Mike Leigh
Biography: Michael "Mike" Leigh, OBE (born 20 February 1943) is a British writer and director of film and theatre. He studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, and studied further at the Camberwell School of Art and the Central School of Art and Design. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the mid 1960s. In the 1970s and 1980s his career moved between work for the theatre and making films for BBC Television, many of which were characterized by a gritty "kitchen sink realism" style. His well-known films include Life is Sweet (1990), the comedy-drama Career Girls (1997), the Gilbert and Sullivan biopic Topsy Turvy (1999), and the bleak working-class drama All or Nothing (2002). His most notable works are arguably Naked (1993) for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes, the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies (1996) and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake (2004). His films and stage plays, according to the critic Michael Coveney, "comprise a distinctive, homogenous body of work which stands comparison with anyone's in the British theatre and cinema over the same period." Coveney further noted Leigh's role in helping to create stars – Liz Smith in Hard Labour, Alison Steadman in Abigail's Party, Brenda Blethyn in Grown-Ups, Antony Sher in Goose-Pimples, Gary Oldman and Tim Roth in Meantime, Jane Horrocks in Life is Sweet, David Thewlis in Naked – and remarked that the list of actors who have worked with him over the years – including Sheila Kelley, Paul Jesson, Phil Daniels, Lindsay Duncan, Lesley Sharp, Kathy Burke, Stephen Rea, Eric Richard, Julie Walters – "comprises an impressive, almost representative, nucleus of outstanding British acting talent." Ian Buruma, writing in the New York Review of Books in January 1994, noted: "It is hard to get on a London bus or listen to the people at the next table in a cafeteria without thinking of Mike Leigh. Like other wholly original artists, he has staked out his own territory. Leigh's London is as distinctive as Fellini's Rome or Ozu's Tokyo." Description above from the Wikipedia article Mike Leigh, licensed under CC-BY-SA, full list of contributors on Wikipedia.
Place of Birth: Not available
Birthday: February 20, 1943
Deathday: N/A
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Known For
Looking for Truffaut
2009-01-01
Looking for Truffaut
Overview: Documentary about François Truffaut who is one of the most respected directors in the history of cinema.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-01-01
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Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain
2000-12-31
Humphrey Jennings: The Man Who Listened to Britain
Overview: Documentary about Humphrey Jennings, an English documentary filmmaker from the 1930s to 1950.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-12-31
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Why Are We (Not) Creative?
2021-10-20
Why Are We (Not) Creative?
Overview: In this second installment of his exploration of creativity, Hermann Vaske looks for factors that inhibit it. He asks artists, activists, and thinkers about things that kill their creativity.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: de
Release Date: 2021-10-20
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Inside the Golden Statue
1998-01-01
Inside the Golden Statue
Overview: A behind-the-scenes look at the preparations for the live broadcast of the 69th Annual Academy Awards ceremony.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-01-01
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Cinema16: British Short Films
2003-05-05
Cinema16: British Short Films
Overview: This critically acclaimed DVD contains 16 of the best classic and award winning British short films and delivers a snapshot of British cinema past and present. It includes films from Britain's most exciting new talent alongside early shorts from it's most successful filmmakers' amongst them Chris Nolan (Memento, Insomnia, Batman Begins), Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Alien), Mike Leigh (Secrets and Lies) and Stephen Daldry (Billy Elliot, The Hours). 01 About a Girl - Brian Percival 02 Boy & Bicycle - Ridley Scott 03 Dear Phone - Peter Greenaway 04 Doodlebug - Christopher Nolan 05 Eight - Stephen Daldry 06 Gasman - Lynne Ramsay 07 Girl Chewing Gum - John Smith 08 Home - Morag McKinnon 09 Joyride - Jim Gillespie 10 Inside Out - Tom & Charles Guard 11 Je T’aime John Wayne - Toby Macdonald 12 The Sheep Thief - Asif Kapadia 13 The Short & Curlies - Mike Leigh 14 Telling Lies - Simon Ellis 15 UK Images - Martin Parr 16 Who’s My Favourite Girl? - Adrian J. McDowall
Genres: No genres available
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2003-05-05
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Untitled 13
Untitled 13
Overview: Documentary about the making of Mike Leigh's Mr.Turner, unreleased due to unspecified 'legal reasons'
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
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Her Name Was Moviola
2024-06-14
Her Name Was Moviola
