Official UK Trailer for Ken Loach’s ‘The Old Oak’ Film with Dave Turner
by Alex Billington
July 4, 2023
Source: YouTube
“When you eat together, you stick together.” Studiocanal UK has revealed an official UK trailer for the latest Ken Loach feature film titled The Old Oak, which still doesn’t have US date set yet. The film premiered in May at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival in the main competition, but it didn’t win any awards in the end. It’s yet another social realist drama from Ken Loach, this time focusing on refugees and racist locals. The film is about the future of the last remaining pub, The Old Oak in a village of the Northeast England, where people are leaving the land as the mines are closed. Houses are cheap and available thus making it an ideal location for the Syrian refugees, who arrive in town to find upset locals unhappy by their arrival. Dave Turner stars as TJ, the owner of The Old Oak pub who befriends a young Syrian woman, played by Ebla Mari. The cast also includes Trevor Fox, Debbie Honeywood, Laura Lee Daly, Jordan Louis. It’s a good film, a bit sappy, but above all so heartfelt and optimistic – something refreshing for the troubled times we’re living in.
Here’s the first official UK trailer (+ poster) for Ken Loach’s The Old Oak, from Studiocanal’s YouTube:
The Old Oak is a special place. Not only is it the last pub standing, but it’s also the only remaining public space where people can meet in a once thriving mining community that has now fallen on hard times after 30 years of decline. TJ Ballantyne (Dave Turner) the landlord hangs on to The Old Oak by his fingertips, and his predicament is endangered even more when the pub becomes contested territory after the arrival of Syrian refugees who are placed in the village. In an unlikely friendship TJ meets a curious young Syrian Yara (Ebla Mari) with her camera. Can they find a way for the two communities to understand each other? So unfolds a deeply moving drama about their fragilities and hopes. The Old Oak is directed by the prolific British filmmaker Ken Loach, of many films including Poor Cow, Kes, Family Life, The Gamekeeper, Hidden Agenda, Riff-Raff, My Name Is Joe, The Navigators, Sweet Sixteen, The Wind that Shakes the Barley, Looking for Eric, Route Irish, The Angels’ Share, Jimmy’s Hall, I Daniel Blake, and Sorry We Missed You previously. The screenplay is written by Paul Laverty. Produced by Rebecca O’Brien. This initially premiered at the 2023 Cannes Film Festival playing in the main competition. Studiocanal UK will debut Loach’s The Old Oak in UK cinemas on September 29th, 2023. No US release has been set yet.
