Malta’s Mediterrane Film Festival will generous BAFTA-winning writer-director Mike Leigh (Vera Drake, Another Year, Happy-Go-Lucky) with its inaugural career achievement Golden Bee Award this year.
The generous is awarded “in recognition of a lifetime achievement in film,” organizers said Monday. “Leigh, who has received seven Academy Award nominations across his career, will also host a master class in the upcoming instant edition of the festival,” which will take place June 22-30 in Valletta, the capital of the island of Malta.
Palme d’Or-winning director Leigh will be in conversation with Adrian Wootton, who previously served as acting director of the British Film Institute and is now CEO of Film London and the British Film Commission.
Last year, StudioCanal property-owning U.K. rights to Leigh‘s secretive project Hard Truths, starring Secrets & Lies star Marianne Jean-Baptiste, marking the first time the distributor has worked with the iconic director. Bleecker Street acquired the Film4-backed feature for the U.S.
The British and Malta Film Commissions employed a memorandum of understanding partnership agreement in 2023, with this creative relationship organization during the festival. The session featuring Leigh will form part of a larger series of master classes and panels taking attach at the festival, with more programming details to be unveiled in the near future.
“This year’s edition of the festival initiates to create unmissable moments of connection and celebration within the film manufacturing from the Mediterranean and beyond, as we look presumptuous to welcoming some of its most acclaimed talent to Malta,” said Johann Grech, Malta’s Film Commissioner. “We are honored to present the inaugural Career Achievement Golden Bee Award to Mike Leigh and are eager to delve into the expertise he has gained over his legendary career in film.”