| A World Apart | |
|---|---|
 A World Apart (Video Cover) | |
| Directed by | Chris Menges |
| Written by | Shawn Slovo |
| Produced by | Sarah Radclyffe |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Peter Biziou |
| Edited by | Nicholas Gaster |
| Music by | Hans Zimmer |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | Atlantic Releasing Corporation |
Release dates |
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Running time | 113 minutes |
| Countries |
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| Language | English |
| Budget | £2.68 million[2] |
| Box office | $8 million[3] |
A World Apart is a 1988 anti-apartheiddrama film directed byChris Menges, and starringBarbara Hershey,David Suchet,Jeroen Krabbé,Paul Freeman,Tim Roth andJodhi May. Written byShawn Slovo, it is based on the lives of Slovo's parents,Ruth First andJoe Slovo. The film was aco-production between companies from the UK andZimbabwe, where it was filmed. It featuresHans Zimmer's first non-collaborativefilm score. The movie was filmed on location in northeastern Zimbabwe.[4]
The film received acclaim, winningBAFTA Awards for Best Screenplay for Shawn Slovo and Best Supporting Actor forDavid Suchet,[5] as well as theSpecial Grand Prize of the Jury at the1988 Cannes Film Festival.[6]
Set inJohannesburg in 1963, the film examines the abrupt ending of 13-year-old Molly's blithe childhood when her father, a member of theSouth African Communist Party, flees into exile. Ostracised by her peers, Molly draws closer to her mother who is part of the campaign againstapartheid. Their relationship is challenged by hardship, political intimidation, and the mother's eventual arrest.
The film title references both the gap between the mother and her teenage girl, who fails to grasp why their family is so fixated with events beyond their comfortable white suburb, and another separating this world from that of South Africa's poverty-stricken black townships.
Essentially, the film is a tribute toRuth First by her daughter and concludes in a moment of epiphany as Molly comes to terms with her mother's activism and understands that she too must play a part in the struggle against racial injustice.
The film opened at Cinema 1 in New York City on 17 June 1988.
A World Apart has an overall approval rating of 91% onRotten Tomatoes from 11 critics.[7]
The film was placed on 40 critics' top ten lists, making it one of the most acclaimed films of 1988.[8]
The film grossed $20,815 in its opening weekend in New York[9] and $35,835 (£21,200) for the week. Two months later it opened at theCurzon West End in London and sold out for the week, with a gross of £43,167.[1] It went on to gross $8 million worldwide, including $2,326,800 in the United States and Canada[9] and £800,000 at the UK box office.[3][2]
| Award | Category | Nominee | Outcome | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| BAFTA Awards | Best Original Screenplay | Shawn Slovo | Won | |
| Best Supporting Actor | David Suchet | Nominated | ||
| 1988 Cannes Film Festival | Best Actress | Jodhi May,Barbara Hershey,Linda Mvusi | Won[a] | |
| Golden Palm | Nominated | |||
| Special Grand Prize of the Jury | Chris Menges | Won | ||
| Prize of the Ecumenical Jury | Won | |||
| Evening Standard British Film Awards | Most Promising Newcomer | Jodhi May | Won[b] | |
| Guldbagge Awards | Best Foreign Language Film | Won | ||
| Independent Spirit Awards | Best Foreign Film | Nominated | ||
| New York Film Critics Circle Awards | Best Director | Chris Menges | Won |