Ken Loach

Directing

Ken Loach

Born 1936-06-17 · Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936; Nuneaton) is a retired British film director, screenwriter and producer. His humanist values and socialist political views are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (Poor Cow, 1967), homelessness (Cathy Come Home, 1966), and labour rights (Riff-Raff, 1991, and The Navigators, 2001). Kenneth Charles Loach was born on 17 June 1936 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, the son of Vivien (née Hamlin) and John Loach. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and at the age of 19 went to serve in the Royal Air Force. He read law at St Peter's College, Oxford and graduated with a third-class degree. As a member of the Oxford University Experimental Theatre Club he directed an open-air production of Bartholomew Fair for the Shakespeare Memorial Theatre, Stratford, in 1959 (when he also took the role of the shady horse-dealer Dan Jordan Knockem). After Oxford, he began a career in the dramatic arts. Loach's film Kes (1969) was voted the seventh greatest British film of the 20th century in a poll by the British Film Institute. Two of his films, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) and I, Daniel Blake (2016), received the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival, making him one of only nine filmmakers to win the award twice.

Acting credits

A Special Day poster
5.3

At the 60th anniversary of Cannes Film Festival, 34 famous directors are followed by camera.

A Special Day

2012

Cannes Uncut poster
5.4

Looks at the glamour, red carpets, movies, craziness, stunts, deals, parties and personalities that have been part of the Cannes Film Festival over eight decades, as well as looking to the future.

Cannes Uncut

2023

The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues poster
NR

Ten years after the first documentary, the legend of the Palme d’Or… continues. Some new laureates of the Cannes trophy relive, for us, the very special moments surrounding the awarding of the Palme d’Or.

The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues

2025

Great Directors poster
6.1

Features conversations with ten of the world's greatest living directors: Bernardo Bertolucci, David Lynch, Liliana Cavani, Stephen Frears, Agnes Varda, Ken Loach, Todd Haynes, Catherine Breillat, Richard Linklater and John Sayles. The film documents Ismailos' voyage of discovering the creative personalities behind the camera.

Great Directors

2009

We Are Many poster
6.7

The story of the biggest demonstration in human history, which took place on 15th February 2003, against the impending war on Iraq.

We Are Many

2014

40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight poster
5.0

A history of the Cannes Film Festival's Director's Fortnight selection.

40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight

2008

Film: The Living Record of Our Memory poster
7.8

Why are we still able, today, to view images that were captured over 125 years ago? As we enter the digital age, audiovisual heritage seems to be a sure and obvious fact. However, much of cinema and our filmed history has been lost forever. Archivists, technicians and filmmakers from different parts of the world explain what audiovisual preservation is and why it is necessary. The documentary is a tribute to all these professionals and their important work.

Film: The Living Record of Our Memory

2022

A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema poster
NR

Documentary presenting Alan Parker’s view of British cinema with comments from Richard Lester and others and location report from King’s Lynn on the making of Hugh Hudson’s Revolution, starring Al Pacino, Donald Sutherland, and Nastassja Kinski.

A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema

1986

Vittorio D. poster
6.3

A documentary about Vittorio de Sica with clips of his films and testimonials from friends and family.

Vittorio D.

2009

No artwork available
NR

Produced by award-winning Platform Films, this documentary examines how the truth is being censored in the mainstream and social media, in education and education and entertainment and how terrorism law is being used to silence dissent. With contributions from Ken Loach, Peter Oborne and Sarah Wilkinson.

Censoring Palestine

2024

Carry On Ken poster
NR

A documentary on the films of Ken Loach. Interviews with cast and crew who worked with Loach over the years. It describe his approach to allowing actors a wide range of freedom.

Carry On Ken

2006

Loach vs Corbyn: The Bad Patriots poster
NR

Anti-British, spineless, out-of-touch, terrorist-sympathisers, communists, and a threat to national security. The media bestowed unsavoury accolades on Ken Loach and Jeremy Corbyn. They now step forward in order to change the narrative.

Loach vs Corbyn: The Bad Patriots

2024

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life poster
5.2

An account of the life and work of legendary cinematographer and director Carlo Di Palma (1925-2004) and an emotional journey through the great moments of cinema, from Italian neorealism to the masterpieces of Woody Allen.

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life

2017

I Get Knocked Down poster
7.5

Part music documentary, part unflinching character study, part a punk version of ‘A Christmas Carol’ - I Get Knocked Down is the funny, surreal, and deeply human untold story of Chumbawamba and its ex-front man Dunstan Bruce.

