A SPECIAL message from award winning director Ken Loach will be read out during a free screening of his hard-hitting new film in Belfast.
‘I Daniel Blake’ has been a box office hit since it was released late last year.
The film is due to be screened in west Belfast later this week as part of the Out to Lunch Festival.
A screening of the film at the Golden Thread Gallery last week proved to be a huge success.
Loach, who is best known for his films Kes and The Wind that Shakes the Barley, has sent a message of support to those attending the screenings which have been organised by Participation and the Practice of Rights and Right to Work: Right to Welfare group (R2W).
The film examines how people forced onto benefits struggle to survive in an unsympathetic welfare system that often uses ‘sanctions’ to punish them.
It has picked up several major awards including he Palme d'Or at the 2016 Cannes Film Festival.
In his message to the Belfast audience Mr Loach said the current system needs to be changed.
“Grinding poverty is being deliberately and systematically imposed on the most vulnerable citizens,” he said.
“It amounts to conscious cruelty. It is why we must organise for change - fundamental, structural change.”
I, Daniel Blake is due to be screened at An Chultúrlann, Falls Road, Belfast, on January 25 at 7pm.