Jim Allen
This unique interactive film puts you on set with Ken Loach in production on his latest film, I, Daniel Blake. Throwing us into life on location and during pre-production, it enables you to change the course of your viewing experience by selecting inserts in which Loach and some of his key collaborators – past and present – give fascinating insights into his creative practices. (The version released on the Criterion Collection edition is only 38 minutes and doesn't include the interactive parts with interviews and illustrative scenes from previous Loach films.)
David Carr is a British Communist who is unemployed. In 1936, when the Spanish Civil War begins, he decides to fight for the Republican side, a coalition of liberals, communists and anarchists, so he joins the POUM militia and witnesses firsthand the betrayal of the Spanish revolution by Stalin's followers and Moscow's orders.
This Ken Loach film tells the story of a man devoted to his family and his religion. Proud, though poor, Bob wants his little girl to have a beautiful (and costly) brand-new dress for her First Communion. His stubbornness and determination get him into trouble as he turns to more and more questionable measures, in his desperation to raise the needed money. This tragic flaw leads him to risk all that he loves and values, his beloved family, indeed even his immortal soul and salvation, in blind pursuit of that goal.
In Ireland, American lawyer Ingrid Jessner and her activist partner, Paul Sullivan, struggle to uncover atrocities committed by the British government against the Northern Irish during the "Troubles." But when Sullivan is assassinated in the streets, Jessner teams up with Peter Kerrigan, a British investigator acting against the will of his own government, and struggles to uncover a conspiracy that may even implicate one of Kerrigan's colleagues.
The saga of Manchester lad Joe Henshaw, a story that takes in family life, the trials and tribulations of the Labour movement and World War Two
Every man needs just one night out, off the leash. Willie's attempt to prove himself provides a painfully funny and painfully sad comment on the battle of the sexes.
Incendiary 1981 Play for Today, written by Jim Allen and directed by Roland Joffé that tells the story of a group of housing estate residents who attempt to organise against persistent rent rises.
Set against the backdrop of Silver Jubilee of Elizabeth II, the play depicts a single mother's struggles as welfare cuts affect the poor and disabled. The derogatory term 'spongers' is used by British tabloid press to describe people who are dependent on welfare support, however the play presents the case of a family who really need the help of welfare support. The title sequence shows the title of the play, 'The Spongers', superimposed over a picture of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, denoting them as 'the real spongers' as Royal finances are paid by British taxpayers.
Jim Allen's Play For Today explores the dilemmas faced by the Catholic Church in Italy in light of the Vatican’s failure to denounce Nazi atrocities
The miners have been locked out because they refuse to accept wage cuts. Lloyd George has sent troops to the coalfields: the revolution in Russia is fresh in people's memory.
In 1925, the coal owners decided to reduce the miners' wages whilst asking them to work longer hours, resulting in a strike.
The Matthews are country people. If they can get a living with their hard work they want no changes or dealings with the outside world. Their children are different. They feel the earth moving under them and are excited and full of hope. They could not imagine what will happen to their world during the next ten years. The war itself is to bring vast changes. For Ben the army is to open up disturbing new horizons; while for his brother-in-law Philip the war is a dilemma demanding morality and courage.
Less than 20 years after its birth, the Labour Party forms a government with Ramsay MacDonald as Prime Minister. Although outnumbered in Parliament by Conservatives and Liberals, Labour is the largest party. Many feel the task of legislating socialism into existence can now begin.
Days of Hope is a BBC television drama serial produced in 1975. The series dealt with the lives of a working-class family from the turmoils of the First World War in 1916 to the General Strike in 1926. It was written by Jim Allen, produced by Tony Garnett and directed by Ken Loach.
Ken Loach production for The Wednesday Play; a fictionalised account of the Pilkingtons Glass strike in St Helens, 1970.
After a prolonged industrial dispute in the Liverpool Docks, the striking workers reject management demands of a return to work and decide instead to occupy the docks and run the operation themselves.
