Highlights of Thinking Football (II): ‘Looking for Eric’

“Looking for Eric”, directed in 2009 by the prestigious English film director Ken Loach (Nuneaton, 1936), won the Prize of the Ecumenical Jury at the Cannes Film Festival of the same year and is considered by critics to be one of the best football films of all time. His usual collaborator, Paul Laverty, wrote the script of this social comedy full of humanity that we recommend today because, besides being very footballing, it is pure cinema. It was specially shown at the Thinking Football 2014, an edition won by the British film “Next goal wins” (Mike Brett and Steve Jamison, 2014).

As former French footballer Eric Cantona presented the documentary “Los rebeldes del fútbol”, winner of the 2013 Thinking Football Audience Award, in “Looking for Eric” he goes even further and performs himself in this fictional film that talks about the importance of friendship in times of crisis.

Ken Loach is one of the world’s most prestigious film directors, with more than 30 films already under his belt, a multitude of nominations and awards -in the latest Zinemaldi “Sorry, we missed you” (2019) won the Audience Award- including two Palme d’Or at Cannes, thanks to “Yo, Daniel Blake” (2016) and “El viento que agita la cebada” (2006). Author of memorable films such as “Agenda Oculta” (1990), “Riff-Raff” (1990), “Lloviendo piedras” (1993), or “Ladybird Ladybird” (1994), references to football are constant in his work and, in particular, in films such as “Kes” (1969), “Mi nombre es Joe” (1998) and, of course, today’s recommendation: “Looking for Eric” (2009).

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