Paul Laverty
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Paul Laverty (born 1 April 1957) is an Indian-born Scottish and Irish
screenwriter A screenwriter (also called scriptwriter, scribe, or scenarist) is a person who practices the craft of writing for visual mass media, known as screenwriting. These can include short films, feature-length films, television programs, television ...
and lawyer best known for his collaborations with
Ken Loach Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936) is a retiredhttps://variety.com/2024/film/global/ken-loach-retirement-the-old-oak-jonathan-glazer-oscars-speech-1235956589/ English filmmaker. His socially critical directing style and socialist views ar ...
.


Birth and early career

Paul Laverty was born in
Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...
,
West Bengal West Bengal (; Bengali language, Bengali: , , abbr. WB) is a States and union territories of India, state in the East India, eastern portion of India. It is situated along the Bay of Bengal, along with a population of over 91 million inhabi ...
, to an Irish mother and Scottish father. He was educated at All Souls' School in Wigtown where he grew up. He obtained a philosophy degree at the
Gregorian University Pontifical Gregorian University (; also known as the Gregorian or Gregoriana), is a private pontifical university in Rome, Italy. The Gregorian originated as a part of the Roman College, founded in 1551 by Ignatius of Loyola, and included all ...
in Rome while studying for the priesthood at the Pontifical Scots College. Thereafter he obtained a law degree at Strathclyde Law School, in Glasgow. During the mid-1980s, he travelled to
Nicaragua Nicaragua, officially the Republic of Nicaragua, is the geographically largest Sovereign state, country in Central America, comprising . With a population of 7,142,529 as of 2024, it is the third-most populous country in Central America aft ...
and lived there for almost three years. He worked for a Nicaraguan domestic human rights organisation which provided hard evidence of human rights abuses during the war between the elected Nicaraguan Government (The Sandinistas) and the United States backed "
Contras In the history of Nicaragua, the Contras (Spanish: ''La contrarrevolución'', the counter-revolution) were the right-wing militias who waged anti-communist guerilla warfare (1979–1990) against the Marxist governments of the Sandinista Na ...
" in which the subject of human rights became highly contested. Every major human rights organisation including
Amnesty Amnesty () is defined as "A pardon extended by the government to a group or class of people, usually for a political offense; the act of a sovereign power officially forgiving certain classes of people who are subject to trial but have not yet be ...
and Americas Watch accused the US backed contras of systematic abuse against Nicaraguan civilians. He travelled to the war zones and obtained corroborated eyewitness accounts which were passed on to international human rights organisations. He also travelled widely in
El Salvador El Salvador, officially the Republic of El Salvador, is a country in Central America. It is bordered on the northeast by Honduras, on the northwest by Guatemala, and on the south by the Pacific Ocean. El Salvador's capital and largest city is S ...
, during its civil war, and
Guatemala Guatemala, officially the Republic of Guatemala, is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico, to the northeast by Belize, to the east by Honduras, and to the southeast by El Salvador. It is hydrologically b ...
, too. His interests in Latin American affairs continued much later with long research trips to
Chiapas Chiapas, officially the Free and Sovereign State of Chiapas, is one of the states that make up the Political divisions of Mexico, 32 federal entities of Mexico. It comprises Municipalities of Chiapas, 124 municipalities and its capital and large ...
in Mexico, and along the US-Mexican border concentrating on the city of Juárez.


Scriptwriting

After his time in
Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...
Laverty made contact with director Ken Loach for whom he wrote '' Carla's Song'' (1996), his first screenplay, which starred Robert Carlyle. For his acting in '' My Name is Joe'' (1998), Peter Mullan won the Best Actor award at the 2000
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival (; ), until 2003 called the International Film Festival ('), is the most prestigious film festival in the world. Held in Cannes, France, it previews new films of all genres, including documentaries, from all around ...
. '' Bread and Roses'' (2000), detailing the experiences of migrant labour, was shot in
Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...
, and featured Adrien Brody in a leading role. Laverty's next script, '' Sweet Sixteen'' (2002) won best screenplay award in the
2002 Cannes Film Festival The 55th Cannes Film Festival took place from 15 to 26 May 2002. American filmmaker David Lynch served as jury president for the main competition. Virginie Ledoyen hosted the opening and closing ceremonies. French-Polish filmmaker Roman Polanski ...
. The two men collaborated on '' The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' (2006) which concerns
Irish War of Independence The Irish War of Independence (), also known as the Anglo-Irish War, was a guerrilla war fought in Ireland from 1919 to 1921 between the Irish Republican Army (1919–1922), Irish Republican Army (IRA, the army of the Irish Republic) and Unite ...
in early 1920s. The film won the
Palme d'Or The (; ) is the highest prize awarded to the director of the Best Feature Film of the Official Competition at the Cannes Film Festival. It was introduced in 1955 by the festival's organizing committee. Previously, from 1939 to 1954, the festiv ...
at the 2006 Cannes Film Festival. Laverty has written eight full-length feature scripts and one short directed by Ken Loach. Both work closely with producer Rebecca O'Brien. Loach's comedy featuring the French footballer Eric Cantona, ''
Looking for Eric ''Looking for Eric'' is a 2009 sports comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. It is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. It stars Steve Evets, Eric Cantona ...
'' (2009), is a collaborative effort with Laverty, as is his film about mercenaries in Iraq, '' Route Irish'' (2010).


Personal life

Laverty has been in a relationship with Spanish filmmaker and actress Icíar Bollaín since 1995, after meeting on the set of Ken Loach's '' Land and Freedom'' (1995). The couple live in
Edinburgh Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 Council areas of Scotland, council areas. The city is located in southeast Scotland and is bounded to the north by the Firth of Forth and to the south by the Pentland Hills. Edinburgh ...
with their three children.


Filmography

* '' Carla's Song'' (1996) * '' My Name is Joe'' (1998) * '' Bread and Roses'' (2000) * '' Sweet Sixteen'' (2002) * '' 11'09"01 September 11'' (2002) (UK Segment) * '' Ae Fond Kiss...'' (2004) * ''
Tickets Ticket or tickets may refer to: Slips of paper * Lottery, Lottery ticket * Parking violation, Parking ticket, a ticket confirming that the parking fee was paid (and the time of the parking start) * Ticket system, Toll ticket, a slip of paper use ...
'' (2005) * ''
Cargo In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in cas ...
'' (2006) * '' The Wind That Shakes the Barley'' (2006) * '' It's a Free World...'' (2007) * ''
Looking for Eric ''Looking for Eric'' is a 2009 sports comedy-drama film directed by Ken Loach and written by Paul Laverty. It is an international co-production between the United Kingdom, France, Italy, Belgium, and Spain. It stars Steve Evets, Eric Cantona ...
'' (2009) * '' Route Irish'' (2010) * '' Even the Rain'' (2010) * '' The Angels' Share'' (2012) * '' Jimmy's Hall'' (2014) * '' I, Daniel Blake'' (2016) * '' The Olive Tree'' (2016) * '' Yuli: The Carlos Acosta Story'' (2018) * '' Sorry We Missed You'' (2019) * The Old Oak (2023)


References


External links

*
Paul Laverty Interview on The Señales de Humo
{{DEFAULTSORT:Laverty, Paul 1957 births Living people Alumni of the University of Strathclyde Writers from Kolkata Scottish human rights activists Scottish lawyers Scottish people of Irish descent Scottish screenwriters Cannes Film Festival Award for Best Screenplay winners Alumni of the Scots College, Rome