Clio Barnard (born 1 January 1965) is a British director of documentary and feature films. She won widespread critical acclaim and multiple awards for her debut, The Arbor, an experimental documentary about Bradford playwright Andrea Dunbar. In 2013 she was hailedNick Roddick "Fairy tale film-maker: Clio Barnard interview", London Evening Standard, 25 October 2013 as a significant new voice in British cinema for her film The Selfish Giant, which premiered in the Director's Fortnight section of the Cannes Film Festival.Charlotte Higgins "Selfish Giant director becomes toast of Cannes", The Guardian, 17 May 2013
Early life and education Barnard grew up in the town of Otley in Yorkshire. Her father was a university lecturer and her mother was an artist who later became a jazz singer.Sean O'Hagan "Clio Barnard: why I'm drawn to outsiders – interview", The Observer, 12 October 2013 She graduated from Newcastle PolytechnicSebastian Doggart "The Brits breaking new ground in New York City", telegraph.co.uk, 21 May 2010 (now Northumbria University), with a First Class B.A. (Hons) with distinction in fine art and received a Postgraduate Diploma in Electronic Imaging at the Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design (University of Dundee). In 1988, her postgrad video work Dirt and Science featured Jane and Louise Wilson and toured internationally as part of the ICA Biennial of Independent Film & Video, curated by Tilda Swinton."Clio Barnard - Reader - Film Studies", School of Arts, University of Kent
Reception and awards Critics have likened Barnard's realist yet lyrical work to that of Ken Loach. Time Out said of The Selfish Giant, "this is Kes revisited in a post-Thatcher northern England."Dave Calhoun "The Selfish Giant (15)", Time Out (London), 21 October 2013
Her debut feature The Arbor (2010) produced by Artangel, won several awards, including Best New Documentary Filmmaker at Tribeca Film Festival New York, Best Newcomer and Sutherland Awards at The London Film Festival, Douglas Hickox Award at British Independent Film Awards, The Guardian First Film Award, Best Screenplay at the London Evening Standard Film Awards, the Sheffield Documentary Film Festival Innovation Award and the Jean Vigo Award for Best Direction at Punto de Vista International Documentary Film Festival. She was nominated for the BAFTA Outstanding Debut Award in February 2011.
Musical collaborations "An Acre of Land" is a collaboration between British composer Harry Escott and PJ Harvey and is the theme Barnard's film Dark River. Escott says: ‘recording PJ Harvey’s vocal on “An Acre of Land”, a song we arranged together for Dark River, was a spine-tingling experience.’ The film premiered at the 2017 London Film Festival and was released in 2018.
Influences Barnard participated in the 2022 edition of the Sight & Sound film polls, which are held every ten years to commemorate the greatest films of all time and rank them in order. Directors and critics both give their ten favourite films of all time for the poll, and Barnard picked The Gospel According to St. Matthew (1964), Rashomon (1950), Fear Eats the Soul (1974), Andrei Rublev (1966), L'Atalante (1934), Road (1987), Chronicle of a Summer (1961), Vagabond (1985), Hunger (2008) and La strada (1954).
Filmography Short film Year Title Director Writer Producer 1995 Hermaphrodite Bikini 2000 Lambeth Marsh 2002 Random Acts of Intimacy 2003 Flood 2006 Dark Glass 2023 All the Lights Still Burning
Feature film Year Title Director Writer Executiveproducer 2010 The Arbor 2013 The Selfish Giant 2017 Dark River 2021 Ali & Ava 2026 I See Buildings Fall Like Lightning
Television Year Title Director Executiveproducer Writer Notes 2022 The Essex Serpent Miniseries 2024 Sherwood Directed 3 episodes (series 2)
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