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Drew, who made more than 100 films on social issues, politics
and the arts during a career that spanned more than five
decades, died peacefully surrounded by children and friends.
"He had been declining for some time and it was not completely
unexpected," his son, Thatcher Drew, said.
Drew, a former correspondent and editor at Life Magazine and a
fighter pilot during World War Two, helped to develop cinema
vérité, a direct type of observational or fly on the wall
filming to capture reality.
He also founded the documentary film company Drew Associates in
the early 1960s. Many of his films were shown on television and
screened at international film festivals.
"He believed in the pure form of cinema vérité. It was a strict
code that allowed no directing of subjects, no set up shots and
no on-camera narrator or correspondent," his son explained.
Along with his innovative directing techniques, Drew also
developed lightweight cameras. His film "Primary," which
followed John F. Kenney and Hubert Humphrey during the 1960
Wisconsin presidential primary, was the first in which a
sync-sound motion picture camera was used.
His most well-know films include "The Chair," about a criminal
who finds redemption, and "Faces of November," a short about
Kennedy's funeral following his assassination in 1963, which won
a prize at the Venice Film Festival.
Drew also won an Emmy in 1969 for the ballet documentary "Man
Who Dances." His last film, 2005's "From Two Men and a War," in
which he recounted his war experiences and friendship with war
correspondent Ernie Pyle, was shown at the Tribeca Film
Festival.
"He was deeply involved in every aspect of his craft and was
obsessed with it till the end," his son said.
Two of Drew's films are in the Library of Congress' National
Film Registry.
Drew is survived by three children and three grandchildren. His
wife, Anne, a partner in their filmmaking, died in 2012.
(Reportiing by Patricia Reaney,; Mary Milliken; editing by
Andrew Hay)
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