Maverick director and writer Mike Leigh has had a huge impact on British cinema and theatre. Salford born, he loves to describe ordinary lives, achieving a body of work far from ordinary.  Whether for the stage or the screen, he has developed a unique style of authorship: he assembles a few actors, weeks of long conversations evolve through secret rehearsals into creating the characters and the final story. His triumphant return to the stage with Two Thousand Years saw him address...

Famous for his unique method of creating films through controlled improvisations, Mike Leigh is the only British director to have won the top prize at both Cannes (Secrets & Lies) and Venice (Vera Drake). In the updated Mike Leigh on Mike Leigh, he reflects on a career that has established him as one of world cinema’s pre-eminent figures, from Life Is Sweet and Naked to Happy-Go-Lucky and Mr Turner, in addition to his work ...