British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Versus: The Life and Films of Ken Loach

Synopsis

Documentary focusing on the work, both on screen and off, of director Ken Loach. Revolving around the 'battles' linked to his long filmography- ranging from the campaign to combat homelessness prompted by the 1966 film 'Cathy Come Home', to a right-wing press backlash over the Palme d’Or win for 'The Wind That Shakes The Barley' in 2006, to a fight with the censors over the language in 'Sweet Sixteen'.
A provocative and revealing account of the life and career of one of Britain’s foremost filmmakers, produced as he turns eighty, looking back at over fifty years of filmmaking.

Details

Year
2016
Type of project
Features
Running time
90 mins
Director
Louise Osmond
Producer
Rebecca O'Brien
Director of Photography
Roger Chapman
Composer
Roger Goula Sarda
Principal cast
Ken Loach
Assistant Producer
Jack Thomas-O'Brien

Genre

Woman Director

Categories

Documentary

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

BBC Films

BBC Broadcasting House
7th Floor, Zone A
Portland Place
London
W1A 1AA

Sixteen Films

2nd Floor
187 Wardour Street
London
W1F 8ZB

Sales Company

Dogwoof

Ground Floor
19-23 Ironmonger Row
London
EC1V 3QN

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

Dark Horse Dark Horse

Director: Louise Osmond

Year: 2015

An inspirational and occasionally heart-stopping true story of a group of friends from a working men's club in Wales who decide to take on the elite 'sport of kings' and breed themselves a racehorse. Against all the odds, their young foal, raised on nearby waste-land, goes on to become a champion. Until one day disaster strikes… Official Selection Toronto 2015 - TIFF Docs

Sport Woman Director
Two hands hold a thread of wool during the process of weaving tartan The Weavers

Director: Callum McCulloch-Nowlan

Year: 2026

Rob Beaton has been weaving tartan and tweed in the Scottish Borders since he was 14. Now 84, he is Scotland's oldest and longest-serving mill worker, operating 100-year-old traditional shuttle looms. With no apprentice to carry on his craft, the mill where he has worked for over four decades may soon be forced to close. But elsewhere in Scotland, a different story is unfolding. At another mill in Highland Perthshire, a young apprentice is learning the trade, and the ancient rhythms of the looms are being passed to a new generation. Once, Scotland's textile industry employed nearly 75% of the population. Today, that figure stands at just 0.2%. Against the backdrop of that decline, the stories of these two mills paint a portrait of an industry at a crossroads. Through his film, Callum McCulloch-Nowlan celebrates the workers, machines, and spaces of Scotland's weaving tradition, while exploring the urgency of preserving a disappearing craft.

Scottish
Over a background image of Edinburgh Castle the words Roseburn, path, tram and people are displayed Roseburn - Path | Tram | People

Director: Lee Arthur Patterson

Year: 2026

Edinburgh has a developed network of greenways. One key 60 year old route, The Roseburn Path, is under threat of being significantly transformed into a Tramway. The documentary explores the history, development, social and wellbeing benefits for residents of the path and contrasts the competing needs of development and connectivity.

Climate / Environment Disabilities History Scottish