‘Economic future rests on generation of gifted and committed teachers,’ says David Puttnam

For Puttnam, who has lived in Skibbereen in West Cork with his wife Patsy since 1998, the award was special.

“Over the years, I’ve had quite a number of honorary degrees. But what’s different and special with this is it’s my hometown. It’s somehow more difficult and yet more rewarding to get this award from what I consider my local university.”

Puttnam was honoured for his work in films, as an educator, and as an environmentalist.

Born in London in 1941, he enjoyed a successful 30-year career in the film industry.

As a producer, he made several award-winning films including The Mission, The Killing Fields, Chariots of Fire, Midnight Express, Bugsy Malone, and Local Hero, working with industry heavyweights such as Ridley Scott and Alan Parker.

Although he left the world of filmmaking behind in 1997, Puttnam maintains an active interest in global cinema.

“At the moment, I’m watching a movie every day for the Oscars; over the weekend, I saw four fabulous films — an Italian, Thai, Brazilian, and Mexican film.”

He is heartened by the rise of Irish language films and the industry here.

“Right now we’re seeing the emergence of a real depth of talent in Ireland. I remember going to see An Cailín Ciúin in Bantry Cinema in 2022.

“About 10 minutes in, I realised I was watching a masterpiece, and 15 minutes in, I realised I wasn’t aware that it was in the Irish language. I just got so caught up in the characters.”

This is the mark of a good film for Puttnam.

David Puttnam speaking in the Aula Maxima, UCC. Picture: John Allen

“For me, really great movies need the dopamine hit to suck the audience in, but they also need to be about reflection, they need to challenge us and show us a different point of view.

“There’s a saying that the marker of a great movie in the cinema is when you go for coffee after the movie that you immediately start talking about the movie.”

In his role as an educator at his company Atticus Education, which he set up in 2012, Puttnam delivers seminars on film, media, and screen to students at universities all over the world, including in UCC.

Today’s generation of filmmakers, he says, “are looking more and more at short forms, not just streaming, but Tiktok and YouTube, and other ways of getting their films noticed.

“They’re also focused on telling shorter stories. Stories full of content, and documentaries. This trend has fortunately coincided with a rise in short film festivals, like the Fastnet Film Festival.”

Puttnam’s approach to teaching is based on his own premise that “responsible filmmakers, working in a free society, have a duty to ensure that our chosen medium is a force for good” something he says is needed now, more than ever.

Education is at the core of what Puttnam believes in.

When receiving his honorary doctorate on Wednesday, he said: “I didn’t have to be a brain surgeon to realise that the economic future of any self-respecting democracy rests on the quality of education it provides for its young people, and that, in turn, relies, in every respect, on a generation of gifted and committed teachers.”

He believes teachers are key, but teachers that are equipped with strong digital literacy skills.

David Puttnam; Jeremy Irons, Adi Roche and Dominic Casey at UCC Picture: Daragh McSweeney/Provision

“When we look at Singapore, one of the world’s leading countries in STEM results, they require their teachers to do 100 hours of non-contact time of continuous professional development (CPD).

“All of this is designed to ensure that the teaching world is ahead of the student world. I’d love to see a more serious attitude to CPD here.

“I would also love to see the government insist that every eight-year-old is digitally literate.

“It’s a key age, where kids will absorb the very best of what’s possible; once they get to 11 or 12, it all becomes more complicated.

“So to me, at eight, you need to have an instinct for sifting out the right, the wrong, the good, the bad, and you need to be sophisticated.

“Essentially, you need to be sophisticated enough to make judgments about the social media that’s going to assail you.”

Puttnam was appointed Ireland’s first Digital Champion in 2012.

In this role, he contributed to the development and implementation of a new National Digital Strategy.

During his five years in the role, Puttnam put in place the School’s Digital Champion Programme, which is aimed at elevating digital skills in the classroom and helping students develop their creativity, critical thinking, and communication skills.

Outside of film and education, Puttnam has long tackled the thornier issues of modern life.

During his 24 years in the House of Lords in Britain, he sat on and chaired numerous committees focused on digital technologies, communications, and climate change, facing off “against big Hollywood, big oil, big media, and big tech”, said Ciara Chambers in her introduction to Puttnam at UCC on Wednesday.

“In all his endeavors, and particularly as a champion of digital education, he has challenged the injustices forced upon the world by elite powers who would destroy our environment, manipulate our voting rights, force us into unjust wars, and risk acute damage to the minds of our young people.”