Ken Loach
Known for
Ken Loach is an English director born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, one of the most consistently socially and politically committed filmmakers in British cinema history. Kes, an early landmark following a working-class boy's bond with a kestrel, established his enduring commitment to naturalistic, unsentimental depictions of working-class life, a commitment sustained across more than five decades. The Wind That Shakes the Barley, set during the Irish War of Independence, and I, Daniel Blake, a scathing indictment of Britain's welfare bureaucracy, both won him the Palme d'Or, an achievement matched by very few directors. Sorry We Missed You and The Old Oak extended his ongoing focus on economic precarity and the human cost of austerity policy into the gig economy and refugee crisis. Loach's unwavering, decades-long commitment to social realism and working-class solidarity has made him the most politically consistent major filmmaker in British cinema.
Ken Loach
29 Directed
6 Series
Ken Loach is an English director born in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, one of the most consistently socially and politically committed filmmakers in British cinema history. Kes, an early landmark following a working-class boy's bond with a kestrel, established his enduring commitment to naturalistic, unsentimental depictions of working-class life, a commitment sustained across more than five decades. The Wind That Shakes the Barley, set during the Irish War of Independence, and I, Daniel Blake, a scathing indictment of Britain's welfare bureaucracy, both won him the Palme d'Or, an achievement matched by very few directors. Sorry We Missed You and The Old Oak extended his ongoing focus on economic precarity and the human cost of austerity policy into the gig economy and refugee crisis. Loach's unwavering, decades-long commitment to social realism and working-class solidarity has made him the most politically consistent major filmmaker in British cinema.
Movies
Director
The Angels' Share
2012
Director
Sorry We Missed You
2019
Director
I, Daniel Blake
2016
Director
The Old Oak
2023
Director
The Wind That Shakes the Barley
2006
Director
Kes
1970
Director
Poor Cow
1967
Director
Looking for Eric
2009
Director
Tickets
2005
Director
My Name Is Joe
1998
Director
To Each His Own Cinema
2007
Director
Riff-Raff
1991
Director
September 11
2002
Director
It's a Free World...
2007
Director
Jimmy's Hall
2014
Director
Ae Fond Kiss...
2004
Director
Hidden Agenda
1990
Director
Land and Freedom
1995
Director
Route Irish
2011
Director
Bread and Roses
2000
Director
Sweet Sixteen
2002
Director
Raining Stones
1993
Director
The Navigators
2001
Director
Fatherland
1986
Director
Ladybird Ladybird
1994
Director
Black Jack
1979
Director
Carla's Song
1996
Director
Family Life
1971
Director
Looks and Smiles
1981
Latest Trailers
Watch Trailer
Cannes Uncut
Full Filmography
The Old Oak
Director
2023
Film
Sorry We Missed You
Director
2019
Film
I, Daniel Blake
Director
2016
Film
Jimmy's Hall
Director
2014
Film
The Angels' Share
Director
2012
Film
Route Irish
Director
2011
Film
Looking for Eric
Director
2009
Film
To Each His Own Cinema
Director
2007
Film
It's a Free World...
Director
2007
Film
Photos
Frequently Asked Questions
How old is Ken Loach and where are they from?
Ken Loach is 90 years old, born on June 17, 1936 in Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK.
What are the most famous roles of Ken Loach?
Ken Loach is best known for directing I, Daniel Blake, The Wind That Shakes the Barley, Sorry We Missed You.
How many movies has Ken Loach directed?
Over a 61-year career (since 1965), Ken Loach has directed or written 29 films and worked on 6 TV shows.
What was Ken Loach's first movie?
The career of Ken Loach began with A Tap on the Shoulder (1965).
What is Ken Loach's most recent movie or series?
Ken Loach's most recent release is The Old Oak, which premiered on September 29, 2023.
What TV shows has Ken Loach created or directed?
On television, Ken Loach has appeared in Dispatches, Play for Today, Z-Cars, Days of Hope.
Ken Loach
1936-06-17 · Nuneaton, Warwickshire, England, UK
Kenneth Charles Loach (born 17 June 1936; Nuneaton) is a retired British film director, screenwriter and producer. His humanist values and socialist political views are evident in his film treatment of social issues such as poverty (Poor Cow, 1967), homelessness (Cathy Come Home, 1966), labour rights (Riff-Raff, 1991; The Navigators, 2001), and revolutionary struggle (Land and Freedom, 1995; The Wind That Shakes the Barley, 2006).
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.