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Back in February, Ed Vaizey the Minister of State for Culture, and so the government politician closest to the film industry, was gushing in his praise for British winners at the Oscars – singling out Sam Smith and Mark Rylance for hearty congratulations.
Congratulations @samsmithworld & @jimmynapes, Mark Rylance, @amyfilmUK & other Brit #Oscars winners #FilmIsGREAT pic.twitter.com/PzTFcUl6sJ
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) February 29, 2016
Last night, British filmmaker Ken Loach won the Palme d'Or at the Cannes Film Festival for 'I, Daniel Blake'. It's one of the film world's highest honours – an accolade admired and envied the world over. It's the second time that Loach has won the prize: he won in 2006 too for 'The Wind that Shakes the Barley'. So how did the Culture Minister react on Twitter this time? A hearty congrats to Loach? A slap on the back for highlighting British culture on the world stage? Er, no: a mysterious tweet in which he can't even bring himself to mention the name of Loach or his film.
Brit success ! #Cannes2016 https://t.co/HhNOOCn1p4
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) May 22, 2016
Followed by some non-committal retweets of the news being reported elsewhere.
Amazing! #BFIBacked I, Daniel Blake wins the Palme d’Or at #Cannes2016! A hearty congrats to Ken and his team. pic.twitter.com/fUVlXDxD6p
— BFI (@BFI) May 22, 2016
That's very different to the approach that Vaizey has taken before when British cultural icons achieve big success.
Congrats @zaynmalik whose album becomes 1st by British male solo artist to go straight in @ No1 in US BillboardChart https://t.co/FH5fZiin1t
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) April 5, 2016
Let's look at that 'congratulations' tweet to Ken Loach again, shall we?
Brit success ! #Cannes2016 https://t.co/HhNOOCn1p4
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) May 22, 2016
So why the half-hearted congratulations? Surely it's nothing to do with the subject of the film? 'I, Daniel Blake' tells of two people who become friends when they both find themselves feeling the sharp end of austerity Britain. Loach takes a damning swipe at recent benefit cuts and the dehumanising bureaucracy of David Cameron's Britain. Here's a quote from our four-star review.
Maybe it's just not Vaizey's kind of movie?
Looking forward to see @starwars #ForceAwakens tonight pic.twitter.com/nC0S7MW4CK
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) December 16, 2015
Anyway, we asked Vaizey why he hadn't congratulated Loach yet and he referred us to his non-committal tweet and his earlier retweets of others' praise.
@davecalhoun @JWhittingdale @SixteenFilms congratulated 15 hours ago. Keep up
— Ed Vaizey (@edvaizey) 23 May 2016
Either that, or maybe he'd sent a personal note of congratulations directly to the filmmakers? If so, Loach's production company still haven't seen it…
@edvaizey @davecalhoun @JWhittingdale How nice - but we haven't seen it!
— Sixteen Films (@SixteenFilms) 23 May 2016
Anyway, congratulations Ken Loach! Not so hard is it…