Their films chronicle ordinary people trapped by economic hardship and social circumstances beyond their control, portraying misfortune as systemic rather than individual.
Hirokazu Koreeda JapanHe explores how bad luck and poverty force families into morally ambiguous situations, examining dignity and survival among society's forgotten.
Ken Loach United KingdomHis realist cinema documents how institutional failure and poverty create cascading misfortune for working-class individuals struggling against an indifferent system.