Mike Leigh is an English writer and director of film and theatre. Born in Salford, he studied theatre at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art]. He began as a theatre director and playwright in the 1960s. In the 1970s he made his name with the television version of his play Abigail's Party . Some of his best known and most successful films include Life is Sweet, Naked for which he won the Best Director Award at Cannes,the BAFTA-winning (and Oscar-nominated) Palme d'Or winner Secrets & Lies and Golden Lion winner Vera Drake. His most recent film Another Year premiered to great acclaim at the Cannes Film Festival in 2010.