Ross directed the eight-part adaptation of Charles Dickens' novel Bleak House, which won three BAFTAs.
He secretly entered the besieged town of Bukavu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and filmed the mercenaries trapped there after a failed coup.
After that Devenish traveled to the United States, where he spent most of a year making a film about contemporary Native Americans, called Now that the Buffalo's Gone.
Deciding to concentrate on his interest in drama, he returned to South Africa and began working with playwright Athol Fugard.
Devenish directed three additional films with screenplays by Fugard, including The Guest and Marigolds in August, in their native South Africa.