Jeremy Thomas, BFI Southbank

It may be celebrating the work of only a single producer, Jeremy Thomas, but the BFI Southbank’s new season is - as all their seasons are - eclectic and irreverent. A remarkable producer who, even at the height of his success, was willing to work with novices, he worked on both bankable films and risky ventures. 

Thomas was born to go into film: his father, Ralph, directed the Doctor in the House series of films, and uncle Gerald helmed all the Carry On films from 1958-1992. Thomas has carried on this family craft - as a producer - and has worked with, and helped to nurture, some of the biggest names in late 20th century cinema. Among the films on offer during this season are Dennis Hopper in Mad Dog Morgan, a Western with an Australian twist, Everybody Wins, a darkly comic police drama starring Nick Nolte and David Cronenberg's Naked Lunch; His most garlanded work, Bernando Bertolucci's The Last Emperor, which won nine Oscars, is here presented in a special 3D version.

Thomas is still active, and this season exhibits some of his more recent films from directors whose careers he’s helped kick off. Among them is Jonathan Glazer's debut film, Sexy Beast, a hilarious and relentlessly foul mouthed movie about an ex-con artist whose retirement is disturbed by Ben Kingsley's outrageous gangster, and there's 2012's Kon Tiki, which was nominated for the Academy Award for best foreign language film.

This season is part of the BFI's recent programme celebrating British film. But Thomas' films are never parochial – he helped launch the career of Japanese director Takeshi Miike, while The Last Emperor, directed by an Italian, was the first film to be granted access inside Beijing's Forbidden City. The BFI's new season is a great chance to get to know the filmography of one of the most eclectic, cosmopolitan and daring producers in the history of British cinema.