British Council Logo UK Films Database
Project Detail

Ali and Ava

Synopsis

Both lonely for different reasons, Ali and Ava meet through their shared affection for 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 BAFTA-nominated Clio Barnard (THE ARBOR, THE SELFISH GIANT, DARK RIVER).
Official Selection Cannes Film Festival 2021 - Directors' Fortnight - World premiere
Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2021 - Special Presentation

Details

Year
2021
Type of film
Features
Running time
95 min
Director
Clio Barnard
Producer
Tracy O'Riordan
Editor
Maya Maffioli
Screenwriter
Clio Barnard
Director of Photography
Ole Bratt Birkeland
Production Designer
Stéphane Collonge
Sound
Rashad Hall-Heinz
Music
Harry Escott
Principal cast
Adeel Akhtar, Claire Rushbrook, Ellora Torchia, Shaun Thomas
Film Title Note
Film title should read Ali & Ava

Genre

Woman Director Drama

Categories

Fiction

Production Status

Complete

Production Company

A BBC Film, BFI Film Fund, Moonspun Films production

Moonspun Films

Tracy O'Riordan
Suite 605, Cumberland House
Scrubs Lane
London
NW10 6RF

Sales Company

Altitude Film Sales

34 Foubert’s Place
London
W1F 7PX

Page updates

This page was last updated on 12th May 2025. Please let us know if we need to make any amendments or request edit access by clicking below.

Suggest amendments

See also

You may also be interested in other relevant projects in the database.

I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning

Director: Clio Barnard

Year: 2025

Five friends. Five lives. Countless hopes.<br /> Patrick, Shiv, Rian, Oli and Conor grew up together. They played together, skipped school together, and dreamt of everything they’d do with their lives. Now they’re thirty and those dreams haven’t materialised quite how they imagined. Patrick and Shiv are as in love as ever, but their relationship is rocked when an old secret opens up new wounds. Charismatic Oli, always the life and soul, is partying too hard and is fading by the day. Conor has a baby on the way and a business plan that could change everything. Only Rian has escaped the estate, made a lot of money and moved to another city, but even that hasn’t helped him move on from the past.

Dark River Dark River

Director: Clio Barnard

Year: 2017

A bitter dispute between a brother and sister over the tenancy of their family farm, a once beautiful small holding on the Yorkshire moors, unearths traumatic memories that have lain dormant for years.<br /> Official Selection BFI London Film Festival 2017 - Gala Screening - Special Presentation

Drama
The Selfish Giant The Selfish Giant

Director: Clio Barnard

Year: 2013

The Selfish Giant is a contemporary fable about 14-year-old Arbor (Conner Chapman) and his best friend Swifty (Shaun Thomas). Excluded from school, and outsiders in their own community, the boys meet Kitten (Sean Gilder), a local scrapman, and begin collecting scrap metal for him using a horse and cart. Swifty has a natural gift with horses and Arbor has a business brain and a way with words – they make a good team. But when Arbor begins to emulate Kitten by becoming greedy and exploitative, tensions build, leading to a tragic event which transforms them all irrevocably.

Literary Adaption Woman Director Drama