Netherlands-based Film Harbour has picked up Kristof Bilsen’s new feature doc The Apologist which has its world premiere in International Competition at Sheffield DocFest June 11. The film is produced by Belgian-based Limerick Films, and co-produced with Tangerine Tree (NL), Warboys Films (FR) and Wrong Men (BE).
The Apologist is co-produced by NDR [in Germany] in association with ARTE; VPRO [The Netherlands] and VRT and RTBF Belgium]. The film is further supported by Flanders Audiovisual Fund, Netherlands Film Fund, Centre Du Cinéma et de l’Audiovisuel de la Fédération Wallonie-Bruxelles, deAuteurs and the Tax Shelter Incentive of the Federal Government of Belgium.
Film Harbour CEO Liselot Verbrugge comments: “We much look forward to work with Kristof on The Apologist, a creative and unusual deep dive into the topic of Public Apologies. It’s a sensitive and nuanced take on a timely subject that we are excited to bring to audiences.”
Kristof Bilsen, director and main producer of The Apologist says: “It’s wonderful to have a sales agent of the calibre of Film Harbour work with us and it feels like a testament to the six years which this multi-layered project to unpick the nuances and challenges of apologising which is so important today.”
The film’s logline reads how “every public apology has the power to reshape lives, not just for the wrongdoer and the victim but for society, as the past itself is redrawn. Through the ritual of saying sorry, The Apologist explores how apologies redefine history and what happens to us as a witness to the act of atonement.”
Bilsen filmed in Belgium, the UK, The Netherlands and El Salvador over a 6-year period, opting for “a process-based approach, trusting twists and turns along the way.”
Sheffield DocFest’s Raul Nino Zambrano (Creative Director) describes the film: “The Apologist unfolds as a multi-layered exploration of apology in the context of colonialism and historical violence. Moving fluidly between different modes—personal reflection, performance, collaboration, and ritual— the filmmaker interrogates both the subject matter and their own process. This sense of motion gives the film a restless, river-like quality, as it navigates questions of responsibility, memory, and reconciliation across geographies and generations. Ambitious and thought-provoking, The Apologist invites audiences into a challenging but vital conversation.”
Bilsen’s most recent feature, Mother, gained the following accolades: Sheffield DocFest International Award Honourable Mention (2019) and Special Mention Critics’ Circle IFF Rotterdam. Winner Best Belgian Documentary at Ensor’s and Millennium Film Festival Brussels. It was described by The Guardian as “stunning and heartbreaking” (5 out of 5 stars). The film, executive-produced by Kirsten Johnson, was theatrically distributed in the UK.
Bilsen’s Elephant’s Dream (2014) was praised by Joshua Oppenheimer: “Elephant’s Dream masterfully creates a dreamlike listlessness, sad and funny, that gently hints at great historical tragedy. A beautiful film.” Hubert Sauper describes “one of the most tender and intense films I’ve seen in ages – the agony and the scars of colonialism are most artfully captured in a true film auteur.”
