Sixteen Films, co-founded by Ken Loach and producer Rebecca O’Brien in 2002, has been behind every film by the beloved and iconoclastic director over the last two decades, including “The Wind That Shakes the Barley,” “Looking for Eric,” “I, Daniel Blake” and last year’s “The Old Oak,” amassing awards and accolades — including a record-equaling two Palme d’Ors — along the way. Barring a small number of exceptions, Sixteen has solely been a vehicle for Loach’s features (most written by Paul Laverty). But with the 87-year-old filmmaker having declared that “The Old Oak” was his last, the company is now entering its next phase, of which “Harvest” will be the first out of the blocks.
According to O’Brien, there are two strands for the post-Loach Sixteen. On one side, she’s aiming to work on English-language films with “auteur European directors,” such as Tsangari, who received numerous awards for her 2015 feature “Chevalier.” As well as “Harvest” (which was written by Joslyn Barnes and Tsangari), O’Brien is co-producing Sally Potter’s next film, “Alma” (alongside Christopher Sheppard and Potter’s Adventure Pictures), a project she describes as “a family ensemble piece,” likening it to a “sequel to ‘The Party.’” Casting and location scouting is currently underway, with the film heading to the co-production market in Berlin to look for partners.
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