BFI – Sir David Hare – How to write a Screenplay Lecture

Earlier this evening I attented the Bafta / BFI Screenwriters’ Lecture held at the BFI Southbank in which Sir David Hare gave a lecture on Screenwriting. It was thoroughly entertaining and I hope you enjoy the recording.

Excerpt from pamphlet ‘Screenwriters. On Screenwriting’ as part of the season of The Bafta  and BFI Screenwriters’ Lectures 2010.

David Hare has a reputation for elegant and highly intelligent screenplays which inspire extraordinary performances from actors.

He first came to prominence as a playwright in the 70’s after his debut play ‘Slag’ (1970) won the Evening Standard Award for Most Promising Playwright. Since then, his work has enjoyed sell-out runs at the National Theatre, and many of his plays have been presented on Broadway.

Among Hare’s television work is the acclaimed teleplay ‘Licking Hitler’ (1978), a companion piece to his stage play ‘Plenty’ (1978), both of which explore the effects of the Second World War on the lives of women who’d served in the conflict. The drama, which Hare also directed, won the BAFTA for Best Single Play.

Moving into feature film, Hare wrote and directed ‘Wetherby’ (1985), an award-winning drama about the mysterious death of an enigmatic young man. He also wrote and directed ‘Paris By Night’ (1988), in which a politician makes a deadly choice when threatened with a scandal, and adapted Joesphine Hart’s novel ‘Damage’ (1992), about an MP’s passionate affair with his son’s fiancee.

His most recent work includes two adaptations for Stephen Daldry. ‘The Hours’ (2002) explored the effect of Virginia Woolf’s ‘Mrs Dalloway’ on three generations of women, whilst ‘The Reader’ (2008) saw a law student in post WWII Germany re-encountering his former lover as she defends herself in a war-crime trial. Hare was BAFTA and Oscar nominated for both screenplays.

Hare has written a new film, ‘Page Eight’, which he will direct next year.

To get the best out of the recording I suggest that you listen to it via headphones.

Click here to listen to Sir David Hare’s Lecture.