“Ali And Ava” Arrives On Netflix

Clio Barnard’s Ali and Ava has arrived on digital platforms including Netflix. Starring Four Lions star Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook, the film had its UK premiere on October 13, 2021 as the Mayor of London’s Special Presentation at the BFI London Film Festival.

Both lonely for different reasons, Ali and Ava meet through their shared affection for six-year-old Sofia, the child of Ali’s Slovakian tenants, whom Ava teaches. Ali finds comfort in Ava’s warmth and kindness and Ava finds Ali’s complexity and humour irresistible.

Over a lunar month, sparks fly and a deep connection begins to grow. However, the legacy of Ava’s past relationship and Ali’s emotional turmoil at the breakdown of his marriage begins to overshadow their newfound passion.

Enveloped in music and imbued with humour, Ali and Ava is a compelling contemporary love story written and directed by Barnard whose previous films include The Selfish Giant and Dark River.

Writer/director Clio Barnard has established herself as one of the UK’s most distinctive cinematic voices.  Her feature-length debut The Arbor, a documentary about the late Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar, received huge critical success on its release in 2010 and numerous awards.

Her sophomore feature The Selfish Giant, about two 13-year-old working-class friends in Bradford seeking their fortune, launched at Directors’ Fortnight in Cannes in 2013 and won the British Film of the Year at the London Critics Circle Film Awards along with a host of other festival awards.

Her third feature, Dark River, starring Ruth Wilson, Mark Stanley and Sean Bean premiered at the 2017 Toronto International Film Festival gaining a special mention from the festival jury for the Platform Prize.

The film received its world premiere at the 2021 Cannes Film Festival in the Director’s Fortnight section and received plenty of acclaim. It later played at the Toronto International Film Festival to similarly glowing reviews.