A World Apart (film)

A World Apart is a 1988 anti-apartheid drama, written by Shawn Slovo and directed by Chris Menges. It is based on the lives of Slovo's parents, Ruth First and Joe Slovo. The film was a co-production between companies from the UK and Zimbabwe, where the movie was filmed. It features Hans Zimmer's first non-collaborative film score.

Plot
Set in Johannesburg in 1963, the film examines the abrupt ending of 13-year-old Molly's blithe childhood when her father, a member of the South African Communist Party, flees into exile. Ostracised by her peers, Molly draws closer to her mother who is part of the campaign against apartheid. 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 to Ruth 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.

Cast

 * Jodhi May – Molly Roth
 * Jeroen Krabbé – Gus Roth
 * Barbara Hershey – Diana Roth
 * Linda Mvusi – Elsie
 * Nadine Chalmers – Yvonne Abelson
 * Kate Fitzpatrick – June Abelson
 * Tim Roth – Harold
 * Carolyn Clayton-Cragg – Myriam Roth
 * Yvonne Bryceland – Bertha
 * Merav Gruer – Jude Roth
 * Paul Freeman – Kruger
 * Rosalie Crutchley – Mrs. Harris
 * Adrian Dunbar – Le Roux
 * David Suchet – Muller
 * Nomaziko Zondo – Thandile

Reception
A World Apart has an overall approval rating of 89% on Rotten Tomatoes from 9 critics.

Awards and nominations

 * 1989: Winner – BAFTA Best Screenplay Shawn Slovo
 * 1989: Nominee – BAFTA Best Supporting Actor David Suchet
 * 1988: Winner – 1988 Cannes Film Festival, Best Actress (tie): Jodhi May, Barbara Hershey, and Linda Mvusi
 * 1988: Nominee – Cannes Film Festival Golden Palm
 * 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Special Grand Prize of the Jury: Chris Menges
 * 1988: Winner – Cannes Film Festival Price of the Ecumenical Jury: Chris Menges
 * 1988: Winner – Evening Standard British Film Award Jodhi May – Most Promising Newcomer
 * 1989: Nominee – Independent Spirit Award Best Foreign Film
 * 1988: Winner – New York Film Critics Circle Awards Chris Menges – Best Director
 * 1989: Winner - Best Foreign Language Film, 25th Guldbagge Awards (Sweden)