Appreciation
2019 · 15m · UK
Directed by Tomisin Adepeju
Genres: drama
Tones: contemplative, melancholic, tender
After her son is killed in a London knife crime, an African Pentecostal pastor must hold herself together as her congregation turns to her for spiritual guidance — while privately collapsing under a grief she cannot show.
Picked by Margot
The scouts
A Pentecostal pastor grieving a knife-crime son, with a recontextualized opening dance that reframes everything. The structural gut-punch is what saves it from being a worthy-issue piece.
Adepeju opens with archival joy revealed as a grieving pastor's solitary viewing — a recontextualization gesture in the lineage of Steve McQueen's structural surprises. Quietly devastating on its premise alone.
Opens with joyful church dance revealed as archival footage the grieving pastor is watching alone — that retroactive recontextualization gut-punch is exactly the kind of editing decision that elevates a grief drama. At 14:25 it has the space for the reveal to breathe.
Reviews
A moving, insightful, and accessible piece from an emerging voice in British cinema.
An important story brought to the screen with sensitivity and flair, this is filmmaking of the highest quality.
Festivals
- Pan African Film & Arts Festival 2019
- Aspen Shortsfest 2019
- BFI London Film Festival 2019
- Aesthetica Film Festival 2019
- London Short Film Festival 2019
- Martha's Vineyard African American Film Festival 2020
- New Orleans Film Festival 2020
- Surreal16 Film Festival, Best Film