father working intermittently in art departments.

Ursula went on to direct, write and produce The King a short documentary film made as a part of her Master's thesis (first class honours). The King won her the audience award at the NZIFF for best short as well as showcasing at the Sydney Film Festival 2016. She was also winner of the Inaugural Bright Sunday Emerging Pasifika Director Award at the 2016 Wāiroa Maori Film Festival for this film.

In 2021 she directed the six part documentary series Milk & Money (TVNZ, NZoA) which explores the impacts of the dairy industry in Aotearoa on our community, the environment and the economy; a seven part Podcast series He Kākano Ahau (Season 2) alongside Kahu Kutia and RNZ, as well as the one off documentary Young and… A Siren King which is a part of the Young and… series in collaboration with Re: News and TVNZ on Demand.

This year Ursula is releasing her first feature length documentary funded by the Film Commission, collaborating with producer Alex Behse and performer Marlon Williams. She also released the four part documentary series STILL HERE (Re: News / NZoA) about the Pasifika community that still reside in Auckland central, dismantling the myth that “all Islanders have left”.

Her film Deportees of Tonga: Gangster’s in Paradise (2019), has so far been viewed by over ten million people worldwide. The series Zealandia, of which Ursula produced and directed, has been picked up by networks all over the globe and viewed collectively by over twenty million people worldwide. Zealandia has been nominated for an array of awards such as: Best News Video, Best Feature Video, Best Editorial Feature and Best Team Video at the New Zealand Voyager Awards 2019/2020.

She lists female directors Alma Har'el, Sofia Coppola, Maite Alberdi and Jane Campion as some of her filmmaking role models.

Awards

  • Winner Best Documentary Series, Voyager Media Awards (2023) - Still Here

  • Joint Podcast of the Year Winner (2020) - He Kākano Ahau

  • Best Feature Video, Voyager Media Awards Finalist (2020) - Deportee’s of Tonga - Gangsters in Paradise

  • Best Team Video, Voyager Awards Finalist (2019) - Lost Boys of Taranaki

  • Best Team Video, Voyager Awards Finalist (2019) - Syn City

  • Winner of Best Cinematography, Voyager Awards (2019) - Lethal Ladies, Alien Weaponry and Lost Boys of Taranaki

  • Bright Sunday Emerging Pasifika Director Award, Wāiroa Maori Film Festival (2016) - The King

  • NZCS Bronze for Cinematography (2017) - Aupito the High Chief

  • Audience Award, NZIFF (2016) - The King