The official book of the major motion picture, The Old Oak, the third in a trilogy of films set in the northeast of England that includes the Palme d’Or winning I, Daniel Blake and Sorry We Missed You.
The Old Oak is a special place. Not only is it the last pub standing, it is the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once thriving mining community. The landlord, TJ Ballantyne, is hanging on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his hold is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees into the village. In an unlikely friendship, TJ encounters a young Syrian, Yara. Can they find a way for the two communities to understand each other? So unfolds a deeply moving drama about loss, fear and the difficulty of finding hope.
Features original screenplay, photos from the film and production notes from cast and crew, including Paul Laverty, Ken Loach and Rebecca O’Brien.
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A vital, moving social parable… Loach and Laverty throw everything they can think of at the screen, and it all sticks because it’s all true. After skewering the government’s handling of the health service in I, Daniel Blake, and the fake ‘free enterprise’ of the gig economy in Sorry We Missed You, the pair are taking a sawn-off shotgun to everything that’s left, chiefly the erosion of public spaces and the undermining of community spirit.
The Old Oak is, of course, a timely story about modern Britain, immigration, and xenophobia. It’s also a parting statement from Loach – one last rallying cry for solidarity – and a fitting coda to his six-decade long career.
A ringing statement of faith in compassion for the oppressed.
A film as fired up and human as you’ll see this year.
Paul Laverty was born in Calcutta, India, to an Irish mother and Scottish father. He obtained a Philosophy degree at the Gregorian University in Rome. Thereafter he obtained a law degree at Strathclyde Law School, in Glasgow. During the mid-eighties worked for a Nicaraguan domestic human rights organisation.
He has written the screenplays for several full length feature films directed by Ken Loach: including Sweet Sixteen (2002) – winner of Best Original Screenplay at Cannes, The Wind That Shakes the Barley (2006) – winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes and It’s A Free World (2007) – winner of Best Original Screenplay at Venice Film Festival. He is married to Spanish filmmaker Icíar Bollaín, with whom he has made a number of feature films.
Books: Looking For Eric, Route Irish, The Angels' Share, Jimmy's Hall, I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You, The Old Oak, Even The Rain
Ken Loach was born in 1936 in Nuneaton. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and went on to study law at St. Peter’s Hall, Oxford. After a brief spell in the theatre, Loach was recruited by the BBC in 1963 as a television director. This launched a long career directing films for television and the cinema, from Cathy Come Home and Kes in the sixties to Land And Freedom, Sweet Sixteen and I, Daniel Blake in recent years.
Books: Looking For Eric, Route Irish, The Angels' Share, Jimmy's Hall, I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You, The Old Oak
Rebecca O’Brien is a film producer who has worked with director Ken Loach since Hidden Agenda in 1990. She is a partner with Ken Loach and Paul Laverty in the production company Sixteen Films.
Books: Looking For Eric, Route Irish, The Angels' Share, Jimmy's Hall, I, Daniel Blake, Sorry We Missed You, THe Old Oak
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