The Arbor

The Arbor

Clio Barnard directs this avant-garde docu-drama chronicling the life and legacy of the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. Dunbar, who wrote the plays 'The Arbor' and 'Rita, Sue and Bob Too', was hailed as 'a genius straight from the slums' for her unflinching autobiographical portrayals of her upbringing on the notorious Buttershaw Estate in Bradford. When she died at age of 29 in 1990, her daughter Lorraine, now 29 herself, was just ten years old.

This film catches up with Lorraine in the present day and finds her alienated from her mother's family and in prison undergoing rehab. As she is re-introduced to her mother's plays and letters, Lorraine begins to understand the personal difficulties her mother went through and reflects on their impact on her own life. The film mixes fact with fiction by using actors to lip-synch words actually spoken by members of Dunbar's family and residents from the Buttershaw Estate.