Since the 1966 BBC television play Cathy Come Home triggered changes in England’s homeless laws, Ken Loach, the son of an electrician, has made films about ordinary, salt-of-the-earth characters. They grapple with unjust, cruel capitalist systems — from the working class in Britain to the Contra War in Nicaragua to the Irish rebellions to Los Angeles’ “Justice for Janitors” union organizing campaign to covert actions in Belfast — as well as documentaries such as 2016’s In Conversation with Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party’s leftist leader.

The Old Oak is the socialist stalwart’s latest film about the travails of ordinary people. After a distinguished, lengthy career dramatizing and documenting the wretched of the earth, The Old Oak is also the final feature by Loach who turns eighty-eight this June. Loach’s many accolades include two Cannes Film Festival Palme d’Or Awards, three César Awards, and three BAFTA Awards — but he declined an Officer of the Order of the British Empire medal in 1977. Film historian David Thomson writes, “In his dedication and seriousness, he is an exemplary figure.” Ken Loach was interviewed via Zoom in the West Country in England.