Still: The Apologist - Kristof Bilsen

“Saying sorry is one of the most difficult things there is,” Dutch producer Nienke Korthof of Tangerine Tree ventures when asked why she was so keen to work on Kristof Bilsen’s new feature documentary, The Apologist (which receives its world premiere in International Competition at Sheffield Doc Fest).

In the documentary, Belgian director Bilsen explores how apologies can reshape lives - not just in the personal sphere but in the political world too. But when are apologies for real, and when they are just an act? What does it mean to give and accept them? How do you see and understand the pain of others? These are some of the topics with which the film wrestles.

When it comes to delivering apologies, politicians are experts but, as Korthof points out, we are never quite sure whether it’s “an act or genuine and what it really means.”

This is a very personal project for Bilsen who was bullied as a kid. “I started this film to understand what makes a good apology,” the director explains in his voice-over.

Bilsen isn’t just the director of The Apologist. He is also the producer and writer and was working on the project through his own company Limerick Films. It was already in late development when Tangerine Tree came on board in late 2023.

The Apologist wasn’t straightforward to pull together. Broadcaster partners included NDR in association with ARTE, VRT, VPRO and RTBF - all highly respected organisations. The challenges came because the partners didn’t always agree about how the film should be structured.

“We as co-producers, together with Warboys Films (FR) and Wrong Men (BE) and Kristof as the main producer, really sat together at one point to have a true collaboration to protect and align the artistic vision. You need a good bridge between broadcasters and creative team and we managed to do that as a co-production team.”

Korthof speaks of her admiration for the way Bilsen took “on board all the different opinions” from his commissioners and stayed true to his original artistic vision.

“I find it very encouraging that a film like this has been co-produced by four broadcasters. It’s remarkable, especially given how much uncertainty lies at its core. It departs from the conventional, character-driven format and avoids taking the safest narrative path.”

Cinema Delicatessen is handling the Dutch release of The Apologist. An impact campaign with discussions and debates is already being planned. Impact producer Julia de Roo is advising on how to prepare audiences for the intensity of the film.

This is the third Belgian co-production on which Tangerine Tree has worked.

Korthof has another new project in Sheffield’s Meet Market, The Sacrifice by Ruud Lenssen and Sander Selen, which tells the story of polar explorer and adventurer Marc Cornelissen (1968-2015), who tragically died after falling through unexpectedly thin ice.

“Marc witnesses the extinction of his beloved North Pole, a melting world, whereby the landscape’s collapse is bound to his own,” the producer says.

“We hope to get a lot of response from the people we meet in Sheffield, and to position the film in the market, to see how it lands,” she adds.

“It’s a first step out in the world for us, the first time at an international market outside of IDFA, and we are hoping to attract sales agents, festivals, distributors, streamers and co-producers.”

The project is at late development stage, with a mooted completion date of late 2027, or early 2028. “We have all the material as it is an archive film, so as soon as we have the finding we can go straight to the edit,” Korthof further underlines to SEE NL.

So, why the name Tangerine Tree? “We tried everything…every flower, tree, fruit, vegetable,” Korthof says of the company name. It has a slight Dutch flavour (tangerines are orange) and a sound of permanence - a lot of her friends remarked that “it sounds as if you’ve been around for a while.”

When she and her partner Willem Baptist (also a successful documentary director) founded the Rotterdam-based company in 2014, Tangerine Tree specialised in youth-oriented short documentaries, for example their first production Skate Skeet, about a 10-year-old girl who’s an ace skateboarder. This was selected for Berlinale - an auspicious start for the company.

Korthof enjoys producing youth documentaries because they are often fast, energetic and relatively straightforward to finance. “Grown-up films take much longer!”

The Netherlands Film Fund started supporting youth doc features and the company had a big hit with Shamira Raphaëla’s 2022 feature Shabu, about a music loving kid from the mean streets of south Rotterdam. Since then, the company has turned into what the producer jokingly calls “a documentary factory,” with lots of different projects always on the boil, including Baptist’s new feature Worst Case Scenario, which follows individuals and groups preparing for the worst in times of global uncertainty, which the company funded recently.

“Willem and I are also married. We have a kid, and our work is a big part of our lives, we dedicate much of our time to the company because we're incredibly passionate about it,” Korthof observes. “In 2027, I think we will have five features to finish!”

Find out more about Sheffield DocFest here.