Louis de Rochemont; Teacher, Filmmaker Behind ‘Windjammer’

Louis de Rochemont III, 70, a filmmaker who directed the 1958 wide-screen production “Windjammer: The Voyage of the Christian Radich,” died July 11 of complications from diabetes at his home outside Oslo, Norway.

Born in New York in 1930, Rochemont was educated at Dartmouth College. He taught film at the University of Toronto during the 1960s and ‘70s.

“Windjammer” was about a six-month Atlantic Ocean expedition with the Norwegian full-rigged training ship Christian Radich, crewed by teenage Norwegian sailing students.

In it, Rochemont pioneered the use of three cameras, producing a dramatic wide-screen effect. The film was a sensation when it was first shown.

In 1979, Rochemont moved to Norway, where he remarried and made information films about Norwegian maritime activities, such as oil drilling and salmon production, and electronic information systems for cruise ships.