((WINNER!))
Writers Guild “Best First Screenplay”
Screen Awards “Best British Film”
BFI / IWC Schaffhausen Award
((NOMINATED))
BAFTA 2019 “Outstanding Debut”
6x BIFA Awards
3x London Critics Circle Awards including Best British Film
BFI / LFF Sutherland Award
3x National Film Awards
UK RELEASE July 2018 / CURZON ARTIFICIAL EYE
Toronto International Film Festival 2017
San Sebastian Intl. Film Festival 2017
BFI London Film Festival 2017 (First Feature Competition)
Mumbai Film Festival 2017 (Intl. Competition)
Havana Film Festival 2017
Gotenborg Film Festival 2018
Sarajevo Film Festival 2018
FEST Belgrade Film Festival 2018
Bergamo Film Meeting 2018 (Third Prize)
Wisconsin Film Festival 2018
Munich Intl. Film Festival 2018
Melbourne Intl. Film Festival 2018
New Zealand Intl. Film Festival 2018
PriFest Prishtina Intl. Film Festival 2018 (Competition)
Guadalajara (Europa Nuevas Tendencias) 2018
As devout Jehovah's Witnesses, sisters Alex and Luisa and their mother, Ivanna, are united in The Truth. Alex looks up to her confident older sister, while striving to follow in Ivanna's footsteps as a ‘good Witness'. But when Luisa starts to question the advice of the Elders, she makes a life-altering transgression that threatens to expel her from the congregation. Unless Ivanna and Alex can persuade her to return, they must shun her completely. This challenge becomes more painful when their family is faced with another heartbreaking test of faith.
BFI / Creative England / BBC Films / Great Point Media
Director: Daniel Kokotajlo
Producers: Andrea Cornwell, Marcie MacLellan
Cast: Siobhan Finneran, Sacha Parkinson, Molly Wright, Robert Emms
Selected Reviews:
100% - Rotten Tomatoes
"An audacious debut from first-time British director Daniel Kokotajlo...this story of family in conflict with faith delivers an emotional payoff all the more telling for being so rigorously calibrated...Apostasy should register internationally as one of those too rare films which fly the flag for a convincing British art cinema." - Screen International
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - "Daniel Kokotajlo’s debut about life among a religious community in Oldham is authentic, sensitive and subtle but has a sledgehammer narrative punch...Apostasy is a supremely intelligent and gripping drama." Peter Bradshaw - The Guardian
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - "Extremely nuanced and eye-opening, Apostasy may be one of the greatest depictions of faith in cinema. The UpComing
"A piercingly humane and deeply moving glimpse into a community that for all its preaching and evangelizing remains largely a mystery to outsiders... the picture is a remarkably assured and understated piece of filmmaking, showcasing not only a first-time director who has arrived fully-formed, but three exceptionally authentic performances from the women at its slow-breaking heart." - Jessica Kiang, The Playlist
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - “calm and murderously watchable… a caustic, quiet, piercingly critical eye .. at blinkered rites and traditions.” - Nigel Andrews, Financial Times
"His unfussy shooting style gives us time to get to know these women … he displays no shortage of bravery in not following the expected narrative conventions, a strategy that proves bracingly effective." - Filmmaker Magazine
"Daniel Kokotajlo's Apostasy, which went on to win the [IWC Schaffhausen] award, is one of the rare British movies I can recall that wrestles with the issue of faith ...it features a superb performance by Siobhan Finneran... the tussle between secular and sacred is beautifully nuanced." Jason Solomons, Financial Times
"Born out of Kokotajlo’s own history as a former Jehovah’s Witness, this exquisitely anguished, impeccably acted story ... benefits immeasurably from its maker’s unique store of first-hand knowledge.... “Apostasy” notes with cutting precision the male-biased power structures present in so much organized religion." Guy Lodge - Variety
"Blood proves thicker than (holy) water in writer-director Daniel Kokotajlo's debut Apostasy, one of the year's strongest British films.... It's a timely, sensitive and intelligent work of cinema for which opportunity will now surely knock." Neil Young - Hollywood Reporter
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - “a quietly brilliant work that balances the conflicts of three women, and the trio of actresses playing them give stunning performances.” TimeOut
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - “the performances are excellent, the plot is full of surprises, the characters are complex and believable… my faith in British film has just been restored.” Daily Star on Sunday
☆ ☆ ☆ ☆ - “intelligent, fascinating and beautifully acted” - Flickering Myth