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 |