Kevin Rockett is an

Irish Irish may refer to: Common meanings * Someone or something of, from, or related to: ** Ireland, an island situated off the north-western coast of continental Europe ***Éire, Irish language name for the isle ** Northern Ireland, a constituent unit ...

film historian The history of film chronicles the development of a visual art form created using film technologies that began in the late 19th century. The advent of film as an artistic medium is not clearly defined. However, the commercial, public scr ...

, writer and scholar, specialising on the history of Irish cinema. He is currently

Associate Professor Associate professor is an academic title with two principal meanings: in the North American system and that of the ''Commonwealth system''. Overview In the ''North American system'', used in the United States and many other countries, it is a ...

in Film Studies and head of the School of Drama, Film and Music, at

Trinity College, Dublin , name_Latin = Collegium Sanctae et Individuae Trinitatis Reginae Elizabethae juxta Dublin , motto = ''Perpetuis futuris temporibus duraturam'' (Latin) , motto_lang = la , motto_English = It will last i ...

, and is author, co-author, or editor of numerous books, including ''Cinema and Ireland'' (1987), ''

The Irish Filmography ''The Irish Filmography: Fiction Films 1896-1996'' is a 757-page reference catalog of movies and short films produced from 1896 to 1996 in Ireland, or about Ireland and the Irish. It was published in 1996 by Red Mountain Press, a company in Dubli ...

'' (1996), ''Neil Jordan: Exploring Boundaries'' (2003) and ''Irish Film Censorship'' (2004).

Background

Rockett became a member of the

Irish Film Institute The Irish Film Institute (IFI; ), formerly the Irish Film Centre, is both an arthouse cinema and a national body that supports Irish film heritage. The IFI presents film festivals, retrospectives and curated seasons, along with independent, ...

in 1979, and was its chairman from 1984 through 1991. He received his

doctorate A doctorate (from Latin ''docere'', "to teach"), doctor's degree (from Latin ''doctor'', "teacher"), or doctoral degree is an academic degree awarded by universities and some other educational institutions, derived from the ancient formalism ''l ...

from the

University of Ulster sco, Ulstèr Universitie , image = Ulster University coat of arms.png , caption = , motto_lang = , mottoeng = , latin_name = Universitas Ulidiae , established = 1865 – Magee College 1953 - Magee Un ...

in 1989. He taught film studies at

University College Dublin University College Dublin (commonly referred to as UCD) ( ga, Coláiste na hOllscoile, Baile Átha Cliath) is a public research university in Dublin, Ireland, and a collegiate university, member institution of the National University of Ireland ...

before joining the faculty at

Trinity College Trinity College may refer to: Australia * Trinity Anglican College, an Anglican coeducational primary and secondary school in , New South Wales * Trinity Catholic College, Auburn, a coeducational school in the inner-western suburbs of Sydney, New ...

in 2000. Rockett was made a Fellow of the College in 2004, receiving his Master in Arts (jure officii), and currently serves as head of Trinity College's school of drama, film and music. In 1995 Rockett wrote the screenplay for the film ''Irish Cinema: Ourselves Alone?'', directed by Donald Taylor Black.

Partial bibliography

*1987, ''Cinema and Ireland''. Kevin Rockett, Luke Gibbons, John Hill. *1995, ''Still Irish: A Century of the Irish in Film''. Kevin Rockett, Eugene Finn. *1996, ''The companion to British and Irish cinema''. John Caughie, Kevin Rockett. *1996, ''Cinema companions pack''. John Caughie, Kevin Rockett. *1996, '' The Irish Filmography: Fiction Films 1896–1996''. Kevin Rockett. *1999, ''Still Irish: A Century of the Irish in Film''. *2002, ''

Neil Jordan Neil Patrick Jordan (born 25 February 1950) is an Irish film director, screenwriter, novelist and short-story writer. His first book, '' Night in Tunisia'', won a Somerset Maugham Award and the Guardian Fiction Prize in 1979. He won an Academy ...

