Leslee Udwin

Leslee Udwin (born 1957) is a British filmmaker, actress, director, producer, human rights activist, as well as being the founder and executive chair of Think Equal.

Early life She was born in Savyon, 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 were religious Jews, but at the age of about 13, she rebelled against Judaism, particularly the morning prayer called Shacharit, in which men say, "I thank God that he did not make me a woman".

Career 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. at age 21. Udwin also played Hyde's on-screen second wife in the contemporaneous historical legal drama series Shadow of the Noose.

After 10 years as an actress Her productions include the films East is East (1999), Mrs Ratcliffe's Revolution (2007), and West is West (2010), and the documentary India's Daughter (2015).

Udwin also co-produced Who Bombed Birmingham? (1990, starring John Hurt) for Granada TV, about the prosecution and wrongful imprisonment of the Birmingham Six. The morning after the broadcast, Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher told the House of Commons: "We will not have trial by television in this country." Udwin was voted by the NY Times the No 2 Most Impactful Woman of 2015 (second to Hillary Clinton), and has been awarded the prestigious Swedish Anna Lindh Human Rights Prize (previously won by Madeleine Albright) in 2015. Think Equal was founded in 2015 by CEO Leslee Udwin. Think Equal is based in 14 countries across five continents and has been developed by academics such as Sir Ken Robinson, Ashoka and Brookings fellow Dr. Urvashi Sahni, Barbara Isaacs from Montessori UK, and Dr. Marc Brackett and Dr. Robin Stern from the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, who evaluate the program's impact.

Think Equal patrons include Meryl Streep, Lord Rumi Verjee, Sir Ken Robinson, Indrani Goradia, Jack Sim, Joyce Banda, Vicky Colbert, Pratibha Sachdev, Dr Ponatshega Kedikilwe and Dr. Marc Brackett.

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.

Awards and honours Leslee Udwin has received the following national and international honours, listed by the date they were awarded:

2019: UN Women for Peace Activist Award 2019: UN Association Global Citizen Award 2016: Peabody Award for India's Daughter 2016: Amnesty International Media Award for Best Documentary 2015: The New York Times No. 2 Most Impactful Woman of 2015 (after Hillary Clinton) 2015: Swedish Anna Lindh Memorial Prize for Human Rights 2015: Safe Magazine Global Hero of 2015 2015: Foreign Policy's Global Thinker 2000: London Film Critics Circle Awards, British Film of the Year for East is East 2000: BAFTA Award for Best British Film for East is East 2000: British Comedy Award for Best Comedy Film

Personal life When not on assignment, Udwin lives in London. She is married to her Eldorado co-star, Kim Romer, who played Per Svendsen.