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Pedro Almodóvar To Deliver BAFTA David Lean Lecture

5 October 2012
Pedro AlmodovarBAFTA/ Ed Miller

BAFTA's annual film lecture will take place on 18 November 2012 and will be delivered by writer/director Pedro Almodóvar.


The British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) today announces that multi award-winning writer/director Pedro Almodóvar will deliver the David Lean Lecture – BAFTA’s annual film lecture – on Sunday 18 November.

The David Lean Lecture aims to educate, inform and inspire practitioners by providing insight into the experiences of some of the world’s best and most compelling filmmakers and to provide a forum for further discussion of their outstanding creative achievements.

BAFTA and Oscar-winner Pedro Almodóvar has a body of work that includes almost 20 theatrically released feature films over three decades. A writer as well as director, his feature screenplays are almost exclusively original works. One of cinema’s truly original storytellers, he has a bold sense of style and design, and a gift for blending comedy, drama and melodrama and getting strong performances from his actors.

After honing his skills and style with a number of artful, funny short films in the 1970s, Almodóvar made his first theatrical feature film in 1980, Pepi, Luci y Bom on a microbudget and based on his own photo novella. A cult hit spawning a four-year-long late night run at a cinema in Madrid, the film starred Carmen Maura who has had a long working relationship with Almodóvar, and it was an early demonstration of his enduring passion for creating strong unique female characters.

Almodóvar has garnered countless awards, with highlights including: BAFTA Awards for All About My Mother (Todos sobre mi madre) in 1999, Talk to Her (Habla con ella) in 2002, and The Skin I Live In in 2012, as well as six other BAFTA nominations; an Oscar® for Talk to Her in 2002 for Best Original Screenplay, and a nomination for Best Director. He was also awarded a Palm d’Or at Cannes for All About My Mother, and multiple Goya awards from the Spanish Academy.

His most recent film I’m So Excited (Los amantes pasajeros) is currently in post-production and is
slated for release in late summer 2013.

BAFTA’s Film Committee Chairman, Nik Powell, says: “Pedro Almodóvar is one of cinema’s truly original voices with a body of work that includes a number of real cinematic masterpieces. He has an inimitable approach to filmmaking that fuses big music, colour and performance in a rich storytelling style which explodes off the big screen. We’re thrilled that he can join us in London in November to deliver our annual film lecture; we allow each year’s lecturer to dictate their own form and structure for the evening, and we look forward to a night which will undoubtedly be as funny, warm, lively and original as we have come to except from one of our great filmmakers and artists.”

The David Lean Lecture carries on the legacy of the great director David Lean, one of the founders of the British Film Academy (as it was then known) in 1947 and a continuing inspiration to many through his exceptional body of work. The Lecture is generously funded by The David Lean Foundation.
The 2012 David Lean Lecture event will begin at 6:30pm with a champagne reception on Sunday 18 November 2012 at BAFTA, 195 Piccadilly, W1J 9LN. The lecture itself will start at 7pm with a canapé reception after the event for all ticket holders.

Tickets cost £20 and can be purchased via www.bafta.org by members from Wednesday 10 October, and by the general public from Friday 12 October.


For further information, please contact:

Elizabeth Porter
Tel: 020 7010 0851 / Email: [email protected]

Hollie Rendall
Tel: 020 7010 0829 / Email: [email protected]

About BAFTA

The British Academy of Film and Television Arts is an independent charity that supports, develops and promotes the art forms of the moving image by identifying and rewarding excellence, inspiring practitioners and benefiting the public. In addition to its Awards ceremonies, BAFTA has a year-round Learning & Events programme that offers unique access to some of the world’s most inspiring talent through workshops, masterclasses, lectures and mentoring schemes, connecting with audiences of all ages and backgrounds across the UK, Los Angeles and New York. BAFTA relies on income from membership subscriptions, individual donations, trusts, foundations and corporate partnerships to support its ongoing outreach work. For further information, visit www.bafta.org.

About the David Lean Lecture

Established in 2001, the David Lean Lecture has included presentations from Errol Morris, Peter Weir, David Lynch, Atom Egoyan, Woody Allen, Oliver Stone, John Boorman, Ken Loach, Robert Altman and Sydney Pollack. A weekend tribute to Lean took the place of the lecture in Lean’s Centenary Year, 2008. Previous lectures can be viewed on www.bafta.org/guru.


David Lean Lecture 2012 Press Release Final Word (69.5 KB)
David Lean Lecture 2012 Press Release Final PDF (86.8 KB)