Wednesday 5^th April 2017 – I, Daniel Blake

Starring Dave Johns, Hayley Squires, Sharon Percy, Briana Shann and Dylan McKiernan

BBFC: 15

Daniel Blake (played by newcomer Dave Johns) is a Geordie carpenter in his fifties, living in a council housing block. He has been nursing his wife through a terminal illness, but has been banned from coming back to work until recovers from a heart attack. Thus begins his Kafka-esque journey through the machinations of claiming for Employment and Support Allowance, involving endless interviews with a string of individuals and assessors, who seek to judge whether he is fit for work. Hayley Squires plays a single mum with two children whom Daniel tries valiantly to help, despite his own simmering sense of desperation.

Winner of the Best European Film in the 2016 Goya Awards. Dave Johns won the Best Actor in the British Independent Film Awards. Overall this film has 16 wins and 20 nominations.

“Initially handled with warm, low-key humour, Loach’s film gains serious urgency when Blake meets single mother Katie, another hostage to circumstance. Though a little on-the-nose at times, their intertwining stories are heartfelt and moving, giving a human face to the statistics of breadline Britain."; Radio Times