Leslee Udwin | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Udwin in 2010 | |
| Born | ][1] |
| Occupation(s) | Filmmaker, Human Rights Activist |
| Spouse | Kim Romer (born 1959) |
| Children | 2 |
| Awards | BAFTA,Peabody,Amnesty International Media Award,Royal Television Society Award |
| Website | thinkequal |
Leslee Udwin (born 1957)[2] is a British filmmaker,[3] actress, director, producer, human rights activist, as well as being the founder and executive chair of Think Equal.[4]
She was born inSavyon,Israel, to a European Jewish family with roots in England, Germany and Lithuania. At the age of about nine, she went with her family to South Africa where they spent the next 10 years. Her parents werereligious Jews, but at the age of about 13, she rebelled against Judaism, particularly the morning prayer calledShacharit, in which men say, "I thank God that he did not make me a woman".[1][5]
While her father wanted her to be a lawyer, Udwin supported herself working in theatre and teaching while at university; in her first year she was raped, a fact she told nobody about at the time.[1] She began her career as an actress at theSpace Theatre in Cape Town, one of the only two integrated (‘multi-cultural’) theatres in South Africa, playing in theDuchess of Malfi andStephen Poliakoff’sHitting Town. Not wishing to work in ‘whites-only’ theatres, her work possibilities in South Africa were limited, so she moved to London[6] at age 21.[1] There she acted in plays at theRoyal Court,National Theatre,Royal Shakespeare Company andCheek By Jowl playing roles likeLady Macbeth, Isobel inThe Mayor of Zalamea, Masha inChekhov'sThree Sisters, Nora inA Doll's House, etc. On screen she appeared in theBBC Shakespeare Series production ofThe Merchant of Venice (1980)[6] and played popular character Joy Slater in the 1992-93 BBC soap operaEldorado.
In 1989, she set a legal precedent in theHigh Court of England against criminal landlordNicholas van Hoogstraten who harassed her and her fellow tenants in theirRent Act-protected apartment block in West London. Her real life two-and-a-half year battle against Hoogstraten was subsequently fictionalised byPeter Ransley in the 1989 TV dramaSitting Target (19 March 1989) for BBC 2'sScreen Two anthology series, directed byJenny Wilkes. Having initially urged BBC head of dramaMark Shivas to make the programme (feeling that this optimistic story should inspire as many people as possible[7]), Udwin worked as a script consultant with Ransley, and also starred as harassed tenant Vicki, alongsideJonathan Hyde as evil landlord Vincent Stott.[8][9] Udwin also played Hyde's on-screen second wife in the contemporaneous historical legal drama seriesShadow of the Noose.
After 10 years as an actress[1] she wanted more: "It was an exciting career, but working as an actress was not enough for me – I began to want to choose and not just interpret the stories being told." This led her to become a producer.[6][9]She started her production company, Assassin Films, in 1989.[10] Her productions include the filmsEast is East (1999),Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution (2007), andWest is West (2010), and the documentaryIndia's Daughter (2015).[11][12][13][7]
Udwin also co-producedWho Bombed Birmingham? (1990, starringJohn Hurt) forGranada TV, about the prosecution and wrongful imprisonment of theBirmingham Six. The morning after the broadcast, Prime MinisterMargaret Thatcher told the House of Commons: "We will not have trial by television in this country."[1]
Her feature filmEast is East promoted tolerance and the celebration of diversity as between the Asian and British communities. It won theAlexander Korda Award for Best British Film at theBAFTA Awards, and was declared Best Comedy Film at theBritish Comedy Awards.
Her time spent creating award-winning documentaryIndia's Daughter led Udwin to found UK and US education charityThink Equal, of which she is the CEO.[14]Udwin was voted by theNY Times the No 2 Most Impactful Woman of 2015 (second toHillary Clinton), and has been awarded the prestigious SwedishAnna Lindh Human Rights Prize (previously won byMadeleine Albright) in 2015.[15][7] She has also been named Safe's Global Hero of 2015, and a Global Thinker byForeign Policy.
 | |
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Focus | International Human Rights Early Childhood Development Initiative |
| Giulia D’Amico | |
| Website | https://thinkequal.org/ |
Think Equal is a global education initiative to introduce social and emotional intelligence learning to children in early years education between the ages of 3–6 years.[16] Think Equal was founded in 2015 by CEO Leslee Udwin.[17][18] Think Equal is based in 14 countries across five continents and has been developed by academics such asSir Ken Robinson, Ashoka andBrookings fellow Dr.Urvashi Sahni,Barbara Isaacs fromMontessori UK, andDr. Marc Brackett and Dr.Robin Stern from theYale Center for Emotional Intelligence, who evaluate the program's impact.[19][20][21]
Think Equal patrons includeMeryl Streep,[22] LordRumi Verjee,[23]Sir Ken Robinson,Indrani Goradia,Jack Sim,Joyce Banda,Vicky Colbert,Pratibha Sachdev,Dr Ponatshega Kedikilwe and Dr. Marc Brackett.[24]
Think Equal has been mandated by the Sri Lankan government and is set to reach 90% of 3 to 4 year olds in the country.[25]
Leslee Udwin has received the following national and international honours, listed by the date they were awarded:
When not on assignment, Udwin lives in London.[37] She is married to herEldorado co-star, Kim Romer, who played Per Svendsen.
Media related toLeslee Udwin at Wikimedia Commons
| International | |
|---|---|
| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
