Clio Barnard’s
THE ARBOR
UK Premiere: London Film Festival 15 and 18 October 2010
UK cinema release from 22 October 2010
Dunbar was the author of three raw and witty plays, including The Arbor and Rita, Sue and Bob Too, which became an acclaimed cult film in the early 1980s. Dunbar’s work drew heavily on her experiences growing up on the notoriously deprived Buttershaw estate, near Bradford in northern England. She led a short and often troubled life, dying of a brain haemorrhage, aged 29, while drinking in her local pub. Clio Barnard also grew up in the Bradford region and in making the film, revisited the Buttershaw estate to see how it had changed in the two decades since Dunbar’s death and 30 years after The Arbor was originally written. Over a period of two years, Barnard recorded audio interviews with Lorraine Dunbar, other members of the Dunbar family and residents from the Buttershaw Estate that were then edited to form an audio ‘screenplay,’ in which actors lip-synch to the voices of the real interviewees in a compelling exploration of Dunbar’s creativity and tragic family legacy.
In a collaboration inspired by Andrea Dunbar, Artangel are working with the Young Vic and Immediate Theatre to present As It Goes, readings of short plays from four new young writers, and of Andrea Dunbar’s plays by the cast of The Arbor, performed at the Young Vic 20-23 October. Click here for more information and tickets.
The Arbor is an Artangel and UK Film Council production, in association with Jerwood Charitable Foundation, Arts Council England and More4. Produced by Tracy O’Riordan. Executive Produced by Michael Morris. Distributed by Verve Pictures.
For more information contact Janette Scott or Sarah Davies or call +44 (0)20 7713 1400.
