Loach, Ken 1936-

The wind that shakes the barley( visu )
4 editions published in 2007 in English and held by 1,128 libraries worldwide
Ireland, 1920. Damien O'Donovan is leaving for London for an internship, until the dreaded Black and Tans attack his hurling mates, killing one for not speaking English. Thus sidetracked by the Irish War for Independence, Damien is convinced by his brother Teddy to throw his lot in with the IRA. Damien is a purist, an idealist, and therefore marked for a tragic destiny, while Teddy is a fatefully pragmatic politician. These differences between the brothers propel the film through its terrible final act, as the signing of Anglo-Irish Treaty establishes the Irish Free State, splits the Republican movement, and unleashes the Irish Civil War.

Bread and roses( visu )
40 editions published between 2000 and 2010 in 7 languages and held by 724 libraries worldwide
Maya is an illegal alien who has crossed the U.S. border from Mexico to search for her sister Rosa, and to begin a new life. After being reunited, Rosa gets Maya a job with a janitorial service in a large office building. While working, Maya happens upon Sam Shapiro, a muckraking lawyer and union agitator whom the service-workers' union has assigned to bring its "justice for janitors" campaign to the building. Appalled at the work conditions and unfair labor practices, Maya and Sam team up to fight her employer.

Raining stones( visu )
38 editions published between 1993 and 2010 in 7 languages and held by 518 libraries worldwide
Desperate for cash to buy his daughter a new Communion dress, a working-class man risks everything he loves, not least his immortal soul, in blind pursuit of that goal.

Kes( visu )
39 editions published between 1969 and 2011 in 3 languages and held by 447 libraries worldwide
Billy Casper, a 15-year-old working class Yorkshire boy, is a scrappy loner who delivers papers before and after school, shares a bed with his bullying brother, Jud, and mostly ignores his self-absorbed mother. His routine is derailed when he spots a small falcon, a kestrel, in the countryside. He's raised birds in the past and is inspired to capture a young kestrel and try his hand at falconry. When not enduring the scorn of his peers and "betters," Billy wanders the countryside, pokes about the town, and secretively trains his kestrel, where his intelligence and imagination are as free as the bird. Because ever present in Billy's mind is fear and hatred of the pit--the local mine where he is destined to spend his adult life digging coal.

Sweet sixteen( visu )
38 editions published between 2002 and 2007 in 4 languages and held by 400 libraries worldwide
There's precious little sweetness in Liam's life in the weeks before his 16th birthday: his mother is in prison, and his stepfather Stan is a bullying small-time drug dealer. Liam wants a normal life with mom, his older sister and her baby boy, in a caravan he picked out himself. Naïve, driven Liam comes to the attention of a local crime lord, who offers him employment--but with conditions that are merciless. Liam is locked into a destiny that he can't escape, by a country that has written him off. His dreams of escaping to a better life sabotaged by his own refusal to the misery common to his class.

11'09"01 September 11 a film( visu )
4 editions published between 2002 and 2003 in 3 languages and held by 368 libraries worldwide
11 directors from different countries and cultures. 11 visions of the tragic events that occurred in New York City on September 11th 2001. 11 points of view committing their subjective conscience. Complete freedom of expression. Reflecting on the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in short films lasting 11 minutes, 9 seconds and 1 frame each. In subject matter, they range from the very personal, to an oscillation between didacticism and relativism, to moments of pure cinema.

Looking for Eric( visu )
13 editions published between 2009 and 2010 in English and German and held by 335 libraries worldwide
Eric Bishop, a British soccer fanatic who is down on his luck, gets a surprise visit from Eric Cantona, the legendary player for Manchester United. Cantona is there to lend a hand with raising his kids and showing him how to woo back his ex-wife. When the menace of crime threatens Bishop's home, Cantona's advice finally gets him to reach out to his friends that have always been ready to help via a con job that is quite effective.

Tickets( visu )
22 editions published between 2005 and 2009 in 3 languages and held by 312 libraries worldwide
In this anthology film, an elderly businessman finds solace and a new insight into life when he meets a younger woman who arranges his train ticket after his flight is canceled. A young man is torn between an older woman who controls him and a younger one that attracts him. And three Scottish youths on their way to the football match of their dreams are forced to open their eyes and see the bigger picture when they meet an Albanian family. In each case, the train journey changes the course of all their lives.

A fond kiss( visu )
13 editions published between 2004 and 2008 in 3 languages and held by 280 libraries worldwide
A second generation Pakistani in Glasgow falls for the White, Irish Catholic music teacher at his sister's school. They try to make the relationship work despite a tentative arranged marriage and parental and societal pressures.

Hidden agenda( visu )
2 editions published between 1991 and 2002 in English and held by 266 libraries worldwide
When an American human rights lawyer is assassinated in Belfast, it remains for the man's girlfriend, as well as a tough, no nonsense, police detective to find the truth-- which they soon discover to be contained in an audio tape which the man had with him, exposing political manipulations at the highest levels of government. But such underlying agendas require careful considerations to avoid worse things than murder.