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I, DANIEL BLAKE directed by Ken Loach (UK, 2016)
In part 12 of his illuminating Channel 4 documentary series on The Story Of Film, Mark Cousins focused on notable directors from around the world like John Sayles in the US and Krzysztof Kieslowski in Poland who were prepared to stand up for worthy, though unfashionable, political causes.
The connecting theme was what Cousins frequently referred to as ‘speaking truth to power’, a phrase that originated with the Quaker movement in the 1950s and was later adopted in the United States as a rallying call to those opposing the dark forces of Fascism and totalitarianism.
For half a century, Ken Loach has followed this principle by being a voice for the dispossessed and downtrodden in society. He opposes the political establishment that serves the masters yet ignores the slaves. He stands against systems which sustain the healthy and the wealthy but provide little nourishment to the poor and needy. Continue reading
