Catherine Fitzgerald, ONZM, attended St Hilda's from 1961-1973, and recalls a 'new wave' of young teachers joining the staff from 1967, who inspired students to believe that "the world could be a very different, better and more peaceful place, and we had a part to play in that change, whether through feminism, civil rights, anti-nuclear, anti-war or the “green” movements or all of those."
Catherine founded Blueskin Films in 2002, which has produced the acclaimed One Thousand Ropes, The Orator (both NZ’s nominees for Best for Foreign Film), and Bellbird amongst its extensive international award-winning slate of features, shorts and documentaries which have featured worldwide, including the Berlinale, Venice, Cannes, Sundance, Toronto Film Festivals and the Academy Awards. Catherine has a record of producing films by women, Māori and Polynesian and other underrepresented voices. Recent releases include Bellbird and Helen Kelly, and Low Down Dirty Criminals (Executive Producer) was just released in August 2020. Thriller, Coming Home in the Dark, and short, The Meek, will be hitting the screens in 2021.
Catherine also Chairs the NZ Film Festival Trust and Playmarket, is a founding Trust member of the Screen Women’s Action Group, and has consulted for the Berlinale for the NATIVe strand, and served on Generation, NETPAC and Adelaide Festival Juries. Her other governance roles include the founding Chair of WIFT NZ, NZ Film Commission Board, the Board of the Dunedin College of Education, and SPADA, among others.