Director Clio Barnard joined the ranks of British cinema’s child’s-eye realists with her lyrical portrait of young rebellion in England’s green and wasted land.

Inspired by Oscar Wilde's fairytale of the same name, this contemporary fable about two teenage boys who get caught up in the world of copper theft, is a major work of intensely observed realism that confirmed Barnard (after her stunning debut The Arbor) as a major new voice in modern British Cinema. Looking for a quick buck, Arbor (Conner Chapman) and Swifty (Shaun Thomas) begin collecting scrap metal for a local Bradford dealer using a horse and cart - but when Arbor begins to emulate the threatening and shady 'selfish giant' of the film's title by becoming increasingly greedy and exploitative, tensions start to build, leading to a tragic event that will transform them all.

Full of the raw honesty and realism we’ve come to expect from one of our most talented directors this brilliant, almost mythical tale about growing up in Britain today is a bracing dispatch from the bottom of the heap.

Screening with Clio Barnard’s short film Random Acts of Intimacy (1998) – a documentary drama on current notions of romantic love and the intense, impulsive nature of having sex with strangers. Surveying the impulsive and intense, often deeply romantic, relationships that exist during a fleeting moment, the topic is approached through a series of interviews. Placing an advert in a newspaper, recording real life experiences and setting this soundtrack to evocative imagery to construct a crucial exploration into the most personal of subjects.

Onwards and Outwards is made possible with support from the BFI, awarding funds from the National Lottery.

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