Ali & Ava

Ali drives to school to pick up the daughter of one of his tenants. There he happens to meet the school assistant Ava, with whom he apparently has nothing in common. He’s eccentric, a rapper into hip hop, while she is polite, caring and loves a good ballad. Despite this he finds security in her warmth and she finds his humour appealing. The problem is that their growing relationship inevitably causes problems with their respective clans.

Adeel Akhtar and Claire Rushbrook excel in the titular roles. The film depicts a working class environment in Yorkshire in a credible and nuanced way, all captured brilliantly by Norwegian Ole Bratt Birkeland's solid cinematography. This is British social realism at its finest.