Special Presentations
It’s important to stand up for our rights as human beings.
Coming off of a Palme D’Or win, director Ken Loach returns with I, Daniel Blake, a poignant social drama that Ken Loach has built a career on making.
Daniel (Dave Johns) is a likable carpenter and handyman in Newcastle, trying desperately to collect his Employment and Support Allowance after suffering from a heart attack. However, thanks to typical government inefficiency, his doctor is telling him he’s still not allowed to look for work, but the government bureaucracy that he is desperately trying to get support from tells him he has to be looking for work in order to get benefits. During this entire process he befriends Katie (Hayley Squires); a young single mother who is getting pushed around by a system that is supposed to help them.
Heart wrenching and depressing is pretty much director Ken Loach’s standard fair and with I, Daniel Blake he continues his long history of making films that deal with social issues. He hits all the right buttons and it pulls at the appropriate heart strings perfectly well but the problem is that he’s made this movie before. It doesn’t make it any less poignant or true, but this is a crystal clear example of Loach staying in his wheel house.
If you’ve never seen one of his movies before then I, Daniel Blake is certainly a decent place to start but those familiar with Loach’s canon of films will want more.
David Voigt is a Toronto based writer with a problem and a passion for the moving image and all things cinema. Having moved from production to the critical side of the aisle for well over 15 years now at outlets like Examiner.com, Criticize This, Dork Shelf (Now That Shelf), and to.Night Newspaper.
He’s been all across the continent; serving on the FIPRESCI Jury at the Festival Du Nouveau Cinema in Montreal, covering festivals out side of Toronto like Calgary Underground Film Festival, CUFF Docs, Slamdance, Fantasia, SXSW, DOC NYC, Santa Barbara Film Festival, New York Asian Film Festival and many others
However, In the uncertain world of modern film journalism, David also knew that he needed to have a hand in writing and cementing his own contributions on the global film scene.
Having eclipsed the 10 year anniversary of his own outlet, In The Seats, where he’s been striving to support film (and TV) from all walks of life and his podcast “In The Seats With…” where after 5 & ½ years and over 750 episodes he’s talked with a wide variety of filmmakers, actors, behind the scenes artisans and so much more on the art of storytelling for the screen, which is spawning the launch of a new show in the Spring of 2026. “ITS: Soundtracks” will focus on the use of soundtrack and score in film which he believes is a combination that is the cinematic equivalent of Peanut Butter and Chocolate.
All this as well as hosting and moderating a variety of big screen events around the city, covering film in all its forms is just a way of life for him.