I Get Knocked Down

2023

Uomini in Marcia poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Uomini in Marcia

2024

What Do You Know About Me poster
7.0

Until the 1970s, Italian cinema dominated the international scene, even competing with Hollywood. Then, in just a few years, came its rapid decline, the flight of our greatest producers, a crisis among the best writer-directors, the collapse of production. But what are the true causes and circumstances of this decline? In an attempt to provide an answer to this question, Di Me Cosa Ne Sai strives to depict this great cultural change. Begun as a loving examination of Italian cinema, the film transformed into a docu-drama that alternates between interviews with the great names of the past and fragments of cultural and political life of the last 30 years. It is a travel diary that shows Italy from north to south, through movie theatres; television-addicted kids; Berlusconi and Fellini; shopping centers; TV news editors; stories of impassioned film exhibitors and directors who fight for their films; and interviews with itinerant projectionists and great European directors.

What Do You Know About Me

2009

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach poster
6.6

A surprisingly candid behind-the-scenes account of the career of Ken Loach, one of Britain’s most celebrated and controversial filmmakers, as he prepares to release his final major film I, Daniel Blake.

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

2016

Thatcher's Not Dead poster
7.6

This film sketches a very personal and decidedly political portrait of the Iron Lady who left the greatest mark on the UK, alongside Queen Elizabeth II. Archives and interviews are enriched by songs from this period that really help to understand the social atmosphere of that time.

Thatcher's Not Dead

2022

The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema poster
NR

In 2017 Tyneside Cinema turned 80.

The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema

2018

About Cinema poster
8.2

An abandoned tumbledown theater in the outback of Paraíba state is the initial setting of a film about cinema, which explores the testimonials of the novelist and playwright Ariano Suassuna and other filmmakers such as Ruy Guerra, Julio Bressane, Ken Loach, Andrzej Wajda, Karim Ainouz, José Padilha, Hector Babenco, Vilmos Zsigmond, Béla Tarr, Gus Van Sant and Jia Zhangke. They all respond to two basic questions: why do they make movies and why do they serve the seventh art. The filmmakers share their thoughts about time, narrative, rhythm, light, movement, the meaning of tragedy, the audience‘s desires and the boundaries with other forms of art.

About Cinema

2015

Who Killed British Cinema? poster
5.0

A feature length documentary about the real state of the British film industry in relation to UK structures past, present and currently for the future. This film exposes the shocking truths about the UK Governments' will to grow an indigenous British film industry, the legacy and testament of the now closed UK Film Council (UKFC), the current British Film Institute and the new Creative England.

Who Killed British Cinema?

2018

Il était une fois... « Rosetta » poster
NR

Thirty-eighth documentary in the "Un film et son époque" series. It retraces the genesis, shooting and unexpected success of "Rosetta", a film by Belgian filmmakers Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne. Palme d'Or winner in 1999, "Rosetta" recounts the daily struggle of a young girl, played by Emilie Dequenne, who lives in a caravan with her alcoholic and depressive mother, struggling from one odd job to the next. All she wants is a normal life.

Il était une fois... « Rosetta »

2015

The Making of 'Hidden Agenda' poster
NR

Documentary looking at the making-of and real-life stories behind the award-winning conspiracy thriller starring Oscar-winner Frances McDormand and Brian Cox

The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'

1990

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes poster
7.0

Comedian, actor and ex-English teacher Greg Davies is a lifelong fan of Barry Hines's classic novel A Kestrel for a Knave, the story of Billy Casper training a kestrel as an escape from his troubled home and school life. In this documentary, Greg goes in search of the book's enduring appeal, travelling to Barnsley, where the book was set and where Ken Loach's famous adaptation, Kes, was filmed.

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes

2019

Behind the camera

September 11 poster
6.4

Eleven directors from eleven countries each contribute an eleven-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what's happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they've spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son's death. Tones vary, as do the locales. Most concern coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.

September 11

2002

September 11 poster
6.4

Eleven directors from eleven countries each contribute an eleven-minute short reflecting on the events of 11 September 2001: A village teacher in Iran tries to explain to her young students what's happened; city kids in Burkina Faso think they've spotted Osama bin Laden; a deaf Frenchwoman in Manhattan writes a Dear John letter to a man who left that morning for work at the World Trade Center; a Chilean remembers Allende; events recall other deaths; a mother endures more than her son's death. Tones vary, as do the locales. Most concern coming to terms with the events of the day, but at least one confronts the viewer with tragedy and death.

September 11

2002

To Each His Own Cinema poster
6.4

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

To Each His Own Cinema

2007

The Wind That Shakes the Barley poster
7.3

In 1920s Ireland young doctor Damien O'Donovan prepares to depart for a new job in a London hospital. As he says his goodbyes at a friend's farm, British Black and Tans arrive, and a young man is killed. Damien joins his brother Teddy in the Irish Republican Army, but political events are soon set in motion that tear the brothers apart.

The Wind That Shakes the Barley

2006

I, Daniel Blake poster
7.7

A 59-year-old carpenter recovering from a heart attack befriends a single mother and her two kids as they navigate the impersonal, Kafkaesque benefits system. With equal amounts of humour, warmth and despair, the journey is heartfelt and emotional until the end.

