The Screening Room features British cinema

MUMBAI: This week’s CNN’S The Screening Room will travel to the UK looking at British cinema, which has long been known around the world for its historical dramas, its unique sense of humor and James Bond.

Directors such as Sir David Lean will be remembered for epics such as Lawrence of Arabia, which gathered seven Oscars, Sir Richard Attenborough with eight Oscars for his masterpiece Gandhi. That however was a quarter of a century ago.

In the decades which followed, there has been no bigger British brand than Bond – until a new hero emerged in the unlikely shape of a schoolboy wizard named Harry Potter and a new bond was formed – one between film fans and devotees of the books of JK Rowling. The first five Harry Potter films have grossed $ 4.5 billion at the box office and all five are in the top 20 biggest money-makers of all time.

Since the 90s, British humor has enjoyed an international audience, with Four Weddings and a Funeral, Notting Hill and Bridget Jones carried abroad by quintessential Englishman Hugh Grant.

This month, Myleene Klass takes her position on the red carpet to meet Robert Redford, Tom Cruise and Meryl Streep at the world premiere of Lions for Lambs at the London Film Festival.