The Riot Club director will deliver her speech in December.

BAFTA has announced that Danish director Lone Scherfig is to deliver it’s David Lean Lecture Dec 15 at its London headquarters.

Scherfig, director of The Riot Club and An Education, will be the first woman to deliver the lecture, following previous speakers including Paul Greengrass, Robert Altman, John Boorman, Oliver Stone, David Lynch and Pedro Almodóvar.

The annual film lecture aims to provide an insight into the experiences and creative achievements of filmmakers.

Scherfig is currently directing Astronaut Wives Club, a 10-part drama for ABC Studios, which tells the story of the women behind some of the biggest events in US history.

Nik Powell, chair of the BAFTA Film Committee, said Scherfig was “a unique talent as well as being a torchbearer for women directors everywhere”.

Scherfig began her career directing commercials and television dramas in her native Denmark. Her first feature as director, The Birthday Trip, was screened at the 1991 Berlin International Film Festival and won awards at festivals worldwide.

In 2000, Scherfig wrote and directed Denmark’s fifth official ‘Dogme’ film, Italian for Beginners, which won the Silver Bear Jury Prize for best director at the 2001 Berlin International Film Festival.

Her first English-language film was Wilbur Wants to Kill Himself in 2002. In 2010, she directed An Education which gained BAFTA nominations for Best Director and Outstanding British Film, and a BAFTA for lead actress Carey Mulligan, as well as Oscar nominations in the Picture, Lead Actress and Writing categories.

In 2011, Scherfig directed One Day based on David Nicholls’ bestselling novel and starring Anne Hathaway. Her most recent feature film The Riot Club, adapted from the play Posh, premiered at this year’s Toronto Film Festival. 

More details on the Bafta event can be found here: http://www.bafta.org/whats-on/bafta-david-lean-lecture-lone-scherfig