2 weeks ago
EXCLUSIVE: Ken Loach and shaper Rebecca O’Brien are owed to deed Cannes coming for a Cinéma de Plage screening of a remastered 4K type of Spanish Civil War play Land and Freedom which primitively premiered astatine nan show successful title successful 1995.
Tonight’s screening falls conscionable 2 months awkward of nan 90th day of nan commencement of nan Spanish Civil War connected July 17, 1936, successful which immoderate 500,000 would die, and arsenic galore much would fly nan country.
Talking to Deadline up of nan screening, Loach says nan conflict still resonates pinch nan Left to this time arsenic nan first world conflict against fascism.
He adds it besides holds abiding lessons astir nan perils of infighting and nan determination of blimpish powers to quash socialist ideals, arsenic evidenced by nan non-interference stance of nan U.S. and nan UK, which he says was a shape of tacit support for Franco.
In Land and Freedom, Ian Hart stars arsenic David Carr, an unemployed man from Liverpool who travels to Spain successful 1936 to thief successful nan conflict against Franco’s Nationalists. Rather than joining nan Stalinist International Brigade, he ends up enlisting pinch Trotskyist splinter group, nan POUM.
He was joined successful nan formed by Rosana Pastor, Icíar Bollaín and Tom Gilroy among galore others, and Cannes 2026 assemblage personnel Paul Laverty successful a mini role.
The movie created a operation erstwhile it debuted successful Cannes for its exploration of nan divisions on Communist-Leftist lines connected nan Republican side, pinch commentators suggesting astatine nan clip that Loach was re-opening a deep, unspoken wound.
“The attacks by nan Communist Party connected nan Revolutionary Left was a communicative that hadn’t been told. The communicative of nan left’s guidance to nan fascists was cornered by nan Communist Party but nan revolutionaries, nan anarchists and nan POUM, which is what George Orwell belonged to, that communicative was ne'er told and it was devastating,” Loach tells Deadline.
“To show that communicative was bonzer and a brilliant, awesome acquisition because nan young Spanish didn’t cognize nan communicative astatine all, didn’t cognize their ain history,” he adds.
Jim Allen, who antecedently worked pinch Loach connected Hidden Agenda and The Gathering Seed, wrote nan screenplay.
“He was a awesome writer, a superb man, working-class man who learned his authorities connected nan frontline,” says Loach. “He was a miner, a docker, a building worker, and an old-fashioned agitator. He would spell connected a building tract to enlistee for nan union, get sacked and past move onto nan adjacent site.”
Mystery of nan Prize U-Turn
Not everyone agreed pinch Loach and Allen’s return connected what happened successful nan Republican camp. The head recounts really he and shaper Rebecca O’Brien had near Cannes successful 1995 pinch a consciousness that nan play had made a mark.
“There was a batch of chat astir it and group seemed to for illustration it. We were only location for a fewer days, but reference what was being written successful nan papers and listening to what friends were saying, it looked arsenic though we mightiness beryllium up for an award. We were thrilled astir that but not counting our chickens astatine all,” says Loach.
When they sewage a telephone summoning them backmost to Cannes connected nan eve of nan awards ceremony, expectations were moreover higher arsenic Loach boarded nan level to Nice alongside woman Leslie and O’Brien.
“When we sewage nan connection to spell back, I thought, ‘My God, this is it’. I dug retired nan meal overgarment and threw it successful nan suitcase, and Leslie, my wife, put successful a frock and we met pinch Rebecca astatine nan airport. We sewage connected nan plane, it was each very breathtaking but past rather virtually arsenic nan doorway was closing an announcement came complete nan loudspeaker, ‘Will Mr. Loach, Mrs Loach and Miss O’Brien Brian please time off nan plane’,” recalls Loach.
“It was a humiliating business pinch everyone successful nan level watching america beryllium escorted off, arsenic if we were criminals aliases going to beryllium arrested aliases something. Anyway, aft we came off, we sewage nan message, ‘no, no, there’s thing for you’. We went backmost to our spot and had a cup of tea.”
Loach reveals that they learned immoderate years later that a assemblage personnel pinch Stalinist sympathies had reversed a determination to springiness nan movie a prize.
“I don’t cognize what he said… that it wasn’t nan truth, that it was dangerous… immoderate he said it must person been thing reasonably important to seduce them to retreat nan prize,” he recounts.
Decisive Film
While nan movie went unawarded successful Cannes, it still marked a milestone for Loach and O’Brien connected a number of fronts. It was nan first movie by Loach lead produced by O’Brien, and their first European coproduction. The second was a gamechanger for Loach who had struggled to find support for his activity successful nan UK.
“It was decisive and a captious moment. The 80s were a bad decade, successful each respect, some politically and for filmmaking. I managed to commencement filming again successful 1989 pinch Hidden agenda. Then we did 3 films pinch Channel 4, Riff-Raff, Raining Stones, and Lady Bird, Lady Bird but these were made pinch humble budgets for home audiences,” says Loach. “The European co-production became a exemplary for everything that we’ve made complete nan past 30 years.”
O’Brien recounts really shaper Sally Hibben, who produced Loach’s movie nether nan Parallax Films banner for galore years, was instrumental successful uncovering European co-producers.
“We knew we had to do it done a coproduction but we hadn’t done 1 before,” she says. “Sally was going to Spain to motorboat Lady Bird, Lady Bird astatine nan Valladolid Film Festival and took it upon herself to find a Spanish partners.”
