I, Daniel Blake

(Ken Loach, UK/France/Belgium 2016, 100 min., DCP)

Labor Film Series | Rochester Premiere. Winner of the Palme d’Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival, Ken Loach’s latest film is a gripping human tale about the impact one man can make. Daniel Blake (Dave Johns), a gruff but goodhearted widowed woodworker, lives by his own common-sense moral code. But after a heart attack leaves him unable to work and the state welfare system fails him, the stubbornly self-reliant Daniel must stand up and fight for his dignity. He leads a one-man crusade for compassion that will transform not only his life, but also the lives of a struggling single mother (Hayley Squires) and her two children. I, Daniel Blake is a moving, much-needed reminder of the power of empathy from one of the world’s greatest living filmmakers.