Mike Leigh has admitted that he is confident about the future of British film.
Despite the technology that has dominated cinemas in recent years, with the sophistication of CGI and now 3D, but Leigh, who is famous for movies such as Vera Drake and Happy Go Lucky, believes that the character driven movies won't suffer.
Speaking at a press conference in Cannes for his new movie Another Year the filmmaker said: "The reason I don't think it's an endangered species at all is because new technology makes it possible for young filmmakers to get out there and look at the world and distill and record it with little or no cost and without the clutter that is traditionally associated with getting movies up," he said.
"The cinema of the future I feel very positive about, because there is - whilst it may be true that there's still the dinosaur notion that the only valid movies are cynically commercial heavyweight operations - the kind of cinema that is burgeoning and growing will be very evident in the near or perhaps not-so-near future.
"It is one that is about looking at the world and capturing it and saying things about it - the real world. I am personally optimistic about that."
Leigh is back in Cannes to promote new movie Another Year, which stars Jim Broadbent and Lesley Manville, as it competes for the 2010 Palme d'Or
Another year, which was also written by Leigh, is his first movie since Happy Go Lucky in 2008.
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