Sam Mendes in the context of Shakespeare Prize

Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate students, and 54 fellows.

Peterhouse alumni are notably eminent within the natural sciences, including scientists Lord Kelvin, Henry Cavendish, Charles Babbage, James Clerk Maxwell, James Dewar, Frank Whittle, and five Nobel prize winners in science: Sir John Kendrew, Sir Aaron Klug, Archer Martin, Max Perutz, and Michael Levitt. Peterhouse alumni also include Lord Chancellors, Lord Chief Justices, important poets such as Thomas Gray, the first Anglican Bishop of New York Samuel Provoost, the first British Fields Medallist Klaus Roth, Oscar-winning film director Sam Mendes and comedian David Mitchell. British Prime Minister Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, and Elijah Mudenda, second prime minister of Zambia, also studied at the college.

1917 is a 2019 British war film directed and produced by Sam Mendes, who co-wrote it with Krysty Wilson-Cairns. It is partially inspired by stories told to Mendes by his paternal grandfather Alfred about his service during World War I. The film takes place after the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line during Operation Alberich, and follows two British soldiers in their mission to deliver an important message to call off a doomed offensive attack. The two main roles are played by George MacKay and Dean-Charles Chapman. Mark Strong, Andrew Scott, Richard Madden, Claire Duburcq, Colin Firth, Adrian Scarborough, and Benedict Cumberbatch also star in supporting roles.

The project was announced in June 2018, with MacKay and Chapman signing on in October and the rest of the cast joining the following March. Filming took place from April to June 2019 in the UK, with cinematographer Roger Deakins and editor Lee Smith using long takes to have the entire film appear as two continuous shots.

Revolutionary Road is a 2008 romantic drama film directed by Sam Mendes and written by Justin Haythe, based on the 1961 novel of the same name by Richard Yates. It stars Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet as Frank and April Wheeler, with Michael Shannon, Kathryn Hahn, David Harbour, and Kathy Bates in supporting roles. Set from the late 1940s to the mid-1950s, the film portrays the Wheelers' struggle to cope with their personal problems and the ensuing breakdown in their marriage. Revolutionary Road is the second onscreen collaboration for DiCaprio, Winslet, and Bates, all of whom previously co-starred in 1997's Titanic. The film soundtrack was composed by Thomas Newman, his fourth collaboration with Mendes.

Development of the film adaptation began in 1961. However, a lack of commercial prospects and disagreements with the screenplay caused the project to be in limbo until the 2000s. BBC Films eventually purchased the film rights to the novel and Haythe rewrote the screenplay. Winslet read the script and persuaded her then-husband Mendes to direct, and DiCaprio to play the role of Frank.

John David Logan (born September 24, 1961) is an American playwright, screenwriter, and producer. He is known for his work as a screenwriter for films such as Ridley Scott's Gladiator (2000), Gore Verbinski’s Rango (2011), Martin Scorsese's The Aviator (2004) and Hugo (2011), Tim Burton's Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007) and Sam Mendes' James Bond films Skyfall (2012), and Spectre (2015). He has been nominated for three Academy Awards, and has won a Tony Award and a Golden Globe.

Krysty Norma Lesley Wilson-Cairns (born 26 May 1987) is a Scottish screenwriter. Born and raised in Glasgow, she studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland and the National Film and Television School. During her teenage years, she was a runner on television series including the detective show Taggart. Her script for the unproduced science fiction thriller Aether made the 2014 Black List and led to a staff writer role on the television show Penny Dreadful. Her feature film debut was the screenplay for the Sam Mendes-directed 2019 war film 1917. She co-wrote it with Mendes and received nominations for the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Original Screenplay.

Alfred Hubert Mendes MM (18 November 1897 – 1991) was a Trinidadian and Tobagonian novelist and short-story writer. He was a leading member of the 1930s "Beacon group" of writers (named after the literary magazine The Beacon) in Trinidad and Tobago which included Albert Gomes, C. L. R. James and Ralph de Boissière. Mendes is best known as the author of two novels — Pitch Lake (1934) and Black Fauns (1935) — and for his short stories written during the 1920s and 1930s. He was "one of the first West Indian writers to set the pattern of emigration in the face of the lack of publishing houses and the small reading public in the West Indies." Mendes' experiences in World War I were the inspiration for the 2019 film 1917, written and directed by his grandson Sam Mendes.

Dean-Charles Chapman (born 7 September 1997) is an English actor known for portraying Billy Elliot in the West End theatre production of Billy Elliot the Musical. His notable TV roles include Richard Grey in The White Queen (2013) and Tommen Baratheon in the HBO fantasy series Game of Thrones (2014–2016). He also portrayed Tom Blake in Sam Mendes's film 1917 (2019) and Thomas of Lancaster in David Michôd's The King (2019).

Sir Roger Alexander Deakins ASC, BSC (born 24 May 1949) is an English cinematographer. Often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential cinematographers in the history of cinema, he is the recipient of numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards for Best Cinematography and five BAFTA Awards for Best Cinematography. He has collaborated multiple times with directors such as the Coen brothers, Sam Mendes, and Denis Villeneuve. His best-known works include The Shawshank Redemption (1994), Fargo (1996), O Brother, Where Art Thou? (2000), A Beautiful Mind (2001), Skyfall (2012), Sicario (2015), Blade Runner 2049 (2017), and 1917 (2019), the last two of which earned him Academy Awards.

An alumnus of the National Film and Television School, Deakins was named and serves as an Honorary Fellow of the school in recognition of his "outstanding contribution[s] to ... British film". He is a member of the British Society of Cinematographers and the American Society of Cinematographers, and in 2011 received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the latter organization. Deakins was bestowed a CBE by the Palace for his services to film in 2013, and was knighted as a Knight Bachelor in the 2021 New Year Honours.

Peterhouse is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge in England, founded in 1284 by Hugh de Balsham, Bishop of Ely. Peterhouse has around 300 undergraduate and 175 graduate students, and 54 fellows.

Peterhouse alumni are notably eminent within the natural sciences, including scientists Lord Kelvin, Henry Cavendish, Charles Babbage, James Clerk Maxwell, James Dewar, Frank Whittle, and five Nobel prize winners in science: Sir John Kendrew, Sir Aaron Klug, Archer Martin, Max Perutz, and Michael Levitt. Peterhouse alumni also include Lord Chancellors, Lord Chief Justices, important poets such as Thomas Gray, the first Anglican Bishop of New York Samuel Provoost, the first British Fields Medallist Klaus Roth, Oscar-winning film director Sam Mendes and comedian David Mitchell, British Prime Minister Augustus FitzRoy, 3rd Duke of Grafton, and Elijah Mudenda, second prime minister of Zambia, also studied at the college.