Elizabeth Kata
Elizabeth Colina Katayama (9 October 19124 September 1998) was an Australian writer under the pseudonym Elizabeth Kata, best known for "Be Ready with Bells and Drums" (1961), which was made into the award-winning film "A Patch of Blue" (1965).
She was born of Scottish parents in Sydney in 1912.
After marrying the Japanese pianist Shinshiro Katayama in 1937, she lived for ten years in Japan.
During the last years of World War II she was interned at the mountain resort village of Karuizawa, Nagano.
She returned to Australia in 1947 with her baby son, battling the Australian Government for permission.
As well as writing novels, she also wrote for television and several Hollywood scripts.
Her first novel, "Be Ready with Bells and Drums" (written in 1959, first published in 1961), was produced as the film "A Patch of Blue" (1965).
Shelley Winters playing the role of Rose-Ann D'Arcey won an Academy Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role.
Guy Green, who directed, also adapted Kata's book and his screenplay was nominated for a Writers Guild of America award.
After the success of the film, the novel was re-released as "A Patch of Blue".
The book was for many years included in the "school book list" both in the US and Australia.
The book "Mrs Katayama and Her Splash of Blue" (2010, Independence Jones), covers how Elizabeth Kata's first book became the film "A Patch of Blue".
Elizabeth Katayama died in Sydney in 1998.
Guy Green (filmmaker)
Guy Mervin Charles Green OBE BSC
(5 November 191315 September 2005) was an English film director, producer, screenwriter, and cinematographer.
In 1946, he won an Oscar as cinematographer for the film "Great Expectations".
In 2002, Green was given a Lifetime Achievement Award by the BAFTA, and, in 2004, he was named an Officer of the Order of the British Empire for his lifetime contributions to British cinema.
Carson Ross
Carson Ross( born December 15, 1946) is the mayor of Blue Springs, Missouri.
He is the first African American mayor of Blue Springs.
He is a Republican.
John Farrell (businessman)
John Farrell is the director of YouTube in Latin America.
Dana Blankstein
Dana Blankstein- Cohen( born March 3, 1981) is the director of the Israeli Academy of Film and Television.
She is a film director, and an Israeli culture entrepreneur.
Ian Barry (director)
Ian Barry is an Australian director of film and TV.
A Patch of Blue
A Patch of Blue is a 1965 American drama film directed by Guy Green about the relationship between a black man (played by Sidney Poitier) and a blind white female teenager (played by Elizabeth Hartman), and the problems that plague their relationship when they fall in love in a racially divided America.
Made in 1965 against the backdrop of the growing civil rights movement, the film explores racism while playing on the idea that "love is blind."
Shelley Winters won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, her second win for the award, following her victory in 1959 for "The Diary of Anne Frank".
It was also the final screen appearance for veteran actor Wallace Ford.
Scenes of Poitier and Hartman kissing were excised from the film when it was shown in film theaters in the Southern United States.
These scenes are intact in the DVD version.
According to the DVD audio commentary, it was the decision of director Guy Green that "A Patch of Blue" be filmed in black and white, although color was available.
The film was adapted by Guy Green from the 1961 book "
Be Ready with Bells and Drums" by the Australian author Elizabeth Kata.
The book later won a Writers Guild of America award.
The plot differs slightly from the film in that it has a less optimistic ending.
In addition to the Best Supporting Actress win for Winters, the film was nominated for Academy Awards for Best Actress in a Leading Role (Elizabeth Hartman), Best Art Direction-Set Decoration (Black-and-White) (George Davis, Urie McCleary, Henry Grace, Charles S. Thompson), Best Cinematography (Black-and-White) and Best Music (Original Music Score).
Hartman, 22 at the time, was the youngest Best Actress nominee, a record she held for ten years before 20-year-old Isabelle Adjani broke her record in 1975.
Peter Levin
Peter Levin is an American director of film, television and theatre.
Michael Govan
Michael Govan( born 1963) is the director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art since 2006.
Prior to this, Govan worked as the director of the Dia Art Foundation in New York City.
Renata Vanni
Renata Vanni (October 12, 1909 – February 19, 2004) was an Italian-born American film actress.
She was better known for the films "Pay or DieA Patch of Blue" and "Lady in White".

Question: What nationality is the director of film A Patch Of Blue?
Answer: British