In October 2022, Cork International Film Festival was delighted to welcome David Puttnam as the Festival’s Patron.
CIFF Chair, Barney Whelan said “We are honoured to have the endorsement and friendship of David, a true luminary of film and education, to help support our continued development.” Puttnam spent 30 years as an independent producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone, and Local Hero. He is the Chair of Atticus Education, an online education company founded in 2012 that delivers audio-visual seminars to students all over the world.
“Film can be a great force for good, and film festivals create a unique space for shared experience, to entertain and provoke, to inspire and delight, and to promote thought and action. Cork International Film Festival plays a vital role in the cultural life of Cork, maximising participation for audiences and artists in a shared creative experience. As Patron I am delighted to support the Festival’s continued development and success as it approaches its 70th anniversary in 2025,” David Puttnam.
David Puttnam is the Chair of Atticus Education, an online education company founded in 2012 that delivers audio-visual seminars to students all over the world. In addition to this, he was a member of the House of Lords from October 1997 to October 2021 where he pursued an active role in a variety of areas, from educational and environmental issues to digital skills.
His current positions include: Adjunct Professor, School of Media and Communication, College of Design and Social Context, RMIT University, AU; Member of the Advisory Board of Accenture (Ireland); Adjunct Professor in Film Studies & Digital Humanities, University College Cork; Chairman, School Advisory Board, Nord Anglia International School, Dublin; Chair, Education Advisory Board, Nord Anglia Education; President, Film Distributors’ Association; Life President, National Film and Television School, 2017; Patron, Dublin Bid World Summit on Media for Children 2020/2023; Member, BFI/DCMS Young Audiences Content Fund Strategic Advisory Group; Member, Institute for Ethical AI in Education Advisory Council; International Ambassador, WWF; Ambassador, Unicef UK; Chair, Film London Executive Task Force; Board Member; Commonwealth of Learning.
Puttnam spent 30 years as an independent producer of award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone and Local Hero. Together these films have won ten Oscars®, 13 Golden Globes, 31 Baftas, nine Emmys, four David di Donatellos and the Palme D’Or at Cannes. From 1986 to 1988, he was Chairman and CEO of Columbia Pictures. He returned to the UK to produce Memphis Belle, War of the Buttons and My Life So Far. From 1994 to 2004, he was Vice President and Chair of Trustees at the British Academy of Film & Television Arts (BAFTA) and was awarded a BAFTA Fellowship in 2006. He is also a Fellow of the British Film Institute.
His book on the history of the film industry, The Undeclared War – The Struggle for Control of the World’s Film Industry (published as Movies and Money in North America) was first published in 1997.
