Palme d’Or winner, Mike Leigh, reflects on his career, from Abigail’s Party to Peterloo via Secrets & Lies with Jason Solomons.

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 for the stage, including Abigail’s Party and Two Thousand Years. The five-time BAFTA winner returns to Jewish Book Week after a decade.

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Born in Salford, Manchester, in 1943, Mike Leigh has developed a unique method of creating films through controlled improvisations. After his debut feature film, Bleak Moments (1971) he made a succession of admired TV plays, then returned to feature films. Secrets and Lies won the Palme d’Or at Cannes in 1996. Topsy-Turvy (1999) won two Oscars, and Vera Drake (2004), won the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival. He also did Two Thousand Years for the National Theatre in 2005.

Jason Solomons is one of the UK’s best-known presenters and film critics.

He hosts the popular Seen Any Good Films Lately? podcast, has his own music and culture show on Totally Wired Radio, and reviews films for LBC radio and BBC arts show Front Row. Jason is film correspondent for The New European and UK critic for TheWrap.com. On TV, he covers the BAFTAs and the Oscars for BBC News and is a regular commentator on Sky News and ITV’s GMB.

Jason curates the Cinedrome at Green Man Festival and, following best-seller Woody Allen: Film by Film, is currently finishing his latest book, Movies: A Love Story.