On 30 September, FERA (Federation of European Screen Directors) members who had gathered for their general assembly unanimously elected Ken Loach as their new Honorary President.

After studying Law at Oxford and a brief spell in the theatre, Loach was recruited by the BBC in 1963 as a television director. This launched a long career of directing films for TV and the cinema, from Cathy Come Home and Kes in the 1960s to Land and Freedom, Sweet Sixteen [+leggi anche:
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intervista: Ken Loach
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intervista: Cannes 2009
Ken Loach
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Commenting on Loach’s election, FERA chair Bill Anderson said: “Ken Loach has been a rigorously authentic director balancing fierce, passionate humanity with a gentle sense of humour on our screens for 60 years. His dynamic commitment to social justice carries him beyond the screen stories he so eloquently directs – setting films ‘against a background’ of inequality or poverty is not enough for him: he demands that we set our stories against injustice directly. Action is foreground. Ken is an inspiration.”

In his induction speech, Loach reminded the filmmakers in attendance of the privileges and responsibilities of directing movies: “In our films, we can contribute to collective memory because our history, the history of the people, is written out by those in power. We have the task of bearing witness and making films that bear witness to what is happening. If we can make that contribution, then we contribute to the struggle against the power. […] So we are few, but it’s a big task.”

The veteran writer-director succeeds Bosnia’s Jasmila Žbanić in the role. The official press release published by the organisation praises “Žbanić’s riveting contribution to discussions at [the panel] Filmmakers at War and to FERA’s Directors’ Voice podcast”, which “projected a strong image of directors’ unique authorship and craft. […] Her uncompromising vision as a filmmaker and her unique ability to tell personal stories against a backdrop of significant political and historical events are an inspiration to the European filmmakers’ community,” it concludes.