
Ken Loach
Biography
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936; Nuneaton) is a British film director, screenwriter and producer. His socially critical directing style is 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 (40 movies)

Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
2022

Oh Jeremy Corbyn - The Big Lie
2023

Cannes Uncut
2023

Ken Loach, le vent de la révolte
2023

Catastroika
2012

Jordi Dauder, la revolució pendent
2012

I Get Knocked Down
2023

Thatcher's Not Dead
2022

We Are Many
2014

40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
2008

The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
1990

C'era una volta in Italia - Giacarta sta arrivando
2022

A Turnip Head's Guide To The British Cinema
1986

About Cinema
2015

Uomini in Marcia
2024

Ken and Rosa
2001

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach
2016

Il était une fois... « Rosetta »
2015

Great Directors
2009

Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life
2017

Vittorio D.
2009

Right to Work March
1972

The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema
2018

A Special Day
2012

Who Killed British Cinema?
2018

Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra
2009

Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
1985

Greg Davies: Looking for Kes
2019

The Great NHS Heist
2019

CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
2018

Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today
2020

To Make a Comedy Is No Fun
2016

Once upon a time... "I, Daniel Blake"
2021

Carry On Ken
2006

What Do You Know About Me
2009

Making Kes
2010

A Bolsa ou a Vida
2021

Os Maus Patriotas
2024

Citizen Ken Loach
1997

The Legend of the Palme d’Or Continues
2025
Directing (61 movies)

The Wind That Shakes the Barley
2006

Sweet Sixteen
2002

Ae Fond Kiss...
2004

11 Minutes, 9 Seconds, 1 Image
2002

Carla's Song
1996

The Flickering Flame
1996

My Name is Joe
1998

It's a Free World...
2007

Kes
1970

To Each His Own Cinema
2007

The Navigators
2001

Land and Freedom
1995

Bread and Roses
2000

Raining Stones
1993

Hidden Agenda
1990

Looking for Eric
2009

Ladybird Ladybird
1994

Black Jack
1979

Looks and Smiles
1981

Family Life
1971

Poor Cow
1967

Tickets
2005

The Angels' Share
2012

Riff-Raff
1991

Route Irish
2011

The Gamekeeper
1980

The Old Oak
2023

Fatherland
1986

The Spirit of '45
2013

Which Side Are You On?
1985

Jimmy's Hall
2014

Cathy Come Home
1966

The End of Arthur's Marriage
1965

In Two Minds
1967

The Golden Vision
1968

The Price of Coal, Part 1: Meet the People
1977

The Price of Coal, Part 2: Back to Reality
1977

McLibel
2005

The Big Flame
1969

I, Daniel Blake
2016
After a Lifetime
1971
A Tap on the Shoulder
1965

Three Clear Sundays
1965

Up the Junction
1965

The Coming Out Party
1965

The Rank and File
1971
A Misfortune
1973

The Save the Children Fund Film
1971

Talk About Work
1971

The View from the Woodpile
1989
The Red and the Blue
1983

Time to Go
1989

The Arthur Legend
1991
Auditions
1980

A Question of Leadership
1981

End of the Battle... Not the End of the War
1985
Another City: A Week in the Life of Bath's Football Club
1998

In Conversation With Jeremy Corbyn
2016
Wear a Very Big Hat
1965
A Contemporary Case for Common Ownership
1995

Sorry We Missed You
2019
| Title | Year | Job |
|---|---|---|
| Cathy Come Home | 1966 | Screenplay |
| Poor Cow | 1967 | Screenplay |
| Kes | 1970 | Screenplay |
| A Misfortune | 1973 | Writer |
| Black Jack | 1979 | Writer |
| The Gamekeeper | 1980 | Writer |
| Auditions | 1980 | Producer |
| A Question of Leadership | 1981 | Producer |
| Which Side Are You On? | 1985 | Producer |
| The View from the Woodpile | 1989 | Producer |
| The Flickering Flame | 1996 | Screenplay |
| 11 Minutes, 9 Seconds, 1 Image | 2002 | Writer |
| It's a Free World... | 2007 | Producer |
| The Spirit of '45 | 2013 | Writer |
| Idyll | 2014 | Writer |
| In Conversation With Jeremy Corbyn | 2016 | Writer |
| In Conversation With Jeremy Corbyn | 2016 | Producer |