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Welcome back to Cannes Check, In Contention's annual preview of the films in Competition at this year's Cannes Film Festival, which kicks off on May 14. Taking on different selections every day, we'll be examining what they're about, who's involved and what their chances are of snagging an award from Jane Campion's jury. Next up, the first of two British veterans in the lineup: Mike Leigh's "Mr. Turner." The director: Mike Leigh (British, 71 years old). Few filmmakers have essayed the mundane woes (and occasional joys) of Britain's working-to-middle classes with the vivid specificity of Mike Leigh, though given his distinctive vernacular and customarily heightened sense of the everyday, it's not quite accurate to classify him as a kitchen-sink realist. Either way, as both a playwright and filmmaker, he's as significant and influential a figure on the UK cultural lanscape as John Osborne or Alan Bennett. A Rada acting student turned art school graduate,...

Director also reveals the name of his previously untitled Turner project and talks about switching from film to digital.

Mike Leigh, the director of Vera Drake and Another Year, has revealed he is to direct The Pirates of Penzance for the English National Opera.

Speaking at the fourth annual Peter Brook Lecture at the British Library in London, Leigh was asked if he would consider working in musical theatre.

“I’m going to direct The Pirates of Penzance for English National Opera in 2015,” he replied.

“The play we worked on at Stratford East [It’s a Great Big Shame, 1993] was an attempt to make a piece of musical theatre. At that time my aspiration was, and it remains, to be able to create a piece of musical theatre. That’s why I’ve accepted the invitation to direct a comic opera at Eno because I think I might learn something I don’t know.”

Leigh directed the Oscar and BAFTA-winning Topsy-Turvy in 1999, set...

Director also reveals the name of his previously untitled Turner project and talks about switching from film to digital.

Mike Leigh, the director of Vera Drake and Another Year, has revealed he is to direct The Pirates of Penzance for the English National Opera.

Speaking at the fourth annual Peter Brook Lecture at the British Library in London, Leigh was asked if he would consider working in musical theatre.

“I’m going to direct The Pirates of Penzance for English National Opera in 2015,” he replied.

“The play we worked on at Stratford East [It’s a Great Big Shame, 1993] was an attempt to make a piece of musical theatre. At that time my aspiration was, and it remains, to be able to create a piece of musical theatre. That’s why I’ve accepted the invitation to direct a comic opera at Eno because I think I might learn something I don’t know.”

Leigh directed the Oscar and BAFTA-winning Topsy-Turvy in 1999, set...

We're slightly over a month from the kick-off of the 2012 Olympics, and here in London, you can certainly tell: the locals are battening down the hatches, the facilities are desperately getting their last of lick of paint, and it's already virtually impossible to leave the house without some kind of reminder of the bonanza of track and field events that'll be taking place from July 27th. But what does the event hold for those who could give a shit about sport? For all the talk of a Cultural Olympiad to take place alongside the games, it mostly seems to involve international poetry slams and Scissor Sisters concerts by the Thames, and we'd rather go see the equestrian events than see either of those.

However, there are a couple of treats in store for film fans. Firstly, Oscar-winner Danny Boyle ("Slumdog Millionaire") is responsible for the opening ceremony, unveiling his plans...