Inspired by the devastating number of deaths as a result of knife and gun crime in London, you’d be forgiven for assuming that Tomisin Adepeju’s short film Appreciation would be a soul-crushing watch. However, while the director has a message he wants to get across in his film, he does so with a restraint that works to magnify the film’s impact and accessibility. An important story brought to the screen with sensitivity and flair, this is filmmaking of the highest quality.

“The headlines we read reduces these young black men to statistics”

Appreciation starts in joyous fashion, as we witness a young man unabashedly dancing with a woman, who we assume from her matching attire is his mother. While this joy is short-lived, after a newspaper article reveals why the mother is now watching this video, alone in the dark, Adepeju’s 15-minute short isn’t just another all-consuming deep-dive into grief as the director masterfully guides his audience through a gamut of emotions in what turns out to be a surprisingly uplifting film.

Explaining how the death of a man in Hackney, back in 2017, led him to pen the script, Adepeju reveals that he felt compelled to write his story after reading of the man’s murder in a newspaper story. “I realised that the headlines we read reduce these young black men to statistics”, the filmmaker shares. Adding that he was inspired to “capture the lives of the people these men leave behind”, while also aiming to portray how these men “were loved” and are “missed and deeply cherished”.

The story of an African Pentecostal Pastor attempting to deal with the death of her son, there’s a religious element to Appreciation that’s impossible to ignore. However, through his narrative and directorial approach, Adepeju ensures the themes of his film transcend individual beliefs, reaching instead for a universality that can touch all who watch it. I’m not a religious man myself, but what I do believe in is the power of community and the strength that can be found in this sense of belonging, and this is where I found Appreciation most relatable.

As a parent, it doesn’t take much for me to understand the crushing devastation that must follow the loss of a child, but basing a film around this alone feels like low-hanging fruit when it comes to provoking an emotional response from an audience. By adding the religious element to his story, Adepeju injects complexity and depth into both his narrative and its central character, which will have audiences internalising the film’s events, whatever their personal beliefs. Religion is obviously something close to the director’s heart, but for a film centred around a minister, it’s to his credit it never becomes “preachy”.

“It’s a world that is seldom represented on screen”

It’s probably evident by now that Appreciation’s narrative left quite the mark on me, but it’s not the only element of Adepeju’s filmmaking worthy of praise, with his short as visually striking as it is narratively intricate. The visual world the director has created not only inspired by his obvious love of cinema (Adepeju also runs an interactive film and discussion event called DAILIES), but by a lack of representation in television and film. “As a Nigerian-British man who was born in Nigeria but grew up in London – the cultural specificity of the world, articulated through the music, language, and costumes was very important to me”, he explains. Adding that he felt motivated to bring it to audiences as it was “a world that is seldom represented on screen”.

Working closely with cinematographer Olan Collardy (who has also worked with fellow S/W filmmakers Thea Gajic, Charlotte Regan & Dumas Haddad) the pair drew inspiration from the photography of Roy DeCarava, the work of Japanese director of Yasujiro Ozu, and, in particular, the film Mother of George by Andrew Dosunmu. With Adepeju revealing that he set out to create a piece that was “still, striking and lush”, the vivid clothing of the African community depicted in Appreciation certainly helps the aesthetic. Still, it’s Collardy’s framing that really stands out.

With camera movements limited, there’s a portrait look to the photography that manages to feel both intimate and inviting in equal measure, as if we’re being welcomed into this tight-knit congregation ourselves. When the pastor delivers her sermon directly to camera, you want to reach into the screen and share the outpouring of support her fellow worshippers give her. When her flock gathers in front of her to offer their well-meaning condolences, you feel her become submerged in grief and confusion. It really is immersive filmmaking at its finest.

Screened as part of the BFI London Film Festival back in 2019, Appreciation was a film I instantly wanted to champion on S/W. With this in mind, it’s easy to get carried away with hyperbole when sharing films on our site, but I’ve never claimed my writing to be a critical analysis, and although I’m sure others see weaknesses in Adepeju’s film, for me it’s a short that only supplies awe and respect whenever I watch it. A moving, insightful, and accessible piece from an emerging voice in British cinema, with Adepeju now in post-production on a new short, while also developing a debut feature and several TV projects, mark him down as a filmmaker to keep a close eye on in the coming years.