Salford born, Mike Leigh, the only British director to have won the top prize at both Cannes and Venice film festivals is to be the subject of one of by Alan Yentob’s BBC One’s flagship arts programmes Imagine.
The show, which returns to our screens later this autumn, will feature Leigh one of the greatest living film-makers who is known for low-budget, award-wining films including Abigail’s Party, Nuts In May, Vera Drake, Secrets And Lies and Naked.
His latest film Mr Turner is his most lavish film to date. Leigh’s acutely observed tragi-comedies explore the poetry and pathos in the lives of ordinary people, and are borne of an extraordinary working process.
There is no script, no stars and a six month rehearsal period where the actors collaborate with him to devise the film. Despite his collaborative process, every film draws on Leigh’s personal experiences, from growing up in Salford to his troubled relationships with his parents.
We are told that in this deeply personal and intimate imagine film, Mike Leigh opens up as never before.
Leigh was born in Salford on 20 February 1943, the son of a doctor, and was educated at Salford Grammar School before gaining a scholarship to the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art in 1960.
