Ken Loach

CLASSICS & ANTHOLOGIES

Like the French New Wave, British cinema underwent a radical shift aimed at dismantling a stagnant industry by addressing pressing social issues and bringing cinema closer to the people. The Angry Young Men, led by Lindsay Anderson and Karel Reisz, left behind a legacy that Ken Loach would take up at the end of the decade, continuing their commitment to portraying reality with an unflinching social conscience.

In the early 1960s, Ken Loach was hired by the BBC to direct ten episodes of Wednesday Play, tackling topics that were central to the public debate of the time: class struggles against oppressive authorities, capital punishment, unemployment, and the lack of access to abortion. These themes immediately established his unwavering commitment to social issues. Building on this experience, Loach turned to cinema, directing his first feature, Poor Cow, which went largely unnoticed. However, just two years later, he created what remains one of his most celebrated films, Kes, shot with non-professional actors. The film tells the poignant story of a neglected boy who finds solace in training a kestrel, nurturing it with patience and love. This small masterpiece cemented Loach’s place among the great filmmakers of his generation. His status was further affirmed by Family Life, a deeply sensitive and restrained portrayal of a troubled teenager’s struggles.

A few lesser-known films followed—Black Jack, The Gamekeeper and Looks and Smiles, the latter depicting the daily life of unemployed teenagers in Sheffield. These works solidified Loach’s signature style: a deep commitment to social realism and a compassionate portrayal of society’s marginalized. Then came Which Side Are You On?, one of his rare documentaries, capturing the miners’ strikes in Durham, North Yorkshire, and Wales through the songs and poetry of the workers. This film marked the end of a chapter in Loach’s filmography.

From the early 1990s onward, Loach began producing films that were more overtly political and designed for a wider audience. Hidden Agenda tackled the Northern Irish conflict, Land and Freedom revisited the Republican resistance during the Spanish Civil War, and Carla’s Song focused on Nicaragua’s civil war. While these films lacked the quiet sensitivity of his earlier works, they retained the same unwavering social commitment, albeit in a more accessible form. Whether in political dramas like Bread and Roses or more intimate stories like Raining Stones, Loach never strayed from his mission to expose injustice.

In 2006, Loach won the Palme d’Or at Cannes for The Wind That Shakes the Barley, one of his most accomplished and personal films, depicting the Irish War of Independence through the story of two brothers. A decade later, in a rare achievement, he won a second Palme d’Or with I, Daniel Blake, a devastating portrait of a man denied social benefits despite being medically unfit to work.

In collaboration with the Millenium Festival, CINEMATEK invites you to (re)discover the essential works of Ken Loach, a filmmaker whose commitment to social justice has shaped modern British cinema.

In collaboration with

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Lectures, introductions, workshops...
Ken Loach

Le Vent se lève
The Wind that Shakes the Barley

Ken Loach, UK, Germany 2006 ⁄ Cillian Murphy, Pádraic Delaney, Liam Cunningham ⁄ color ⁄ 126' ⁄ ST - OND: FR - NL

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Ken Loach

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