The Arbor
A highly original hybrid of documentary, staged drama and experimental essay-film, THE ARBOR pays moving tribute to the British social-realist playwright Andrea Dunbar, who died in 1990 at the tragically young age of 29. Shooting in Dunbar’s impoverished neighborhood in the northern English city of Bradford, director Clio Barnard uses both professional actors and local amateurs to voice verbatim audio interviews by the writer, her family, friends and colleagues. Barnard’s absorbing film also includes restaged scenes from Dunbar’s semi-autobiographical plays, which address issues of class inequality, racism and sexism with a bleak but darkly funny sensibility.
Manjinder Virk, Christine Bottomley, Natalie Gavin
- Notes From Kitty GreenClio Barnard presents us with an innovative portrait of the playwright Andrea Dunbar. Casting actors to lip-synch to audio interviews with Andrea’s family and friends, Barnard weaves reenactments together with performances of Dunbar’s plays. THE ARBOR was a great inspiration for my nonfiction work. A film that dares to push at the boundaries of the form.
