Happy 84th Birthday, Ken Loach! Born today in 1936 as Kenneth Charles Loach, this English filmmaker's socially critical directing style and socialist ideals are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as homelessness, poverty and labour rights.
In showing homelessness, Loach is known for directing the 1967 British black and white drama television play 'Cathy Come Home' for BBC.
In showing poverty, Loach is known for directing the 1967 British Eastmancolor drama/adaptation film 'Poor Cow'.
Two years later, Loach co-wrote and directed the first feature of which he is best known. This was the 1969 British drama film 'Kes', and was Loach's second feature film for cinema release.
The film was based on English author, playwright, screenwriter and amateur footballer Barry Hines' 1968 fictional novel A Kestrel for a Knave.
The film tells of fifteen-year-old Billy Casper (David Bradley), a tormented working-class boy from a mining community who is subjected to abuse both at school and at home.
The son of a single mother, Mrs. Casper (Lynne Perrie), Billy's existence is mostly bleak until he takes up an interest in falconry and begins training a kestrel that he finds on a nearby farm.
However, while Billy forms a close bond with the falcon, his hardscrabble life and harsh environment prove to be a challenge to the boy and his bird.
Two years later, 'Kes' won two BAFTA Awards. This first was for Best Actor in a Supporting Role (Colin Welland) and the second was for Most Promising Newcomer to Leading Film Roles (David Bradley). This occurred at the 24th British Film Academy Awards in early March 1971.
'Kes' is ranked seventh in the British Film Institute's Top Ten (British) Films. This is Loach's second feature film for cinema release.
In showing labour rights, Loach is known for directing the 1991 British comedy-drama/drama film 'Riff-Raff'. One decade later, he directed another film showing labour rights. This was the 2001 British drama/comedy film 'The Navigators'.
In 1998, the British weekly magazine Radio Times readers' poll voted 'Kes' the "best single television drama" and a 2000 industry poll rated it as the second best British television programme ever made.
In the late 2010s, Loach is best known for directing the 2016 British/French/Belgian drama film 'I, Daniel Blake'.
The film follows Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a fifty-nine-year-old widowed carpenter who must rely on welfare after a recent heart attack leaves him unable to work. Despite his doctor's diagnosis, British authorities deny Blake's benefits and tell him to return to his job.
As Daniel navigates his way through an agonizing appeal process, he begins to develop a strong bond with a destitute, single mother named Katie (Hayley Squires) who's struggling to take care of her two children.
The film won the Palme d'Or at the 69th Cannes Film Festival in May, and the Prix du public at the 69th Locamo International Film Festival in August.
The following year, Loach won the BAFTA Award for Outstanding British Film. This occurred at the 70th British Academy Film Awards in mid-February 2017.
Loach, a social campaigner for most of his career, believes the current criteria for claiming benefits in the United Kingdom are "a Kafka-esque, Catch-22 situation designed to frustrate and humiliate the claimant to such an extent that they drop out of the system and stop pursuing their right to ask for support if necessary".
According to his personal life, Loach has been married to English animator Lesley Ashton since 1962. They have five children together, most notably English film director Jay Loach.
Loach has been active from 1962–present.
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