There, she met Spanish head and shaper Gerardo Herrero astatine Tournesol Films, who successful move connected her pinch German shaper Ulrich Felsberg, Wim Wenders’s partner astatine Road Movies.
“It turned retired to beryllium a very fortuitous grouping which ended up moving for america complete a play of 15 years,” says O’Brien. “I hadn’t done a coproduction before, truthful it was complicated. I was learning connected nan occupation successful a world wherever location was nary internet, conscionable fax machines grinding away.”
The movie would spell connected to sprout successful and astir nan colony of Mirambel connected nan separator of Aragon and Castellón, which was successful nan process of being restored astatine nan time, and besides successful Barcelona.
O’Brien recalls really they summoned Laverty backmost from L.A., wherever he was connected a penning danasiwa and moving connected a screenplay that would go become Loach’s 1996 Nicaragua-set play Carla’s Song, for input astir nan governmental speech successful nan movie and he ended up playing 1 of nan militiamen.
“It was a very passionate moment. It was a difficult movie to make it, but everybody was passionate astir making it. It was a very visceral film. It was reliable climate. It was successful nan mediate of nowhere, but nan group of actors and nan unit we put together were truthful committed that it grew legs… it was a awesome and very bully experience,” she says.
Loach and O’Brien officialized their filmmaking business pinch nan creation of accumulation location Sixteen Films successful 2003, and it has produced each of Loach’s films since including 2006 Palme d’Or victor The Wind That Shakes The Barley and each his consequent Cannes contenders including I, Daniel Blake and past movie The Old Oak.
In 2009, nan institution connected pinch Pascal Caucheteux and Thomas Sorlat astatine Why Not Productions arsenic good arsenic Vincent Maraval astatine Wild Bunch, now Goodfellas, aft nan second took connected income for Looking for Eric, starring Eric Cantona. These French partners person worked connected each of Loach’s films since.
Conserving nan Legacy
Loach, who turns to 90 successful June, reconfirmed to Deadline that The Old Oak was genuinely his past characteristic film, saying he is nary longer physically beardown capable for nan rigors of being connected set.
O’Brien continues to nutrient nether nan Sixteen Films banner but is besides connected a ngo to stitchery each of Loach’s films successful 1 collection, which is nary mean feat because they were made nether truthful galore different production, income and distribution configurations.
A first awesome measurement successful this ambition was nan caller move to name Goodfellas arsenic worldwide income supplier for 7 cardinal titles, astatine nan aforesaid clip arsenic entrusting their early distribution to Le Pacte successful France, and Curzon successful nan UK and Ireland.
They comprise Cannes selections The Wind That Shakes nan Barley, Land and Freedom, My Name is Joe, Bread & Roses, and Sweet Sixteen arsenic good arsenic Venice-selected activity The Navigators and Ae Fond Kiss which premiered successful Berlin.
“We wanted for a very agelong clip to put nan backmost catalog nether 1 tile wherever possible,” says O’Brien. “We person been moving pinch Goodfellow and their predecessors Wild Bunch, for 15, 20, years now. We had different offers and were looking astatine different possibilities, but it made astir consciousness champion to spell to Goodfellows because we cognize them intimately and we emotion them.
“These films are not conscionable 1 off. They beryllium to a postulation of 20 to 30 films that talk astir our unrecorded complete nan past 50, 60, years. It is truthful important for america to make them accessible… we’ve really been connected a quest for immoderate clip to find nan correct partners, and we’re perfectly delighted that these chaps person each travel connected committee because we request them. We’re not experts successful distribution aliases knowing really nan marketplace useful for archive films, but we cognize there’s an expanding worth successful nan marketplace for these sorts of projects. Having teams connected committee pinch nan know-how who besides attraction arsenic profoundly arsenic america matters.”
Future of Sixteen Films
At nan aforesaid clip O’Brien continues to nutrient nether nan Sixteen Films banner, pinch her boy Jack Thomas-O’Brien moving alongside her arsenic a producer. Recent productions see Athina Rachel Tsangari’s people scary Harvest and Laura Carreira’s On Falling about a young Portuguese female moving successful a storage successful Glasgow.
O’Brien says that while nan tone of Loach’s activity is astatine nan bosom of nan company’s identity, nan upcoming projects connected its slate are very overmuch successful their ain mould.
“They’re not sub-Ken Loach films. They are for illustration minded projects,” she says. “Sixteen Films wants to beryllium a spot for caller films arsenic good a location for aged films and their legacy.”
Loach, for his part, hopes Sixteen Films will transportation connected nan conflict of telling stories highlighting nan societal divisions he believes still dishonesty astatine nan bosom of societies worldwide.
“We request audiences that are people conscious, to usage nan aged language, because that’s 1 of nan awesome myths that our nine cultivates, is that we’re each successful this together, that we each person nan aforesaid interests. But clearly, we don’t. There is simply a schism astatine nan bosom of nine betwixt those who waste their labour and those who profit from it, truthful we’re not successful it together,” he says,
“So we do request a civilization that says, look, this is nan reality of nan world we unrecorded in. To promote others to stock that constituent of view, is evidently thing that I for illustration to do, and to beryllium a witnesser to our clip arsenic well. It’s important to look astatine really it is, aliases really it was, and to nan champion of our knowledge, to nan champion of our understanding, and to nan champion of our expertise make it unrecorded and make it quality experience. I deliberation that’s nan task for filmmakers. We had a go, really grounded galore times, but you person to person a go, and that’s what I’d for illustration to walk on.”
