Lights, camera, scholarships!

Eight UCC students will get the opportunity to be men- tored by an Oscar-winning film producer, it was an- nounced this week.

The Puttnam Scholarship programme will support the next generation of film-makers and creatives, offering students from any discipline the opportunity to work with and learn from the legendary producer Lord David Puttnam of films including ‘Chariots of Fire’ and ‘Midnight Express’. A digital education pioneer, Lord David Puttnam launched the scholarship in collaboration with UCC’s College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Sciences back in 2018. This year’s Puttnam Scholars come from a diverse range of academic backgrounds including neuroscience, youth and community work, medicine, creative writing, digital humanities, and film and screen media.

This year's Puttnam Scholars are Geraldine Boyle, Colette Forde, Mahito Indi Henderson, Harry McCann, Abnoos Mosleh-Shirazi, Máire Murphy, Ramish Qayyum and Célem Roche Deegan.

Lord Puttnam described his involvement in the scholarship programme as “one of the most satisfying things I’ve done in my life. Being able to work with a small group of genuinely committed young people from a variety of disciplines offers an incredible opportunity to extend the breadth of my own experience, by plugging into the world as they see it, whilst adding value to the opportunities they regard as being within their grasp,” he said.

Dr Ciara Chambers, Head of UCC’s Department of Film and Screen Media, added: “The Puttnam Scholarship offers an exciting form of industry mentorship for UCC students from a broad range of disciplines.

“The successful recipients benefit from Lord Puttnam's pioneering creativity and his vast experience in producing canonical films, advancing digital education, and policymaking on core issues like sustainability and democracy in the digital era.”