I, Daniel Blake

2016

The Old Oak poster
7.2

A pub landlord in a previously thriving mining community struggles to hold onto his pub. Meanwhile, tensions rise in the town when Syrian refugees are placed in the empty houses in the community.

The Old Oak

2023

Hidden Agenda poster
6.9

In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government against the Northern Irish during the "Troubles." But when Sullivan is assassinated in the streets, Jessner teams up with Peter Kerrigan, a British investigator acting against the will of his own government, and struggles to uncover a conspiracy that may even implicate one of Kerrigan's colleagues.

Hidden Agenda

1990

The Angels' Share poster
6.9

Robbie is a Glasgow boy locked in a family feud who just wants a way out. On community service, he meets Rhino, Albert and Mo. Little did Robbie imagine that turning to drink might change their lives, leading them to the distilleries of the Scottish Highlands and the biggest gamble of his life.

The Angels' Share

2012

Poor Cow poster
6.4

Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.

Poor Cow

1967

Poor Cow poster
6.4

Joy lives a life filled with bad choices. At a young age, she marries and has a child–with an abusive thief who quickly ends up incarcerated. Left alone, she takes up with the guy's mate, another thief, who seems to give her some happiness but who also ends up locked up. She then takes up with a series of seedy types who offer nothing but momentary pleasure–if that.

Poor Cow

1967

Sorry We Missed You poster
7.3

Hoping that self-employment through gig economy can solve their financial woes, a hard-up delivery driver and his wife struggling to raise a family end up trapped in the vicious circle of modern-day labour exploitation.

Sorry We Missed You

2019

Kes poster
7.4

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

Kes

1970

Kes poster
7.4

Bullied at school and ignored and abused at home by his indifferent mother and older brother, Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working-class Yorkshire boy, tames and trains his pet kestrel falcon whom he names Kes. Helped and encouraged by his English teacher and his fellow students, Billy finally finds a positive purpose to his unhappy existence.

Kes

1970

Ae Fond Kiss... poster
6.5

A young man upsets his Punjabi family when he falls in love with an Irish schoolteacher.

Ae Fond Kiss...

2004

Land and Freedom poster
7.3

Summer 1936: young unemployed communist David Carr leaves Liverpool to join the fight against fascism in Spain. He joins an international group of Militia-men and women, the POUM (Partido Obrero de Unificación Marxista). After being wounded, he goes to Barcelona, where he joins another group of fighters.

Land and Freedom

1995

Looking for Eric poster
6.5

Middle-aged postman and football fan Eric Bishop struggles with his increasingly chaotic existence, but receives some life coaching from the famously philosophical Éric Cantona.

Looking for Eric

2009

Riff-Raff poster
6.7

Stevie, fresh from prison in Scotland, finds a job on a London construction site. Working conditions are poor and most of the men are working under aliases, due to immigration status and to not conflict with unemployment. Some help Stevie secure housing, squatting in a council estate. Then Stevie meets Susan, from Ireland, an aspiring singer.

Riff-Raff

1991

Ladybird Ladybird poster
7.2

Maggie has had four children, by four different fathers, removed by social services because of a previous violent relationship. When she meets Jorge, a gentle Latin American refugee, she gradually sees her chance for happiness, but her past still haunts her.

Ladybird Ladybird

1994

Sweet Sixteen poster
7.0

Determined to have a normal family life once his mother gets out of prison, a Scottish teenager from a tough background sets out to raise the money for a home.

Sweet Sixteen

2002

McLibel poster
6.7

A deep dive into the historic 1997–2005 libel lawsuit, wherein fast-food conglomerate McDonald's sued environmental activists Helen Steel and David Morris over a critical factsheet. It became the longest trial in English legal history and a major free-speech PR disaster for the corporation.

McLibel

2005

Bread and Roses poster
6.3

In Los Angeles, undocumented Mexican immigrant Maya finds work as a janitor through her sister, Rosa. However, as both work non-union, conditions are grim. After enduring abuse from her superiors, Maya is open to the pro-union rhetoric offered by organiser Sam Shapiro. Rosa, meanwhile, is far less interested in clashing with management, given the needs of her family, and a rift forms between the sisters.

Bread and Roses

2000

Jimmy's Hall poster
6.7

In Depression-era Ireland, Jimmy Gralton returns home after a decade's exile in America. Witnessing the levels of poverty and oppression, his inner activist reawakens and he seeks to reopen the dance hall that led to his deportation.

Jimmy's Hall

2014

Route Irish poster
6.0

A private security contractor in Iraq rejects the official explanation of his friend's death and sets out to uncover the truth.

Route Irish

2011

Carla's Song poster
6.8

1987, love in time of war: bus driver George meets Carla, a Nicaraguan exile living a precarious, profoundly-sad life in Glasgow. Her back is scarred, her boyfriend missing, her family dispersed; she's suicidal. George takes her to Nicaragua to find out what's happened to them and help her face her past.

Carla's Song

1996