The GuardianUK News & Comment• 1 min read

‘Not just Hollywood crap’: Mike Leigh on the East End communist who brought world cinema to the UK

Published 1 September 2026, 3:05pm

A new season celebrates Contemporary Films and its founder Charles Cooper, who bet on Britain taking to Ingmar Bergman, Yasujiro Ozu, Satyajit Ray – and a young Mike Leigh Occasionally, vital pieces of the cultural jigsaw disappear without anyone really noticing.

Read the full story at The Guardian

Havoc links to the original reporting. The full story stays with the publisher.

Was this worth reading?Sign in to vote

More in UK News & Comment

The Guardian

Rise of the Rockstar Chef review – Gordon Ramsay and Marco Pierre White serve up the most sizzling TV of the year

Heston Blumenthal is a third wheel as the pair reveal all about their culinary stardom and infamous beef. Expect endless juicy gossip, from pan-throwing to gatecrashing weddings … and mid-service kitchen sex Never mind the scallops, here’s the Chef Pistols.

UK News & Comment The Guardian

British Ebola patient evacuated from DR Congo arrives at London hospital

Doctor who was helping response to outbreak in Africa taken to specialist isolation unit at Royal Free hospital A British doctor who tested positive for Ebola while working in the Democratic Republic of the Congo has returned to the UK for specialist treatment.

UK News & Comment The Guardian

White House event reveals Ukraine and Russia share one goal: flattering Melania

As war rages on in Kyiv and other cities, the first lady celebrates her single-city ceasefire with Russian and Ukrainian envoys Beaming from a podium in the White House’s Grand Foyer, Melania Trump welcomed senior Russian and Ukrainian officials on Thursday to celebrate a…

UK News & Comment