''. Kevin Rockett. *2003, ''Ten years after: the Irish film board 1993–2003''. Kevin Rockett,

Bord Scannán na hÉireann Fís Éireann / Screen Ireland, formerly known as Bord Scannán na hÉireann / the Irish Film Board, is the Republic of Ireland's state development agency for the Irish film, television and animation industry. It provides funds for the developm ...

. *2003, ''

: exploring boundaries''. Emer Rockett, Kevin Rockett. *2004, ''Irish film censorship: a cultural journey from silent cinema to internet pornography''. Kevin Rockett, Emer Rockett. *2004, ''National cinema and beyond''. Kevin Rockett, John Hill. *2005, ''Film history and national cinema''. W. John Hill, Kevin Rockett. *2007, ''Irish films, global cinema''. Martin McLoone, Kevin Rockett. *2008, ''National cinemas and world cinema''. Kevin Rockett, W. John Hill.

Recognition

The

Irish Times ''The Irish Times'' is an Irish daily broadsheet newspaper and online digital publication. It launched on 29 March 1859. The editor is Ruadhán Mac Cormaic. It is published every day except Sundays. ''The Irish Times'' is considered a newspaper ...

wrote in 1996 of Rockett's early work Cinema and Ireland (1987), offering that it "remains the Bible of Irish film studies." Filmmaker Bob Quinn wrote of Irish Filmography: Fiction Films 1896 – 1996 (1996), stating

he book is He or HE may refer to: Language * He (pronoun), an English pronoun * He (kana), the romanization of the Japanese kana へ * He (letter), the fifth letter of many Semitic alphabets * He (Cyrillic), a letter of the Cyrillic script called ''He'' ...

"an extraordinary opus ... Rockett is an excellent and painstaking scholar. Never before has anybody attempted to document in one volume every film ever made in or about Ireland. ... The amount of detail he has unearthed is no less than stupendous. ... The nearest literary analogy I can think of is Dineen's Irish Dictionary", Jeff Brownrigg of Australia's

National Film and Sound Archive The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia (NFSA), known as ScreenSound Australia from 1999 to 2004, is Australia's audiovisual archive, responsible for developing, preserving, maintaining, promoting and providing access to a national co ...

wrote that the book is "an indispensable tool for the researcher." and that it "provides a valuable source of information about a large group of international narrative feature films gathered together under the head of their general association with Ireland." He comments on the book's nearly two thousand entries and makes note of its comprehensive nature, concluding that it "is clearly an essential reference for libraries and will be sought by film buffs." Lir Mac Cárthaigh of

Film Ireland ''Film Ireland'' is a cultural cinema magazine published from 1987–2013 by Filmbase (aka Film Base) Centre for Film and Video in Dublin, Ireland. It is Ireland's longest-running film publication.Flynn, Roderick and Patrick Brereton. "Film Bas ...

wrote that Neil Jordan: exploring boundaries (2003) "provides a convenient starting-point for anyone intending to write about Jordan's work, the history of Irish film, or cinematic representations." John Kelleher, former Director of the

Irish Film Classification Office The Irish Film Classification Office (IFCO) ( ga, Oifig Aicmithe Scannán na hÉireann, OASÉ) is the organisation responsible for films, television programmes, and some video game classification and censorship within Republic of Ireland, Irel ...

, referred to Rockett's book Irish Film Censorship (2004) as the key text on the subject. It was described as "magisterial," (Hugh Linehan, Irish Times) "monumental," (

RTÉ Radio 1 RTÉ Radio 1 ( ga, RTÉ Raidió 1) is an Irish national radio station owned and operated by RTÉ and is the direct descendant of Dublin radio station 2RN, which began broadcasting on a regular basis on 1 January 1926. The total budget for th ...

) "meticulous," (Luke Gibbons, Irish Times) and "fascinating" (Kim Bielenberg,

Irish Independent The ''Irish Independent'' is an Irish daily newspaper and online publication which is owned by Independent News & Media (INM), a subsidiary of Mediahuis. The newspaper version often includes glossy magazines. Traditionally a broadsheet new ...

). In 2001, Rockett received the

Award for Contribution to Irish Film.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rockett, Kevin Irish writers Irish educators 20th-century Irish historians 21st-century Irish historians Film historians Living people Year of birth missing (living people)