Mr. Saraf and his wife, Allie Light, worked together from their home in Glen Park, creating socially minded documentaries and TV series, including “In the Shadow of the Stars,” which won the Oscar, and “Dialogues With Madwomen,” which won an Emmy. He helped found KQED’s special projects department and Fantasy Films, the company behind the Oscar-winning film “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest.”

“Our films didn’t make us a lot of money, but they took us all over the world,” says Light. “Irving lived for stories and characters. He was always trying to find the truth, always trying to show the people we don’t always see.”