It's all eyes on the Ken Loach - and the North East - yet again as the award-winning director prepares to showcase his new film at Cannes Film Festival.
The Old Oak, made in the region, is the last the famed filmmaker intends to make and completes a local trilogy which was not initially planned when he shot I, Daniel Blake here in 2015. Now, like both that and 2019's Sorry We Missed You, it too has been selected for screening at the international film festival where it will be in competition for the coveted Palme d'Or - a prize which I, Daniel Blake won in 2016, followed by its BAFTA for Outstanding British Film.
While having all three films make the official selection is remarkable enough, this year's glittering event will mark Loach's 15th appearance at Cannes: more - by far - than any other director. The big date, May 27, will see the North East - County Durham this time - back in the spotlight in an affecting drama which centres around a run-down pub in a community which is thrown into conflict by the arrival of some Syrian refugees.
Read more: Chronicle goes behind the scenes during filming of The Old Oak
Last year's shoot brought Loach back to the region with his long-term collaborators writer Paul Laverty and producer Rebecca O'Brien - the trio making up the core and big heart of Sixteen Films production company. And it saw an old pub in Murton village become the heart of the action.
The Victoria in Church Street was transformed into The Old Oak of the title, with Dave Turner, a retired firefighter from Blaydon, taking a lead role as its landlord TJ Ballantyne. The 86-year-old filmmaker, who turns 87 in June, always offers opportunities for non-actors to feature in his films, helping to add that trademark raw and real feel, and Dave told how at the time how Loach had inspired him with the confidence to take on the part, admitting: "I couldn't do it for anybody else."
He was chosen after making small appearances in the previous two films, including as an angry football supporter in Sorry We Missed You. And now he'll be among the cast and crew on the red carpet at Cannes, joined by newcomer Ebla Mari, who plays co-star Yara, a Syrian refugee.
The local refugee community features too in the story, which explores integration issues and conflicts faced when a group of new arrivals are housed among residents who have struggles of their own. Among the professional actors viewers will see on screen is familiar face Trevor Fox, playing one of the pub regulars who just wishes life could be like the old days.
Work on the drama, which had been delayed by the pandemic and saw Covid safety precautions taken on-set, involved filming in various areas of Durham, including Easington Colliery and Horden village, to give a composite picture of a generic mining village in decline, with a pervading sense of history and hardship, and it's set in 2016 - the year the first refugees arrived from Syria.
Writer Paul Laverty, who has worked with Loach for years including 2006 classic The Wind That Shakes the Barley, has said he felt this to be their toughest film together yet. With the whole filmmaking process always a gamble, he said people they met along the way gave them "heart and inspiration".
I, Daniel Blake, a bleak and hard-hitting film, was the first Loach had made in the North East and following their second, the team had a sense of unfinished business and another - even deeper - story to tell. Loach says: "We had made two films in the North East, stories of people trapped in this fractured society.
"Inevitably both ended badly. Yet we had met so many strong, generous people there, who respond to these dark times with courage and determination. We felt we had to make a third film that reflected that, but also did not minimise the difficulties people face and what has befallen this area in the past decades."
While a starting point was the region's neglect, the Government's acceptance of refugees from the horrific war in Syria became a driving factor, with the North East, along with Scotland, taking more than any other region, he says, due to cheap housing and being an area barely noticed by the national media.
He has described making the three dramas as "a powerful experience" and added: "The cliches are true - a warm and generous people, a stunning landscape, and a culture built on hardship, struggle and solidarity."
Cannes will run from May 16-27 and the official world premiere of The Old Oak will take place there on May 23, where it will be competing for the Palme d'Or. This is the highest prize the festival awards and is considered to be one of the film industry's most prestigious accolades.
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