Mike Leigh talks about his new film, life and career

Like the action in his widely acclaimed new film "Hard Truths," veteran British director Mike Leigh swings between gratitude and despair as he reflects on his life and career.

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The 82-year-old is aware of the great fortune he has had to make more than a dozen films over a glittering five-decade run, including "Secrets and Lies" and "Vera Drake." But he is also conscious of the difficulties for the younger generations coming through - and is scared by the "profoundly worrying" changes underway in the world under US President Donald Trump.

"It's a privilege to be able to make films and it's a privilege which is getting tougher to experience," he told AFP during a retrospective of his work at the prestigious Cinemateque in Paris. "I consider myself very lucky. Filmmaking is a joyous experience." Already working on his next project despite his growing mobility problems he suffers from a genetic muscular disease called myositis - Leigh says he is troubled by a sense of the world being on the brink. "It feels like World War Three may be around the corner. "Now, I never thought I'd say that and I'm old enough to remember the end of World War Two, just about. I was born in the war," he added.