As a child, I was bullied, and the lack of resolution or apology still affects me. I never felt that things were truly resolved, let alone an apology was given and this continues to have an impact later in life. This personal experience mirrors a broader societal trend, where many peoples and communities today are waiting for apologies, sometimes for events decades or centuries old.

In the context of current social movements like Black Lives Matter, #MeToo, and the colonial past’s reckoning, THE APOLOGIST addresses the timely question: Can public apologies lead to forgiveness, understanding, or change? Public apology does influence how history is told and by whom. By exploring their origins and questioning how they fit into our cultural memory, we can better understand the story of our time. And what about us, the good documentary filmmakers who make a documentary film, aren’t we too, complicit in the premise that a documentary should tell a very accurate and rounded story with a beginning, middle but most importantly a satisfying ending and ‘resolution’. We challenge you to reconsider the meaning of apologies and set the stage for a deeper understanding of true reconciliation and acknowledgment.