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 ‘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 has also made a documentary feature film, In the Name of Peace: John Hume in America which will be shown at the Kennedy Summer School. 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 is, including a recent interview with President Bill Clinton, is viewable here:
