Ladybird's legacy
Ladybird Ladybird was the first film I wrote. I was enormously lucky to work with a director like Ken Loach. But, looking back, I realise I was completely unprepared for the media reaction that greeted the film's release. In a lesson which has been repeated many times since, I learnt that drama which is seen as being "issue" based will excite attention which may have very little to do with its actual content. Interest groups of all sides, spurred on by the press and the media, will seize on the opportunity to wave their own particular flags. Your film or play will be discussed and commented upon by those who haven't even seen it.
In the case of Ladybird Ladybird the "issue" became the role of social workers in family interventions. It was a narrow perception, which polarised into an argument about the rights and wrongs of social work practice. This debate often ignored the humanity of the story and its emotional impact on audiences.
So why, then, do I welcome a special screening of Ladybird Ladybird to mark the 30th anniversary of the Family Rights Group, an organisation set up specifically to deal with injustices suffered by families when dealing with social services?
What Ladybird Ladybird does, and what I'm very proud to have played a part in, is tell a love story. Based on a true story, it's about a woman, a couple, trying and failing to keep their family together. It shows the part social services played in separating the family but also the difficult judgements they had to make. Several social workers advised us on the making of the film, and their input was invaluable. The film suggests serious mistakes were made but does not blame any particular individual or policy, rather it simply shows the love of one family struggling in the face of more damage than most of us could bear.
Some of the events shown in Ladybird Ladybird might not still happen today, but I hope the film serves as a reminder that such love and loss are always possible. For this reason, organisations like the Family Rights Group will always be necessary - and so will the need to tell the small, personal stories at the heart of the "issues".
· Ladybird, Ladybird will be introduced by Ken Loach at Barbican Cinema, London (0845 120 7550), on December 14.