I watched this film on the BBC recently and would thoroughly recommend it. It premiered in 2016 in Cannes, where it won the Palme d’Or award, but this was the first TV broadcast in the U.K. The film, directed by Ken Loach (Kes, the wind that shakes the barley etc) is about the scandal of Britain's benefits system. It is described on Amazon:
A couple of reviewers described the film as depicting their personal experiences of the system as "soul destroying and degrading and "the important part for me, is that none of this is exaggerated".
My girlfriend wept during it because she knew first hand after having worked for years in Citizens Advice (a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to assist people with money, legal problems etc) and specialising in benefits, that so many people become so frustrated by the system they fail to claim what they are legally entitled to and desperately need. There are always a small minority of people who will abuse the system (any system actually) which the mainstream media always seems to focus on and exaggerate of course.
One of my best friends went through the benefits 'appeal' process (or rather interrogation) and after months of relentless stress and not being able to speak to one real person, one 'decision maker' as they are called, it reduced this strong, caring and informed single mum to a nervous wreck. She had to leave her daughter (who has a life threatening heart condition) in hospital after an operation to attend this meeting and later confided to me that she was so fearful of the outcome that she actually soiled herself going into the room.
There is always a need to improve systems such as this, but as this film shows clearly - not at the expense of essentially dehumanising people.
A couple of reviewers described the film as depicting their personal experiences of the system as "soul destroying and degrading and "the important part for me, is that none of this is exaggerated".
My girlfriend wept during it because she knew first hand after having worked for years in Citizens Advice (a network of independent charities throughout the UK that give free, confidential information and advice to assist people with money, legal problems etc) and specialising in benefits, that so many people become so frustrated by the system they fail to claim what they are legally entitled to and desperately need. There are always a small minority of people who will abuse the system (any system actually) which the mainstream media always seems to focus on and exaggerate of course.
One of my best friends went through the benefits 'appeal' process (or rather interrogation) and after months of relentless stress and not being able to speak to one real person, one 'decision maker' as they are called, it reduced this strong, caring and informed single mum to a nervous wreck. She had to leave her daughter (who has a life threatening heart condition) in hospital after an operation to attend this meeting and later confided to me that she was so fearful of the outcome that she actually soiled herself going into the room.
There is always a need to improve systems such as this, but as this film shows clearly - not at the expense of essentially dehumanising people.
After it's release in 2016 he describes the extensive research that he and writer Paul Laverty undertook to make it as realistic as possible and comments, “That constant humiliation to survive. If you’re not angry about it, what kind of person are you?”