The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) has today announced that BAFTA and Oscar-winning director and producer Sam Mendes CBE will discuss his craft and career at a special ‘BAFTA A Life in Pictures’ event at BAFTA’s headquarters, 195 Piccadilly in London, on Monday 30 November.
Public tickets will available to book from 1pm on Friday 30 October at www.bafta.org/whats-on/.
‘BAFTA A Life in Pictures’ is a long-running series of onstage interviews in which some of the film world’s leading talent share insights into the experiences that helped them hone and develop their craft. The series has hosted such figures as Cate Blanchett, David Fincher, Tom Hanks, Ang Lee, Helen Mirren, Martin Scorsese, Meryl Streep, and Quentin Tarantino.
Sam Mendes is one of the UK’s most commercially successful and critically acclaimed film directors. His film projects have won 10 BAFTAs, including the award for Outstanding British Film in 2013, eight Oscars and five Golden Globes.
A renowned theatre director, Mendes made his cinematic directorial debut with American Beauty, which received a total of 14 BAFTA nominations and won six, including Best Film, Actor in a Leading Role for Kevin Spacey and Actress in a Leading Role for Annette Bening. The film also won five Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director for Mendes, who also received a Golden Globe, the Los Angeles Film Critics Award, the Broadcast Film Critics Award and the Directors Guild of America’s DGA Award for Outstanding Directorial Achievement for the film.
In 2002, Mendes’ second film Road to Perdition won two BAFTAs and received six Oscar nominations, while Revolutionary Road, directed by Mendes in 2008, received four BAFTA and three Oscar nominations. Revolutionary Road was also nominated in four Golden Globes categories including Best Motion Picture and Best Director.
In 2010 Mendes took over as director of the James Bond franchise, starring Daniel Craig. 2012’s Skyfall grossed over $1 billion worldwide and won numerous awards, including a BAFTA for Outstanding British Film. It currently holds the record for the most commercially successful film of all time in the UK. His most recent release Spectre, the widely anticipated 24th film in the James Bond franchise, opened in the UK on Monday 26 October.
Sam Mendes is one of the founders of Neal Street Productions, producers of films including Things We Lost in the Fire and Starter for 10; and television series including the BAFTA-winning Call the Midwife. As an executive producer for Neal Street, Mendes received a BAFTA nomination for Single Drama in 2013 for Richard II.
On 30 October Sam Mendes will be honoured at the 2015 BAFTA Britannia Awards, with the John Schlesinger Britannia Award for Artistic Excellence in Directing. He has also been awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award by the Directors Guild of Great Britain and was made a CBE for services to drama in 2000.Â
Recordings of previous events in the series are available on BAFTA Guru, BAFTA’s online learning channel (www.bafta.org/guru).
Event details:
BAFTA A Life in Pictures: Sam Mendes
Monday 30 November at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, London
19:00Â Â Â Â Â Â Champagne Taittinger Reception
19:30Â Â Â Â Â Â Event commences
