The Arbor

  • Year 2010
  • Director: Clio Barnard
  • Producers: Tracy O’Riordan, Michael Morris
  • Cast: Manjinder Virk, Christine Bottomley, Jimi Mistry
  • Music recorded and mixed at Hop Studios
  • Music recorded by Ian Wood
  • Music produced and mixed by Harry Escott
  • Percussion: Hugh Wilkinson
  • Bass Guitar: Craig Fortnam

The Arbor

Reviews

  • The Arbor, by Clio Barnard, is a remarkable film: conceptually acute, brilliantly realised, impossibly sad.

    Sukhdev Sandhu The Telegraph
  • It’s all very crafty, suggestive and enthralling. Best of all, Barnard’s strange method manages to be both questioning and coherent: the very fabric of the film admits that Barnard can only offer us versions of ‘the truth’, but those versions are still convincing and often staggeringly moving.

    Dave Calhoun Time Out
  • Brilliantly blurring the borders of narrative and documentary filmmaking, Clio Barnard beautifully reconstructs the fascinating true story of troubled British playwright Andrea Dunbar and her tumultuous relationship with her daughter. Working from two years of audio interviews, Barnard uses classic documentary techniques, actors, theatrical performance, and Dunbar's own neighbourhood to generate a unique cinematic feast while unravelling the truths of a dark family past.

    David Kwok Director of Programming (Tribeca Film Festival)
  • Experimentalist docudrama close to genius

    Peter Bradshaw The Guardian
  • Utterly unique and devastating

    Actor Saffron Burrows
  • Inventive and Haunting...Provocative and Mesmerizing.

    Sheri Linden Los Angeles Times

Trailer

Awards

  • BAFTA FILM AWARD

    Nominations

    Outstanding debut by a British Writer, Director or Producer, Clio Barnard, Tracy O’Riordan

  • BRITISH INDEPENDENT FILM AWARDS


    Wins

    Douglas Hickox Award, Clio Barnard

    Nominations

    Best Achievement in Production
    Best Actress, Manjinda Virk
    Best Documentary
    Best Technical Achievement, Tim Barker (for sound)
    Most Promising Newcomer, Manjinda Virk

  • CHLOTRUDIS AWARDS

    Nominations

    Chlortrudis Award; Buried Treasure

  • EVENING STANDARD BRITISH FILM AWARDS


    Wins

    Best Screenplay, Clio Barnard


    Nominations

    Best Film, Clio Barnard

  • LONDON CRITICS CIRCLE FILM AWARDS

    Nominations

    ALFS Award;
    Breakthrough British Filmmaker,
    Clio Barnard
    British Director of The Year, Clio Barnard
    British Film of the Year
    British Supporting Actress of the Year, Christine Bottomley

  • LONDON FILM FESTIVAL

    Wins

    Best British Newcomer, Clio Barnard

  • LOS ANGELES FILM CRITICS ASSOCIATION AWARDS



    2ND Place

    LAFCA Award; Best Documentary/Non-Fiction Film

  • PALM SPRINGS INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVAL

    Nominations

    John Schlesinger Award, Clio Barnard

  • TRIBECA FILM FESTIVAL

    Wins

    Best New Documentary Filmmaker, Clio Barnard

  • EVENING STANDARD AWARDS

    Wins

    Best Screenplay, Clio Barnard

  • GUARDIAN FIRST FILM AWARD

    Winner

  • THE GRIERSON DOCUMENTARY AWARDS

    Wins

    Best Cinema Documentary, Clio Barnard

  • SHEFFIELD DOCUMENTARY FILM FESTIVAL

    Wins

    Innovation Award, Clio Barnard