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.
Known For
Censoring Palestine
Self
2024
Os Maus Patriotas
HIMSELF
2024
Uomini in Marcia
2024
Faut Voir - L'hebdo cinéma
Self - Guest · (1 episode)
2023
Cannes Uncut
Self
2023
Ken Loach, le vent de la révolte
Self
2023
Oh Jeremy Corbyn - The Big Lie
(himself)
2023
I Get Knocked Down
Self
2023
C'era una volta in Italia - Giacarta sta arrivando
Sé stesso
2022
Thatcher's Not Dead
Self
2022
Film: The Living Record of Our Memory
Self
2022
Reel Britannia
Self · (4 episodes)
2022
A Bolsa ou a Vida
Self
2021
Once upon a time... "I, Daniel Blake"
himself
2021
Victoria Wood: The Secret List
Self · (2 episodes)
2020
Drama Out of a Crisis: A Celebration of Play for Today
Self
2020
The Great NHS Heist
Himself
2019
Greg Davies: Looking for Kes
Self
2019
Who Killed British Cinema?
Self
2018
CzechMate: In Search of Jiří Menzel
Self
2018
The Dream Palace: A People's History of Tyneside Cinema
2018
Water and Sugar – Carlo Di Palma: The Colours of Life
Self
2017
How to Make a Ken Loach Film
self
2016
To Make a Comedy Is No Fun
Self
2016
John Bishop: In Conversation with...
Self · (1 episode)
2016
Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach
Self - Film Director
2016
About Cinema
Self
2015
Il était une fois... « Rosetta »
Self
2015
We Are Many
Self
2014
Jordi Dauder, la revolució pendent
Himself
2012
A Special Day
Self
2012
Catastroika
Self
2012
Square
Self · (1 episode)
2012
The Story of Film: An Odyssey
Self · (1 episode)
2011
Making Kes
Self
2010
Celuloide colectivo: el cine en guerra
Himself
2009
What Do You Know About Me
Self
2009
Vittorio D.
Self
2009
Great Directors
Self
2009
40 x 15: The Forty Years of the Directors' Fortnight
Self
2008
Carry On Ken
2006
Carry On Ken
(1 episode)
2006
Ken and Rosa
Himself
2001
Citizen Ken Loach
Self
1997
The South Bank Show: Ken Loach
Interviewee
1993
The Making of 'Hidden Agenda'
Self
1990
A Turnip Head’s Guide To The British Cinema
Self
1986
Shooting from the Heart: Chris Menges, Cameraman
Self
1985
Question Time
Self - Panellist · (3 episodes)
1979
Right to Work March
1972