Graham Fitzpatrick is a Scottish film director and screenwriter.

Graham Fitzpatrick
Born
Edinburgh, Scotland
Occupation(s)Film director, screenwriter
Years active1999–present
Notable work
  • Colours
  • Mum's Birthday

Biography

edit

Graham Fitzpatrick was raised in the Edinburgh's Royston housing scheme, attending Ainslie Park High School 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 and BBC Scotland funding, Fitzpatrick studied screenwriting at Screen Academy Scotland 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. Shot in December 2009 with financial backing from Creative Scotland,[1] the film premiered at the Filmhouse in Edinburgh the following year.[2] 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 writer category.[3]

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, with inmates given acting roles.

The film was shown at film festivals including Interfilm Berlin, Uppsala International Film Festival and Glasgow Film Festival.[4] The British Film Institute included it in its top 11 films to see at the 11th London Short Film Festival.[5] It also won Best UK Short award at East End Film Festival, and was nominated in the Best Short Film category at the 2014 British Academy Scotland Awards.[6][7] 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."[8]

He is currently the creative manager of Screen Education Edinburgh.[9] and working on his first feature film 'Make Her Proud'.

Filmography

edit
Year Film Credited as Notes
director screenWriter Producer Film Editor
1999 Happy Ever After Yes
2003 Then and Now Yes TV movie documentary
2006 Yesterday's News Yes Yes Yes Short Film
2007 Stolen Christmas Yes Yes Yes Short Film
2009 My Shadowlands Yes Short Film
2010 Mum's Birthday Yes Yes Yes Short Film
Girl TM Yes Short
2012 Pen 2 Paper Yes TV movie documentary
Executive Producer
Our World Yes TV movie documentary
Executive Producer
Friendships Yes TV movie documentary
Executive Producer
2013 Your Paintings Yes TV movie documentary
Executive Producer
Maths in Action Yes Yes Yes TV movie documentary
Executive Producer
Colours Yes Yes Yes Short Film
2015 The Still Heart Beating Yes Short Film
Associate Producer
Concrete & Flowers Yes Yes Yes Short Film
Executive Producer

Awards

edit
Year Nominated Work Award Category Result
2010 Mum's Birthday Los Angeles Movie Awards Honorable Mention
2011 British Academy Scotland New Talent Awards Best Writer Nominated
2014 Colours British Academy Scotland Awards Best Short Film Nominated
Berlin Interfilm Festival International Competition Award Nominated
East End Film Festival Best UK Short Film Won
Glasgow Film Festival Bill Douglas Award for International Short Film Nominated
Glasgow Film Festival Scottish Short Film Award Nominated
Hollywood Reel Independent Film Festival Award of Excellence Won
London Short Film Festival Best Short Film Nominated
Tabor Film Festival Best Fiction Film Nominated

References

edit
  1. ^ "Edinburgh filmmakers celebrate Mum's Birthday in Hollywood – ReelScotland". reelscotland.com.
  2. ^ Scotsman Newspaper Article: 'Into the heart of darkness'
  3. ^ "BAFTA Scotland New Talent Awards: Winners in 2011". bafta.org.
  4. ^ "Glasgow Film Festival Lineup Announcement". glasgowfilm.org. Archived from the original on 2 April 2015. Retrieved 8 March 2015.
  5. ^ "11 to see at the 11th London Short Film Festival". bfi.org.uk.
  6. ^ "British Academy Scotland Awards: Winners in 2014". bafta.org.
  7. ^ "BAFTA Scotland nominations announced – Film News – The Skinny". theskinny.co.uk.
  8. ^ "Scottish BAFTA nomination for Screen Education Edinburgh". theedinburghreporter.co.uk. 29 October 2014.
  9. ^ "Write Shoot Cut Interview with Fitzpatrick". writeshootcut.com. Archived from the original on 9 March 2015.
edit