Graham Fitzpatrick is a Scottish film director and screenwriter.
Biography
Graham Fitzpatrick was raised in the Edinburgh's Royston housing scheme, attending
Ainslie Park High School
Ainslie Park High School was a state secondary school in East Pilton, Edinburgh, Scotland.
History
The school was designed by James Stewart Johnston in the mid-1930s, but building work was delayed until after World War II and construction s ...
and
Broughton High School His YTS traineeship at film workshop Pilton Video offered a basic grounding in film, documentary and drama, working across over sixty productions, including arts and charity films, short films, TV documentaries, mainly as an editor.
After directing several short films with
Scottish Screen
The Moving Image Archive is a collection of Scottish film and video recordings at the National Library of Scotland, held at Kelvin Hall in Glasgow, Scotland. There are over 46,000 items within the collection, and over 2,600 of these are publicly a ...
and
BBC Scotland
BBC Scotland (Scottish Gaelic: ''BBC Alba'') is a division of the BBC and the main public broadcaster in Scotland.
It is one of the four BBC national regions, together with the BBC English Regions, BBC Cymru Wales and BBC Northern Ireland. I ...
funding, Fitzpatrick studied screenwriting at
Screen Academy Scotland
The Screen Academy Scotland (A Skillset Film Academy) is a collaboration between Edinburgh Napier University and Edinburgh College of Art. It was opened in August 2005 by the then First Minister of Scotland, Jack McConnell, and is based in Edinb ...
developing the script for his first short film as writer and director. Entitled ''Mum's Birthday'', the film tells the tale of Alex, a man who must overcome heartbreak to save his relationship with son Stephen on his wife's birthday.
As with previous work, non-professional actors were used in roles close to their everyday lives alongside professional actors. Young people from Edinburgh's care homes and housing schemes shared the screen with professionals such as
Tam Dean Burn
Tam Dean Burn (born 1958 in Leith, Scotland) is a Scottish actor who has played a wide range of roles on stage and screen. On television this includes multiple roles on long-running detective series ''Taggart'', youth sci-fi thriller '' Life For ...
. Shot in December 2009 with financial backing from
Creative Scotland
Creative Scotland ( gd, Alba Chruthachail ; sco, Creative Scotlan) is the development body for the arts and creative industries in Scotland. Based in Edinburgh, it is an executive non-departmental public body of the Scottish Government.
The o ...
, the film premiered at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh the following year. The film won Best Actor and Ensemble cast awards at
Hollywood Reel Film Festival and Fitzpatrick was nominated in the
2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards
The 2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards were held on 24 March 2011 at the Glasgow Film Theatre. Presented by BAFTA Scotland, the accolades honour the best upcoming talent in the field of film and television in Scotland. The Nominees ...
writer category.
In 2014, Fitzpatrick made another short film ''Colours'', about an incarcerated gay teenager trying to survive behind bars, working in Scotland's
HM Prison Polmont
His Majesty's Young Offenders Institution Polmont is the largest of its kind in Scotland.
HMP Polmont first opened as a Borstal in 1911 in the buildings of the former Blairlodge Academy. The Academy had been forced to close in 1908 due to financ ...
, with inmates given acting roles.
The film was shown at film festivals including Interfilm Berlin, Uppsala International Film Festival and
Glasgow Film Festival
The Glasgow Film Festival is an annual film festival based in Glasgow, Scotland. The festival began in 2005. By 2015, the festival had seen audience figures top 40,000 for two consecutive years.
2008
2008's festival took place between 14–24 Feb ...
. The
British Film Institute
The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves film-making and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, ...
included it in its top 11 films to see at the 11th London Short Film Festival. It also won Best UK Short award at
East End Film Festival
The East End Film Festival was one of the UK's largest film festivals. It ceased all operations on 4 March 2020. The owner, Alison Poltock, explained that "the push to provide a more mainstream commercial offering is not for us."
Founded in 200 ...
, and was nominated in the Best Short Film category at the
2014 British Academy Scotland Awards
The 24th British Academy Scotland Awards were held on 16 November 2014 at the Radisson Blu Hotel in Glasgow, honouring the best Scottish film and television productions of 2013. Presented by BAFTA Scotland, accolades are handed out for the best ...
.
Fitzpatrick of the nomination that "It is an incredible achievement for everyone involved in the film. I am personally delighted that Colours has been recognised in this way, it is a testament to the hard work put in by the entire team."
He is currently the creative manager of Screen Education Edinburgh.
and working on his first feature film 'Make Her Proud'.
Filmography
Awards
References
External links
*
Screen Education EdinburghWatch Mum's Birthday & Colours
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fitzpatrick, Graham
Living people
Scottish film directors
People educated at Broughton High School, Edinburgh
Year of birth missing (living people)
Film people from Edinburgh