Ricky and his family have been fighting an uphill struggle against debt since the 2008 financial crash. An opportunity to wrestle back some independence appears with a shiny new van and the chance to run a franchise as a self-employed delivery driver.

Is this system sustainable? Is it sustainable that we acquire our shopping through a man in a van knocking himself to pieces 14 hours a day? Is that, in the end, a better system than going to shops ourselves and talking to the shopkeeper? Do we really want a world in which people are working under such pressure, with the knock-on effects on their friends and their family and the narrowing of their lives? This is not the market economy failing – on the contrary, this is a logical development for the market, brought about by harsh competition to cut costs and maximise profit. The market is not interested in our quality of life. The market is interested in making money and the two are not compatible. The working poor, people like Ricky, Abby and their families, pay the price.But in the end, all this counts for nothing unless the audience believes in the people on screen, cares for them, smiles with them and shares their troubles. It is their lived experiences, recognised as authentic, that should touch us.

Ken Loach was born in 1936 in Nuneaton. He attended King Edward VI Grammar School and went on to study Law at St. Peter's Hall, Oxford. After a brief spell in the theatre, Loach was recruited by the BBC in 1963 as a television director. This launched a long career directing films for television and the cinema, from CATHY COME HOME and KES in the sixties to LAND AND FREEDOM, SWEET SIXTEEN, THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY, LOOKING FOR ERIC, THE ANGELS' SHARE and I, DANIEL BLAKE.

Filmography:
2019 - SORRY WE MISSED YOU
2016 - I, DANIEL BLAKE
2014 - JIMMY'S HALL
2013 - THE SPIRIT of '45
2012 - THE ANGELS' SHARE
2009 - ROUTE IRISH
2008 - LOOKING FOR ERIC
2007 - IT’S A FREE WORLD…
2006 - THE WIND THAT SHAKES THE BARLEY
2003 - AE FOND KISS
2002 - SWEET SIXTEEN
2001 - THE NAVIGATORS
2000 - BREAD AND ROSES
1998 - MY NAME IS JOE
1996 - CARLA’S SONG
1995 - LAND AND FREEDOM
1993 - RAINING STONES
1991 - RIFF-RAFF
1990 - HIDDEN AGENDA
1969 - KES
1967 - POOR COW