Today, BAFTA announces the line-up for the 2024 Screenwriters’ Lecture Series, supported by the JJ Charitable Trust. This year’s lectures will take place from Friday 8 November to Sunday 10 November at BAFTA’s London headquarters, BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, and will be delivered by esteemed screenwriters Mike Leigh (Secrets & Lies, Happy-Go-Lucky), Chris Sanders (How To Train Your Dragon, The Wild Robot), Alice Rohrwacher (La Chimera, Happy as Lazzaro), and Alice Birch (Normal People, The Wonder).
This year marks the 12th edition of the Screenwriters’ Lecture Series. Created by BAFTA award-winning screenwriter Jeremy Brock, the series honours the artistic contributions of screenwriters to film by giving them a platform to share career-defining moments and authorial insights with an audience of industry peers and film enthusiasts.
Previous lecturers include Bong Joon Ho, Paul Schrader, Céline Sciamma, Noah Baumbach, Tony Kushner, Lena Dunham, Charlie Kaufman, and Pedro Almodóvar. BAFTA Screenwriters’ Lecture Series is supported by the JJ Charitable Trust, one of the Sainsbury Family Charitable Trusts.
The 2024 series begins on Friday 8 November with an opening lecture from BAFTA award-winning British writer and director, Mike Leigh. On Saturday 9 November, American writer and director Chris Sanders will take to the stage, followed by Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher on Sunday 10 November. British playwright and screenwriter Alice Birch will deliver the closing lecture on Sunday evening.
Mike Leigh
Writer-director Mike Leigh trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art, Camberwell and Central Art Schools in London, and at the London Film School. His first feature film was Bleak Moments; this was followed by full-length television films including Hard Labour, Nuts in May and Meantime. Other feature films include Life Is Sweet, Naked, Secrets and Lies, Vera Drake, Happy-Go-Lucky, Peterloo, and Hard Truths. He has also written and directed over twenty stage plays including Abigail’s Party.
Chris Sanders
Known for writing and directing Lilo & Stitch, How to Train Your Dragon, and The Wild Robot, Chris Sanders has also worked at a story artist on classics including Beauty and the Beast, Aladdin and The Lion King, and contributed to the character design of the Shrek and Madagascar franchises. He is a three-time Academy Award nominee with further recognitions from ASIFA-Hollywood, winning four Annie awards and an additional four nominations in addition to earning numerous accolades around the world for his work.
Alice Rohrwacher
Italian filmmaker Alice Rohrwacher wrote and played music for the theatre before being drawn to cinema, where she began working as a documentary film editor. In 2011 she directed her first full-length film, Corpo Celeste (Heavenly Body) which was premiered at Cannes in the Quinzaine des Réalisateurs. Her second film, Le Meraviglie (The Wonders) won the Grand Prix at Cannes in 2014, while her third Lazzaro Felice (Happy As Lazarus), received the Best Screenplay award in Cannes, as well as great international acclaim. She directed the third and fourth episodes in the acclaimed Rai-HBO TV series My Brilliant Friend – The Story of a New Name, adapted from the novels by Elena Ferrante in 2020, and in 2023 she was nominated for an Oscar in the Best Live Action Shorts category for Le Pupille (The Pupils) co-produced by Alfonso Cuarón for Disney. La Chimera is her latest feature, which premiered at Cannes.
Alice Birch
Rising to prominence with her innovative and thought-provoking plays, Alice Birch has established herself as one of the most exciting voices in contemporary theatre and screenwriting. With credits including Lady Macbeth, Normal People and The Wonder. Alice is an award-winning playwright and screenwriter known for her bold, innovative work across theatre, television, and film. In television, she created the series Dead Ringers for Amazon and co-wrote the Emmy-nominated adaptation of Normal People, whilst also contributing to Conversations with Friends and Succession. Birch’s film work includes Lady Macbeth, Mothering Sunday, and co-writing The Wonder.
Event dates and venues:
Friday 8 November
Mike Leigh — BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, 7.30pm
Saturday 9 November
Chris Sanders — BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, 1.30pm
Sunday 10 November
Alice Rohrwacher — BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, 1pm
Alice Birch — BAFTA 195 Piccadilly, 4pm
About BAFTA
BAFTA’s mission as a charity is to champion the creative and cultural importance of the screen arts across film, games and television. Through its Awards ceremonies and year-round programme of talent initiatives and learning events that include masterclasses, lectures, scholarships, bursaries and mentoring schemes in the UK and North America, BAFTA identifies and celebrates excellence, discovers, inspires and nurtures new screen talent, and enables learning and creative collaboration. For more, visit www.bafta.org. BAFTA is a registered charity (no. 216726).
