Adrian Cowell

{{Short description|British filmmaker}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2025}}

{{infobox person

| name = Adrian Cowell

| image = Adrian Cowell portrait.png

| image_size = 250px

| alt = portrait of a caucasian male, aged about 60 years, with a full head of grey hair and a white beard and wearing a checked shirt

| caption = portrait of Adrian Cowell

| birth_date = {{birth date and age|df=yes|1934|2|2}}

| birth_place = Tianjin, China

| occupation = {{hlist|Film director|film producer|screenwriter}}

| notable_works =

| awards =

| years_active = 1960–2002

| spouse = {{marriage|Pilly Chamberlayne|1960|2008}}

| module =

}}

John Adrian Cowell (2 February 1934 – 11 October 2011) was a British filmmaker, born in northern China, in or near Tianjin.{{Cite web|url=https://archiveswest.orbiscascade.org/ark:/80444/xv28945/op=fstyle.aspx?t=k&q=adrian+cowell|title=Adrian Cowell |website= Archives West|publisher=Orbis Cascade Alliance|quote=John Adrian Cowell was born February 2, 1934 in Tientsin (also known as Tianjin) in China [although some sources report his birthplace as Tangshan, a nearby town]}} He was best known for producing documentaries about Chico Mendes and deforestation in the Amazon and the opium/heroin trade out of the Shan States, Burma (Myanmar).{{cite news|title=Adrian Cowell|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/tv-radio-obituaries/8879851/Adrian-Cowell.html|accessdate=7 December 2011|newspaper=The Daily Telegraph|date=9 November 2011}}

Cowell was educated at Ampleforth College and St Catharine's College, Cambridge, where he studied history.{{cite news|last=Hayward|first=Anthony|title=Adrian Cowell obituary|url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2011/nov/03/adrian-cowell-obituary|accessdate=7 December 2011|newspaper=The Guardian|date=3 November 2011}} While a student at Cambridge, he planned (but was unable to take part in) the 1954 Oxford and Cambridge Trans-Africa Expedition,{{cite news|title=It's started: The 'rally' to Singapore|url=http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=straitstimes19550911-1.2.71&sessionid=057e9611891940cabde81b88ebffd310&keyword=tim+slessor+land+rover+cambridge&token=cambridge%2crover%2cland%2cslessor%2ctim|first=Adrian|last=Cowell|date=11 September 1955|accessdate=21 January 2014|work=The Straits Times|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140202095329/http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Article.aspx?articleid=straitstimes19550911-1.2.71&sessionid=057e9611891940cabde81b88ebffd310&keyword=tim+slessor+land+rover+cambridge&token=cambridge%2crover%2cland%2cslessor%2ctim|archive-date=2 February 2014|url-status=dead}} and took part in the 1955-6 Oxford and Cambridge Far Eastern Expedition to Singapore and the 1957-8 Oxford and Cambridge Expedition to South America. It was on the latter expedition team that Cowell met the Villas-Bôas brothers and left the Oxford and Cambridge Expedition to join them on the Centro Geographico Expedition to find the geographical centre of Brazil. This was the beginning of his connection with South America and, in particular, Brazil.{{cite news|title=Biography: John Adrian Cowell 1934 – 2011|url=http://www.adriancowellfilms.com/#/biography/4573826169|accessdate=21 January 2014|work=Adrian Cowell Films|archive-date=10 May 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190510215514/http://www.adriancowellfilms.com/#/biography/4573826169|url-status=dead}}

Cowell was awarded the Royal Geographical Society's Cherry Kearton Medal and Award in 1985,{{cite web|url=http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/5733E422-4831-4451-B7D8-052E80E8CD75/0/MedalWinners19702012.pdf |title=Medals and Awards |publisher=Royal Geographical Society |accessdate=28 September 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131002055718/http://www.rgs.org/NR/rdonlyres/5733E422-4831-4451-B7D8-052E80E8CD75/0/MedalWinners19702012.pdf |archivedate=2 October 2013 }} and in 1991 won the Founders Award at the International Emmys. In his obituary in The Guardian, Anthony Hayward wrote that he was "one of the most successful" documentary makers of his generation. His documentaries about the rain forest brought the subject significant political attention.