Pamela Cullen, who has died aged 100, was a trailblazer in her consular career and within the Indian film industry for more than 50 years, becoming one of Bafta’s oldest voters.
In the 1940s, Pam worked as a journalist reviewing films. Around this time she became a passionate member of the Free India movement, which led to her employment as films officer in the Indian high commission in London in the 50s.
Subsequently, in the late 70s to late 80s, the Indian government made her the London regional manager of their National Film Development Corporation of India. In this role she formed great professional and personal friendships with Indian film figures, championing their work at special screenings and helping fund their films and, notably, gaining permission for Richard Attenborough to film Gandhi in India. She also hosted a lunch reception for Charlie Chaplin. In 1983, the Indian president awarded her the Padma Shri, a civilian honour, for her work in films.
She became personal friends with the future prime minister of India, Indira Gandhi, and maintained correspondence with her family right up to this year, as well as forging links with many other high-profile people including VK Krishna Menon, the independence activist, and Ram Gopal, the classical Indian dancer.
Pam arranged the actor/director Raj Kapoor’s press schedule in the golden age of Indian cinema. She got to know Satyajit Ray, then a shy young film director, during his early visits to London. Consequently, on her retirement in 1995, she set up the Satyajit Ray Foundation in his memory, which recognised new film-makers by supporting them and screening their films.
Born in Wandsworth, south-west London, to Violet (nee Langford) and Charles Cullen, a former accountant who never returned to work after suffering shellshock during the first world war, Pam constantly challenged authority, from climbing over the wall to escape from St Philomena’s Catholic high school for girls in Carshalton (questioning the nuns about Catholic ethics when caught), to becoming a fervent member of the Communist party in the 40s and 50s. During the second world war, she worked in a secretarial role within the Fire Brigades Union, providing support to fellow Londoners during the blitz by fire-watching at night.
Pam remained in south London throughout her life, living in Streatham during the 40s, and then Thornton Heath from the mid- to late 50s onwards. Unsurprisingly, she outlived many of her family and friends, among them my grandmother Harbala Bhatt, whom she had met at India House. Pamela became a mentor to me: she sparked my interest in films and helped me secure my first job. She was a self-educated woman and a DIY enthusiast who loved the latest gadgets. I learned so much from her.
She is survived by two cousins.
