Kes
The British director Ken Loach has never made a secret of his sympathies for the working class in his films. A socialist through and through, he tells stories of people who are struggling to make ends meet and do not expect much of life. At the start of his film career, he made the poignant, award-winning film Kes, which children should watch by the age of fourteen according to the British Film Institute.
Growing up on a bleak Barnsley estate in North England, 15-year-old Billy Casper boy is living a joyless life: he is bullied and beaten at school and at home, his indifferent mother describes him as "a hopeless case". One day he finds a young kestrel, which he names Kes. He adopts the bird and trains it like a true falconer. Kes brings joy in his life, but tragedy is lying in wait.