Ken Loach

Directing

Ken Loach

Born

1936-06-17 (90)

Place of birth

Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK

Known for

Directing

Credits

97 titles

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), labour rights (Riff-Raff, 1991; The Navigators, 2001), and revolutionary struggle (Land and Freedom, 1995; The Wind That Shakes the Barley, 2006). 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 …

Known for

Film credits

2020s · 15 titles

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

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

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

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

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

Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today poster
NR

Marking Play for Today’s 50th anniversary, Drama Out of a Crisis is a compelling exploration of the series, its origins, achievements, controversies and legacies. Featuring a rich and surprising range of archive extracts and original interviews with many who created the series, including producers Kenith Trodd, Margaret Matheson and Richard Eyre, and directors Mike Leigh, David Hare and Ken Loach.

Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today

2020

Once upon a time... "I, Daniel Blake" poster
7.7

The documentary, filmed in England in autumn 2020, sheds light on the genesis and background of the social drama.

Once upon a time... "I, Daniel Blake"

2021

Ken Loach, le vent de la révolte poster
8.0

No synopsis available yet.

Ken Loach, le vent de la révolte

2023

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

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 Bad Patriots poster
NR

Anti-British, cowardly, out of touch with reality, terrorist sympathizers, communists and a threat to national security. These were some of the titles that the mainstream media attributed to filmmaker Ken Loach and former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn. Now, they are destroying some of these old myths to change the narrative. The documentary addresses media bias, defamation and censorship, and exposes the mechanisms of the establishment and the British mainstream press, revealing how they exploit fear and discrimination to defame individuals, their ideas and the project they represent. But these tactics are not limited to the UK: the film draws parallels with other parts of the world, including the United States, Brazil and other European countries.

The Bad Patriots

2024

Uomini in Marcia poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Uomini in Marcia

2024

A Bolsa ou a Vida poster
NR

In the post-pandemic future of covid-19, will the centrality be the financial casino and the accumulation of wealth by an elite or a quality life for all, with less inequality? Did the minimal state show itself capable of serving the collective? How to guarantee life without social and labor rights? What model of society do we want to live in? The film addresses the dismantling of the concept of social welfare and makes us reflect on the incompatibility of neoliberalism with a humanist project of society.

A Bolsa ou a Vida

2021

Oh Jeremy Corbyn - The Big Lie poster
NR

In 2017, with the support of an extraordinary grassroots movement, British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn came close to becoming prime minister. The establishment trembled. Britain stood on the threshold of huge political change. But within three years all, it seemed, was lost. What happened and why?

Oh Jeremy Corbyn - The Big Lie

2023

C'era una volta in Italia - Giacarta sta arrivando poster
6.2

No synopsis available yet.

C'era una volta in Italia - Giacarta sta arrivando

2022

2010s · 16 titles

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

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

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

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

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

Jordi Dauder, la revolució pendent poster
6.0

This documentary looks at the life of Jordi Dauder through an interview with the actor a few weeks before his death. From her interventions and people who knew him, the play explores the experiences of actor, from his artistic side as from his political convictions and life.

Jordi Dauder, la revolució pendent

2012

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

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

To Make a Comedy Is No Fun poster
5.8

Documentary feature about Czech director Jiří Menzel, featuring Menzel himself as well as Miloš Forman, Emir Kusturica, István Szabó and others.

To Make a Comedy Is No Fun

2016

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

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

Catastroika poster
6.8

The creators of Debtocracy, analyze the shifting of state assets to private hands. They travel round the world gathering data on privatization and search for clues on the day after Greece's massive privatization program.

Catastroika

2012

CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel poster
6.5

An epic exploration of the Czechoslovak New Wave cinema of the 1960s and 70s, structured around a series of conversations with one of its most acclaimed exponents - Closely Observed Trains director Jiří Menzel.

CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel

2018

Making Kes poster
NR

A documentary on the making of Kes, produced by the Criterion Collection.

Making Kes

2010

The Great NHS Heist poster
10.0

A documentary film in which Dr Bob Gill, a General Practitioner and NHS campaigner, takes us through the story of the NHS and exposes the plans to privatise and sell it off for profit.

