Already venerated in his native UK, writer/director Leigh broke through to an international audience with this stunning, emotionally balletic family drama, earning multiple Oscar nominations including Best Picture. Melancholic London mum Brenda Blethyn is unsure of how to relate when she is sought out by Marianne Jean-Baptiste, the daughter she gave up for adoption years before.

35mm print courtesy of the Sundance Collection at UCLA Film & Television Archive.