Overview: A documentary about cutting film... the way it used to be done.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2024-06-14
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Cannes Uncut
2023-06-12
Cannes Uncut
Overview: Looks at the glamour, red carpets, movies, craziness, stunts, deals, parties and personalities that have been part of the Cannes Film Festival over eight decades, as well as looking to the future.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2023-06-12
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Mike Leigh: Making Plays
1982-09-04
Mike Leigh: Making Plays
Overview: Writer and Director Mike Leigh discusses the techniques used to create his plays.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1982-09-04
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The One and Only Mike Leigh
2014-11-24
The One and Only Mike Leigh
Overview: In a revealing documentary, Mike Leigh, director of Secrets & Lies, Vera Drake and Abigail's Party among many others, talks to Alan Yentob about a unique body of work and a lifelong struggle to make films on his own terms. On day one of a Mike Leigh film, there is no script, no story and the actors do not know if they will even be in the final film. It is a process that has yielded some of cinema's most celebrated performances, and Leigh's new film Mr Turner is already winning critical acclaim. Actors including Jim Broadbent, Eddie Marsan, Sally Hawkins, Lesley Manville and James Corden give fascinating insights into the director and his distinctive method of working.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2014-11-24
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Welcome to Hollywood
1998-10-01
Welcome to Hollywood
Overview: A film director decides to chart the course of a young actor as he tries to make it in Hollywood...
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1998-10-01
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Vittorio D.
2009-09-17
Vittorio D.
Overview: A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2009-09-17
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What Is Cinema?
2013-09-06
What Is Cinema?
Overview: Using the words and ideas of great filmmakers, from archival interviews with Alfred Hitchcock and Robert Bresson to new interviews with Mike Leigh, David Lynch, and Jonas Mekas, Oscar-winning filmmaker Chuck Workman shows what these filmmakers and others do that can't be expressed in words - but only in cinema.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2013-09-06
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Mike Leigh: The Conversation
2000-04-23
Mike Leigh: The Conversation
Overview: An interview with British film director Mike Leigh produced for BBC-TV.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2000-04-23
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Scenes from A Separation
2018-10-04
Scenes from A Separation
Overview: Scenes from A Separation
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fa
Release Date: 2018-10-04
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All About 'Abigail's Party'
2007-01-01
All About 'Abigail's Party'
Overview: A look at the production of Play for Today: Abigail's Party (1977).
Genres: TV Movie Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2007-01-01
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Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today
2020-10-12
Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today
Overview: Marking Play for Today’s 50th anniversary, Drama Out of a Crisis is a compelling exploration of the series, its origins, achievements, controversies and legacies. Featuring a rich and surprising range of archive extracts and original interviews with many who created the series, including producers Kenith Trodd, Margaret Matheson and Richard Eyre, and directors Mike Leigh, David Hare and Ken Loach.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2020-10-12
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Two Left Feet
1963-03-16
Two Left Feet
Overview: Based on David Stuart Leslie's novel Two Left Feet is a story about Alan Crabbe (Michael Crawford a callow youth desperate for a date with any girl who can offer him the experience he lacks. Every time Alan tries a manful stride into the jungle of sex, his two left feet turn the attempt into a trip-and-stumble. Then he meets Eileen (Nyree Dawn Porter), the new waitress at the corner cafe, who signal unmistakable messages with her large inviting eyes.
Genres: Comedy
Original Language: en
Release Date: 1963-03-16
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Citizen B
2025-01-17
Citizen B
Overview: Documentary on Ciby 2000, the French film production company founded by Francis Bouygues in 1990.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: fr
Release Date: 2025-01-17
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Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light
2016-06-13
Alan Clarke: Out of His Own Light
Overview: A multi-part documentary about Alan Clarke, featuring interviews with various actors, writers and producers.
Genres: Documentary
Original Language: en
Release Date: 2016-06-13
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