Why this might not seem so easy
At a glance, tackling the work of Andrea Arnold from scratch might seem like a doddle. With just four features to her name (the upcoming documentary Cow will be her fifth), Arnold has directed more hours of prestige television than she has cinema, with her most recent project being the easily digestible second season of awards-magnet HBO drama Big Little Lies.
Arnold is considered one of the pre-eminent artists of contemporary British cinema for a reason, however. This is a filmmaker of authenticity in the vein of âgrittyâ Brit social realists like Ken Loach and Alan Clarke, and she has been generously garlanded for it. Having won an Oscar before she even graduated to features (for short film Wasp, in 2005), Arnold has since won the jury prize at Cannes three times, more than anyone in history bar Loach â a director with a 26-film catalogue.