The Great NHS Heist

2019

No artwork available
NR

Originally released as an Interactive viewing experience (like the Black Mirror episode "Bandersnatch") where viewers could choose different parts to watch. It was later featured on the Criterion Collection DVD and blu-ray disc release for I, Daniel Blake (2016) in a 38 minute edited version.

How to Make a Ken Loach Film

2016

2000s · 8 titles

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

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

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

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

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

No artwork available
8.0

Peter Watkins recounts the short-lived, happy period making his classic documentary Culloden and discusses, as he sees it, the tragic decline television has taken since it was made.

Making Reel History

2006

Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra poster
7.5

July, 1936. The terrible Spanish Civil War begins. When the streets are taken by the working class, the social revolution begins as well. The public shows are socialized, a model of production and exhibition of films, never seen before in the history of cinema, is created, where the workers are the owners and managers of the industry, through the unions.

Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra

2009

Ken and Rosa poster
7.0

Documentary about Ken Loach and Rosa Ayala, a janitor who worked as an extra in the picture 'Bread and Roses'

Ken and Rosa

2001

Series credits

The South Bank Show poster
5.6

The South Bank Show is a television arts magazine show produced by ITV between 1978 and 2010. A new series began on Sky Arts from 27 May 2012. Presented by Melvyn Bragg, the show aims to bring both high art and popular culture to a mass audience.

The South Bank Show

1978

Question Time poster
5.9

This topical debate series based on Any Questions? typically features politicians from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience.

Question Time

1979

No artwork available
5.1

The BBC's flagship cinema review TV program featuring reviews of new releases, news items and interviews. The title of the program changes each year to incorporate the year of broadcast.

Film '72

1971

Faut Voir - L'Hebdo cinéma poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Faut Voir - L'Hebdo cinéma

2023

Square poster
NR

No synopsis available yet.

Square

2012

John Bishop: In Conversation with... poster
7.0

A three series talk show. With the host in conversation with people whom he admires.

John Bishop: In Conversation with...

2016

The Story of Film: An Odyssey poster
7.7

A worldwide guided tour of the greatest movies ever made and the story of international cinema through the history of cinematic innovation.

The Story of Film: An Odyssey

2011

Television poster
8.0

Exhaustive 13-part survey of the television medium from its hesitant beginnings in the 1920s to the multi-million dollar extravaganzas of today and the cable and satellite technologies of the future [relative to 1985]. Tackling the medium as a worldwide phenomenon, the series examines each of the principal areas of programming - news, drama, documentaries, and light entertainment - and the unique impact of "live" coverage.

Television

1985

Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius poster
4.0

An immersive look at how a young woman from a small village in 18th-century England became one of the UK's best-loved novelists.

Jane Austen: Rise of a Genius

2025

British Film Forever poster
5.5

Running for seven weeks from July 2007, each week focused on a different genre, examining British film by genre. Presented by Jessica Stevenson the series featured over 200 exclusive interviews with leading actors and directors including Sir Michael Caine, Sir Anthony Hopkins and Kate Winslet.

British Film Forever

2007

Reel Britannia poster
8.5

Comedian Nick Helm narrates this bold new documentary series exploring the dramatic history of British cinema. Discover how cinema held a mirror up to society from 1960 through to the 00s.

Reel Britannia

2022

Victoria Wood: The Secret List poster
7.0

Back in 2009, Victoria wrote a list of her favourite moments from her seminal 80s series, intending to use it as a compilation show of self-selected best bits. The list remained locked away in her personal office until now. It features familiar favourites and often overlooked gems, but as these two programmes explore, the chosen sketches serve as a prediction of what was to come in an unparalleled career that crossed just about every genre of stage and screen.

Victoria Wood: The Secret List

2020

No artwork available
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

Behind the camera

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

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

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

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

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

It's a Free World... poster
6.6

Working-class Angie, sacked from a recruitment agency for bad public behaviour, teams up with her flatmate to run a similar business from their kitchen. With immigrants desperate for work, the opportunities are considerable, particularly for two girls so in tune with these times.

It's a Free World...

2007

It's a Free World... poster
6.6

Working-class Angie, sacked from a recruitment agency for bad public behaviour, teams up with her flatmate to run a similar business from their kitchen. With immigrants desperate for work, the opportunities are considerable, particularly for two girls so in tune with these times.

