Taxi Driver writer Paul Schrader was presented with the ScreenLit lifetime achievement award in screenwriting at the inaugural Screenlit Festival of Film, TV and Writing at Broadway Cinema in Nottingham.

British director Shane Meadows presented Schrader with the award. He said: “If it hadn’t been for Taxi Driver, I would never have made a film of mine called Dead Man’s Shoes.”

Highlights of the festival, which closed on Sunday July 5, with the English premiere of Alexis Dos Santo’s Unmade Beds, included a two hour screenwriting masterclass by Schrader, who also penned the screenplay for Raging Bull and wrote and directed American Gigolo, and the first ever BAFTA Rodcliffe New Writing Forum, hosted by founder Farah Abushwesha and actor/director David Morrissey.

Screenings at the festival included the UK premiere of Anne Fontaine’s Coco Before Chanel, and previews of Jean-Francois Richet’s Mesrine: Killer Instinct and Mesrine: Public Enemy Number 1.

Broadway Cinema has secured three-year funding for the Screenlit festival from the Greater Nottingham Partnership, with the aim of supporting local talent and attracting visitors to the city.

“I’m very proud that so many esteemed and talented screenwriting professionals came to this first edition of the festival. And going forward we aim to develop the festival’s programme to reflect the challenges of this ever developing craft,” said Steve Mapp, Broadway chief executive.

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