In college, we never missed Ken Loach’s films, and they were always included in one festival or another, and would continue to be shown for weeks on both sides of Istanbul. I admire the power and the consistency in his filmography but I confess that it’s been a while since I watched his creations. Until a few days ago, when someone I admired recommended a movie in his zoom lecture, after drawing attention to the promoted if not bombarded themes that the audience have been exposed to with the big companies such as netflix and amazon streaming. Its timing couldn’t have been better as I watched it on the eve of Refugee Day (June 20th based on the U.N. calendar). 

The Old Oak is the last pub standing in a once thriving mining village in northern England, run by TJ who is a quiet loner with a small dog named Mara. The pub is a gathering space for a community that has fallen on tough times, and the growing anger, resentment, and a lack of hope among the residents are in the air; yet, its proprietor TJ is a fond presence to their regular customers. When a group of Syrian refugees are dropped off to the floundering village, a quick decisive rift between the community and its newcomers develops. The formation of an unexpected friendship between TJ and a young Syrian woman named Yara who aspires to be a photographer opens up new possibilities for the divided village but not without challenges and back stabbings. Loss, fear, poverty and struggling to find hope in this world emerge as the most common human feelings and states that cut across race, age, gender, and religion. The backroom of the pub gains a special significance both with its history, artifacts, and how it comes back to life despite TJ’s initial reluctance. The power of art, cooking, and apology in daily life is reminded so gracefully throughout the movie, leading to transformative changes and close relationships. 

The film will strike a cord in anyone who is aware of the multi-layered injustices that are ingrained in our society, be it Turkish or British, and trigger strong emotions more than once throughout the movie. More so if you have worked with Syrians, developed strong friendships with them or have been to Syria in the past. The legendary British director Ken Loach told in an interview that he knew nothing about Syrians and their culture but the movie became a learning experience for him as he ventured in several of his other movies in non-British contexts (always with elements that show the working-class people’s struggles). Loach (87 years old) has announced that The Old Oak will be his final film. 

Art-making can help heal emotional wounds. Both the movie itself and the photography artist in the movie are evidence for that. Expressing traumatic or difficult experiences through metaphor (in contrast to verbal communication) can be safer. Expressing via color and shape has the capacity to evoke the intensity of emotional experience. Art can show how something felt, rather than just tell the facts of what happened. 

Wishing you an international and intentional Refugee Day! May your journeys be voluntary and with the accepted official papers. 

English