BFI to celebrate Ken Loach’s 75th in style

by Naman Ramachandran

12/08/2011 - The British Film Institute (BFI) will celebrate revered filmmaker Ken Loach’s 75th birthday, and 50-year career, with the most comprehensive retrospective ever of his work from September.

The retrospective will cover the full range of Loach’s films, television plays and documentaries. It incorporates a donation of Loach’s collection to the BFI National Archive, a two-month BFI Southbank season and Mezzanine exhibition, regional tour and an education programme.

Ken Loach said, “I am of course delighted that the BFI will show all these films. However, I can’t help feeling a little anxious about what will be revealed…”

Winner of the Palme d’or at Cannes 2006 for The Wind That Shakes the Barley [trailer, film focus], Ken Loach is one of Britain’s most celebrated filmmakers. The retrospective will include the world premiere of Loach’s 1969 documentary Save The Children that was mired in controversy and has been seen only by a few archivists.

Loach has donated to the BFI National Archive his entire archive of working papers including his emails, production papers and working notes, casting lists, budgets, shooting schedules and annotated drafts and shooting scripts.

Heather Stewart, Creative Director, BFI said, “We are delighted to accept this extraordinarily generous gift by one of Britain’s most internationally renowned and important filmmakers. Ken Loach has created an outstanding body of work and through this donation we will be able to preserve his films to the highest archival standards while offering a unique insight into his working methods.”