Life of Dickens

The Wheeler Centre and Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF) are proud to present the Adrian Wootton Illustrated Film Talks, supported by MIFF 37 South Market & Accelerator. Adrian Wootton is co-director of Dickens 2012, the worldwide project to celebrate the life, work and enduring legacy of Dickens. A former director of the London Film Festival, British Film Institute and the UK’s national Film Theatre, Wootton, presently Film London’s chief executive, will present a series of fascinating talks exploring how Dickens’ work has been imagined for the screen.

This talk examines the life and times of Dickens, his literary legacy and innovations, his key fascination with – and lasting influence on – crime fiction, and his inspiration for countless screen adaptations.

The talk is preceded at 9.30am by a screening of The First Fagin, the MIFF Premiere Fund-supported documentary about the infamous Australian convict Ikey Soloman, who is renowned as the inspiration for Fagin from Dickens’ much-loved Oliver Twist. The First Fagin can be booked separately (via the Melbourne International Film Festival website).