3 February
–
23 April 2006
Films:
Section 2: Looking at BritainKen Loach b. 1936
Cathy Come Home 1966
© British Film Institute
Ken Loach's television play about homelessness Cathy Come Home 1966 is a complex hybrid of drama and documentary forms. The story, while fictional, was based on methodical research on homelessness and young families in Britain and the stylistic devices that Loach employed (such as location shooting and action led camera) were deliberately borrowed from documentary to lend an increased sense of reality to the dramatisation. Cathy Come Home contributed decisively to the debate about the power of television in raising public awareness and the ambiguities surrounding such hybrid forms, including questions of truth and partiality.