The Arbor (film) explained

Director:	Clio Barnard
Producer:	Artangel UK Film Council
Runtime:	94 minutes
Country:	United Kingdom
Language:	English
Gross:	$126,182^[1]

The Arbor is a 2010 British film about Andrea Dunbar, directed by Clio Barnard.^{[2] [3] [4]} The film uses actors lip-synching to interviews with Dunbar and her family, and concentrates on the strained relationship between Dunbar and her daughter Lorraine.^{[5] [6] [7]}

Cast

• Christine Bottomley as Lisa Thompson
• Robert Emms as Young David
• Natalie Gavin as The Girl
• Jimi Mistry as Yousaf
• Kathryn Pogson as Pamela Dunbar
• Kate Rutter as The Mother
• Manjinder Virk as Lorraine Dunbar
• Danny Webb as Max Stafford-Clark / The Father

Production

The film was shot in and around Brafferton Arbor, a street on the Buttershaw Estate in Bradford, West Yorkshire, where Andrea Dunbar lived and worked.

The film was inspired^[8] by so-called verbatim theatre, with audio recordings of Lorraine Dunbar and other family members, lip-synched by professional actors in set-designed environments. Barnard had used a similar technique for her 1998 short film Random Acts of Intimacy.^[9] The film also includes from Dunbar’s autobiographical play The Arbor performed outdoors by a mix of actors and estate residents, the 1986 film Rita, Sue and Bob Too written by Dunbar, Robin Soans' 2000 play A State Affair, as well as archive footage.^[10]

Barnard's original intention for this film was not to make it about Andrea Dunbar, but after speaking with her eldest daughter, Lorraine, that is what emerged. The film was intended to be about the changes that had come to the Brafferton Arbor.

Reception

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 96% based on 46 reviews. The website's critical consensus reads, "Smart and inventive, The Arbor offers some intensely memorable twists on tired documentary tropes."^[11]

Further reading

• Web site: The Arbor . BFI Southbank Programme Notes . . 2023-04-11 . 21 July 2024 -->.
• Web site: Rita, Sue and Bob Too . BFI Southbank Programme Notes . . 2023-04-16 . 21 July 2024 -->.

Awards

• 2010: Nominated, BAFTA award for Outstanding Debut by a British Director, London^[12]
• 2010: Winner, Sutherland Trophy, 2010 London Film Festival Awards, London^[13]
• 2010: Winner, Sheffield Innovation Award at the 2010 Sheffield Doc/Fest, Sheffield^[14]
• 2010: Winner, British Independent Film Award – The Douglas Hickox Award^[15]
• 2011: Best New Documentary Filmmaker, Tribeca Festival, New York City^[16]

Notes and References

1. Web site: The Arbor (2010) . . 20 April 2023.
2. Web site: 2022-09-30. Clio Barnard's The Arbor is out of lip-synch with reality. 25 October 2010. The Guardian.
3. Web site: Bill. Weber. 2022-09-30. Review: The Arbor. 26 April 2011.
4. News: Loren. King. 2022-09-30. The Arbor. The Boston Globe. 22 July 2011.
5. Web site: 2022-09-30. The Arbor - review. 21 October 2010. The Guardian.
6. Web site: Dave. Calhoun. 2022-09-30. The Arbor. Time Out Worldwide.
7. Web site: Eric. Kohn. 2022-09-30. REVIEW - Non-Fiction Innovation: Clio Barnard’s “The Arbor”. 25 April 2011.
8. News: Hubert . Craig . The Arbor: Clio Barnard . 19 July 2024 . . April 29, 2011 . en.
9. Web site: Smith . Damon . 2011-04-27 . Clio Barnard: The Arbor . 2023-04-20 . . en-US.
10. Web site: The Arbor (2010) . https://web.archive.org/web/20160811125854/http://www.bfi.org.uk/films-tv-people/4ce2b8db92d5d . dead . 11 August 2016 . 2023-04-20 . . en.
11. Web site: The Arbor . 2023-04-20 . . en.
12. News: 2022-09-30. BAFTA nominated Kent filmmaker. 2 February 2011. BBC.
13. Web site: Diana. Lodderhose. 2022-09-30. 'Summer' nabs top honors at BFI London Film Fest. 28 October 2010.
14. Web site: 2022-09-30. Sheffield Doc/Fest: how the documentary got democratised. 9 November 2010. The Guardian.
15. News: 2022-09-30. King's Speech reigns at British Independent Film awards. 6 December 2010. BBC News.
16. Web site: 2022-09-30. First sight: Clio Barnard. 9 September 2010. The Guardian.