UNITED KINGDOM, FRANCE, BELGIUM
2023 – DCP – color – 113’

Direction: Ken Loach

Screenplay: Paul Laverty

Cinematography: Robbie Ryan

Editing: Jonathan Morris

Set design: Fergus Clegg

Music: George Fenton

Costumes: Joanne Slater

Cast: Dave Turner (TJ Ballantyne), Ebla Mari (Yara), Claire Rodgerson (Laura), Trevor Fox (Charlie), Chris McGlade (Vic), Col Tait (Eddy), Jordan Louis (Garry), Andy Dawson (Micky)

Producer: Rebecca O’Brien

Production: Sixteen Films, Why Not, Studio Calal UK

SINOPSIS

The Old Oak is a special place. Not only is it the last remaining pub, but it is also the only public place where people can meet in what was once a thriving mining town, yet now going through tough times after 30 years of continuous decline. The pub’s owner, TJ Ballantyne can barely keep it afloat, and the situation becomes even more precarious when The Old Oak becomes contested space with the arrival of Syrian refugees relocating in the village. Establishing an unlikely friendship, TJ bonds with a young Syrian woman, Yara, equipped with a camera. Can the two communities find a way to communicate?

Critical Note

“From the very first images, Loach prompts us to reflect on the role of a document as a keeper of memory. Upon her arrival, Yara is taking pictures, before her camera is knocked to the ground and broken. In the long-closed room behind the pub’s counter, photos of strikes from the 1980s hang on the walls. Yara’s arrival breathes new life and meaning not only into those images but also into the place itself. For Loach, grassroots solidarity has always been the keystone of both individual and collective stories. Yet, he remains lucid about the increasingly active and invasively disruptive forces (including social) that oppose this solidarity. It is against this trend—where encounters with others are no longer enriching but perceived as threats—that his cinema becomes a symbol of hope against all potential defeat.” (Giancarlo Zappoli, My Movies, 27 May 2023)

PREMI E FESTIVAL

premi principali
2023 Locarno IFF:Audience Award
2023 Ghent IFF:Audience Award
2023 Valladolid IFF:Audience Award, Best Actor (Dave Turner)
2024 Calgary IFF: Audience Award

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