Ken Loach’s advice for young filmmakers | Huck
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Ken Loach’s advice for young filmmakers

A voice of resistance — Ken Loach has been a singular force in British filmmaking for over 50 years: exposing injustice, standing up for the marginalised and fighting the powers that be. Now he's made his angriest film yet.

It’s the night of the Baftas and Ken Loach is ready to speak his mind. After winning Outstanding British Film for I, Daniel Blake, the director saunters up to the stage in a tuxedo, accepts the award from Nicole Kidman and grips the podium with both hands.

What comes next is classic Loach: in the span of just 110 seconds, he segues gracefully between expressing gratitude, condemning the government and warning of a dark, divisive future.

But in-between the comments that draw applause, in-between the lines that will make headlines, he emphasises the simple power of film.

“They can entertain, they can terrify, they can take us to worlds of imagination, they can make us laugh and they can tell us something about the real world we live in.”

A still from Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016) by Louise Osmond.

A still from Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach (2016) by Louise Osmond.


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