Paul Laverty | |
|---|---|
 Paul Laverty on the set ofThe Angels' Share in 2011 | |
| Born | (1957-04-01)1 April 1957 (age 67) Calcutta, India |
| Occupation(s) | Screenwriter, lawyer |
Paul Laverty (born 1 April 1957[1]) is ascreenwriter and lawyer best known for his screenplays for films directed byKen Loach.
Paul Laverty was born inCalcutta,West Bengal, to an Irish mother and Scottish father. He was educated at All Souls' School inWigtown where he grew up. He obtained a philosophy degree at theGregorian University in Rome while studying for the priesthood at thePontifical Scots College.[2] Thereafter he obtained a law degree atStrathclyde Law School, in Glasgow.During the mid-1980s, he travelled toNicaragua 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 (TheSandinistas) and the United States backed "Contras" in which the subject of human rights became highly contested. Every major human rights organisation includingAmnesty andAmericas 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 inEl Salvador, duringits civil war, andGuatemala, too. (His interests in Latin America affairs continued much later with long research trips toChiapas in Mexico, and along theUS-Mexican border concentrating on thecity of Juárez.)
After his time inCentral America Laverty made contact with director Ken Loach for whom he wroteCarla's Song (1996), his first screenplay, which starredRobert Carlyle. For his acting inMy Name is Joe (1998),Peter Mullan won the Best Actor award at the 2000Cannes Film Festival.Bread and Roses (2000), detailing the experiences of migrant labour, was shot inLos Angeles, and featuredAdrien Brody in a leading role. Laverty's next script,Sweet Sixteen (2002) wonbest screenplay award in the2002 Cannes Film Festival.[3]
The two men collaborated onThe Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) which concernsIrish War of Independence in early 1920s. The film won thePalme d'Or 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 producerRebecca O'Brien. Loach's comedy featuring the French footballer Eric Cantona,Looking for Eric (2009), is a collaborative effort with Laverty, as is his film about mercenaries in Iraq,Route Irish (2010).[4]
Laverty has been in a relationship with Spanish filmmaker and actressIcíar Bollaín since 1995, after meeting on the set of Ken Loach'sLand and Freedom (1995).[5] The couple live inEdinburgh with their three children.[6][7]
