British film-maker Ken Loach has told Sky News he welcomes an end to the US writers’ strike, describing one of the issues facing the industry as “monstrous”.
A tentative agreement has been reached between union the Writers Guild of America and the studios, following months of strike action in a row over pay and the use of artificial intelligence (though the actors who are also on strike haven’t yet reached an agreement).
Speaking at the premiere in London’s Leicester Square of his new film The Old Oak – which isn’t a struck work – Loach says the developments in technology pose a real threat.
“I think the dangers that writers face in artificial intelligence are monstrous,” he said.
“And the same for actors where their images are stolen, so I’m very pleased to see that [the writers] can take action to defend their pay and their rights.
“And I’m pleased to see that writers seem to have maybe got a decent result – but it’s also important that they stay with the actors so that they don’t get bought off one by one.”
While Loach’s film hasn’t been impacted by the strikes, many British productions have.
Writers on the picket line during their strike outside Walt Disney Studios in Burbank, California
The impact of the walkouts is being felt here, with films and TV shows on pause, leaving thousands out of work.
“I think the problem is that we depend on the Americans,” said Loach.
“We need an independent British film industry and that needs support, and it can get support by quotas for one thing, so that there has to be a proportion of really British films – not the kind of films that have got a British logo but are really tourist versions of Britain for the American market.
“We need a really independent British film industry, I mean the French have a good one and so we can learn from them, learn how they protect their industry.
“And we need to welcome the world’s cinema into cinemas, I mean, at the moment the programme of most of the multiplexes is like airport novels, you know, when it should be a library and the wonderful major films made from across the world.”
“So let people learn about the riches of cinema – let’s have a really independent British industry that makes good film, there’s endless talent, endless talent, so that’s no problem, and yes, let the Americans come, but don’t let them dominate – they never want partners, they always want to be boss, and that’s what we can’t allow.”
The Old Oak is the last in a loose trilogy of films Loach has set in the north of England, along with the acclaimed I, Daniel Blake, and Sorry We Missed You.
The new drama, about a former mining village where Syrian refugees are being housed, looks at themes of immigration, racism, and struggling communities.
It’s set in 2016, but Loach says the issues are just as relevant today.
An image from Loach’s new film, The Old Oak
‘People on boats are in desperate need of help’
“They get more intense, and opportunist politicians with no principles make it a big issue,” he said.
“I mean, you wouldn’t think the health service is collapsing – the biggest problem is a few people on boats who are in desperate need of help.
“So yeah, immigration has stayed an issue, partly because of the attention paid by the right-wing press, partly because the politicians have stoked the hostility to immigrants – and also Britain played a part in the wars of intervention in the Middle East, our illegal war in Iraq created a lot of immigrants.”
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The film-maker says he’d like to see a bold new global solution.
“I think there has to be a long-term, new, strong policy led by the United Nations that makes it so that people don’t have to leave their home to be secure and earn a living,” he explained.
“And if we had a strong United Nations, then that would solve it, because they’d be able to impose justice.
“But while we have nations struggling for land and markets and dominance and spheres of influence, there will be conflict, conflict brings in wars, wars begets immigration.”
Loach is 87 years old and The Old Oak is being billed as probably his final film, though he seemingly has mixed feelings about bowing out.
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“You never achieve what you want to,” he said.
“But when you get really old, there comes a time when your faculties do start to wane a bit and it’s not fair to the others you’re working with… it’s like driving the car, I mean there comes a point when you’re a danger to other road users and you’re not sharp enough.”
“And I don’t want to get to the stage where they’re saying, ‘Oh God, he should have packed up years ago’.”
“So I think I can’t see getting around the course again, but never say never.”
The Old Oak is out in cinemas on 29 September.