It's a Free World...

2007

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

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

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

Hidden Agenda poster
7.0

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Fatherland poster
6.3

Persona Non Grata in his homeland, protest singer Klaus Drittemann must leave East Berlin, his wife and child and emigrate to the West, where representatives of an American record company are eagerly awaiting him. They plan to exploit his defection from communism both ideologically and financially. But Klaus, as ill-at-ease in the West as in the East, is reluctant to be an expendable commodity. Leaving his contract unsigned (or signed in his manner), he departs for Cambridge to meet his father, a concert player, who left East Berlin when Klaus was young. He is accompanied by a young French journalist, Emma, who claims to have knowledge of where his father has been living since he disappeared for more than a decade.

Fatherland

1986

Route Irish poster
5.9

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

Raining Stones poster
6.9

Proud, though poor, Bob wants his little girl to have a beautiful (and costly) brand-new dress for her First Communion. His stubbornness and determination get him into trouble as he turns to increasingly questionable measures, in his desperation to raise the needed money. This tragic flaw leads him to risk all that he loves and values, his beloved family, indeed even his immortal soul and salvation, in blind pursuit of that goal.

Raining Stones

1993

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

The Spirit of '45 poster
6.1

In an age marked both by austerity and post-war optimism, the Labour Party (1945–1951) creates the welfare state, nationalises many business sectors and creates a fairer society for all. However, as Margaret Thatcher rises to power in 1979, virtually all of Clement Attlee's innovations are dismantled by successive governments.

The Spirit of '45

2013

The Spirit of '45 poster
6.1

In an age marked both by austerity and post-war optimism, the Labour Party (1945–1951) creates the welfare state, nationalises many business sectors and creates a fairer society for all. However, as Margaret Thatcher rises to power in 1979, virtually all of Clement Attlee's innovations are dismantled by successive governments.

The Spirit of '45

2013

My Name Is Joe poster
7.2

Two thirtysomethings, unemployed former alcoholic Joe and community health worker Sarah, start a romantic relationship in one of the toughest Glasgow neighbourhoods.

My Name Is Joe

1998

The End of Arthur's Marriage poster
5.5

In this off-beat musical – a satire that combines fantasy, social observation and songs – a working class man goes to put a deposit on a new house only to find he prefers spending to saving and is happy to spend his money on a few hours of happiness rather than a lifetime's conventionality.

The End of Arthur's Marriage

1965

The Navigators poster
6.9

In South Yorkshire, a small group of railway maintenance men discover that due to privatisation, their lives will never be the same. When the trusty British Rail sign is replaced by one reading East Midland Infrastructure, it becomes clear that there will be the inevitable winners and losers as downsizing and efficiency become the new buzzwords.

The Navigators

2001

Family Life poster
7.2

A young woman, Janice, is living with her restrictive and conservative parents, who lead a dull working-class life and consider their daughter to be “misbehaving” whenever she’s trying to find her own way in life.

Family Life

1971

The Big Flame poster
6.8

After a prolonged industrial dispute in the Liverpool Docks, the striking workers reject management demands of a return to work and decide instead to occupy the docks and run the operation themselves.

The Big Flame

1969

Tickets poster
6.4

A train travels across Italy toward Rome. Onboard is a professor who daydreams a conversation with a love that never was; a family of Albanian refugees who switch trains and steal a ticket; three brash Scottish soccer fans en route to a match; and a complaining widow travelling to a memorial service for her late husband who's accompanied by a community-service volunteer who's assisting her. Interactions among these Europeans turn on class and nationalism, courtesy and decorum, and opportunities for kindness.

Tickets

2005

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

The Red and the Blue poster
8.0

Ken Loach documentary, contrasting the 1982 Labour and Conservative Party conferences.

The Red and the Blue

1983

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Auditions

1980

No artwork available
7.0

No synopsis available yet.

Auditions

1980

Black Jack poster
7.0

When honest young Tolly is forced on the run with ‘Black Jack’, a villainous ruffian, adventure and mishap are never far away. As the two enter a world of body-snatchers, private lunatic asylums, and travelling fairs, they find friendship in the most unlikely places.

Black Jack

1979