Moore Institute Visiting Fellow, Maurice Fitzpatrick introduces a screening of his BBC documentary film ‘ The Boys of St Columb’s’.

“The Boys of St. Columb’s – the story of how an emancipatory education act led to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s in Northern Ireland”.

Filmmaker, Lecturer and Moore Institute Visiting Fellow Maurice Fitzpatrick introduces a screening of his BBC documentary film, The Boys of St Columb’s, about a new generation of leaders who reshaped the social and political future of Northern Ireland, including Nobel Prize winning writer Seamus Heaney and John Hume. He is currently in production on a documentary feature film, In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America. The screening is followed by a question and answer session.

Introduced by Dr Niall O Dochartaigh, School of Political Science and Sociology

Speaker bio

Maurice Fitzpatrick is an Irish and Japanese-educated film-maker, writer and lecturer. He wrote and produced the BBC documentary film The Boys of St Columb’s, which is about how educational reform in Northern Ireland helped break the vicious cycle of sectarian violence by raising a new generation of leaders who would go on to reshape the social and political future of Northern Ireland – the film tells the story through prominent Irish leaders including Nobel Prize winning writer Seamus Heaney and John Hume, who won the Nobel Prize for his role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

Maurice has just finished another documentary film as writer and director for the BBC about Brian Friel’s play ‘Translations’ which focuses on the role of (mis)communication and language in a clash between two different cultures. He has published articles on Kurosawa’s cinematic interpretation of Shakespeare, on modern novels, on travel, and a book ‰Û÷The Boys of St Columb’s’. He is currently a lecturer at the University of Cologne. Before that, he lived in Tokyo from 2004-2011 where he lectured at Keio University, Japan’s oldest university. He has also been a guest lecturer at various universities in North America and Europe.

He is currently in production on a documentary feature film, In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America. The film chronicles the support of John Hume’s approach to politics in Northern Ireland in co-ordination with senior political figures in US and Irish Foreign Affairs. A taste of what the film will become, including a recent interview with President Bill Clinton, is viewable here:

https://vimeo.com/149822873