Ali & Ava

Clio Barnard

Social-realist love story about two souls connecting despite their differences. Ali is a British Pakistani landlord, Ava a strong, Irish-born classroom assistant. After a chance encounter they hit it off immediately. But their very different circumstances give them a lot of obstacles to overcome.

Ali (Adeel Akhtar) is a good-natured, very energetic British Pakistani landlord, Ava (Claire Rushbrook) a strong, loving, Irish-born classroom assistant. One day, when picking up the daughter of one of his tenants from school, Ali offers Ava a lift. They immediately bond through their love of music – even though Ali likes punk and Ava likes folk.

When they start seeing each other more, it turns out that their relationship isn’t bound to go smooth. Ava’s adult son Callum, whose father was an abusive skinhead who died the previous year, reacts very aggressively towards Ali. And Ali himself turns out to be married. Although he and his wife Runa are soon to be separated, they still live in the same house and Ali doesn’t want anyone to know they’ve split up. Will Ali and Ava’s desire be strong enough to wither the storms?

Credits

Director
Clio Barnard
Producer
Tracy O'Riordan, Ameenah Ayub Allen
Year
2021
Country of production
United Kingdom
Type
Fiction
Duration
95 minutes
Spoken language
English
Subtitles
NL
Production company
Moonspun Films
World Sales
Altitude Film Entertainment
Dutch distributor
Cherry Pickers