The film-maker Mike Leigh has been honoured with the freedom of his birth city of Salford, after a nearly 40-year career distilling the realities of northern working-class life on to the screen.

The writer and director joins a roster of revered previous recipients of the honour – considered the highest the city council can bestow on an individual – that includes Nelson Mandela, Ryan Giggs, LS Lowry and prime minister David Lloyd George.

The Bafta-winning director has made about 20 films to date – from the 1971 classic Bleak Moments to his latest release, Peterloo, a gritty account of the 1819 massacre ahead of its bicentenary in August. The massacre led to the establishment of the Guardian’s first incarnation, the Manchester Guardian newspaper.

Leigh’s international accolades include five Baftas, two British independent film awards and a Palme d’Or.

Collecting the honorary book, medal and certificate at Salford civic centre, Leigh said: “What an extraordinary honour to receive the freedom of the city of Salford, it is something I could never have dreamed of at Salford grammar school.”

Leigh went on to share memories of growing up on Great Cheetham Street East, as the son of a GP whose surgery was replete with the “continuous sound of the bronchitic coughing of desperate men who were sacrificing their lives and their lungs to heavy industry”.

The city’s mayor, Paul Dennett, spoke of Salford’s privilege to recognise Leigh’s great achievements. He added: “When our magazines, our books, our televisions are so regularly filled with images of the successful, the rich and the powerful, Mike’s work is a refreshing and straightforward reminder of the world in which the majority of people live.”