Andre Holland interview: ‘Exhibiting Forgiveness’

“Exhibiting Forgiveness,” which opened in limited release on October 18, tells a story inspired by the experiences of its writer-director, Titus Kaphar, but even though Andre Holland was playing a version of the filmmaker, Kaphar “wanted to make sure that we put a healthy distance between himself and the character.” That decision “freed me up, I think, to make some bigger choices and to do some things differently than they maybe happened in real life.” Still, “being directed by the cat that you’re playing, there is a different, added layer of pressure, not just in terms of getting his characterization right, but also in getting the relationships right.” Watch our complete video interview with Holland above.

The film follows Tarrell (Holland), a painter whose estranged father (John Earl Jelks) suddenly reenters his life. Tarrell’s mother (Aunjanue Ellis-Taylor) wants them to reconcile, but Tarrell resists. “He was raised in the Black church and he was taught that forgiveness means, you know, forgive and forget, turning of the cheek,” Holland explains. “And when we meet him, I think what we find him in the throes of is this struggle between that understanding and what he feels, which is that forgiving in the way that he was taught feels unsafe to him and unfair.” But “forgiveness looks different for everybody. Secondly, forgiveness and reconciliation are not necessarily the same thing.”

Ultimately, “Exhibiting Forgiveness” is “inviting people to reconsider what forgiveness looks like, what healing looks like in their own lives.” And the conclusions audiences have come to are wide-ranging. “Some of them have said, you know, I didn’t think I wanted to speak to my daddy again, but I think I’m gonna give him a call and see if we can talk about things. I’ve heard other people say, I’ve been in this relationship or this dynamic with somebody and I haven’t felt good about it, but I felt pressure to stay in it. So maybe I’m gonna reconsider drawing some boundaries around that relationship.”

Holland also hopes that audiences embrace the independent film because “the truth is that it is, as we all know, hard to get movies like this made,” he says. “So I hope, first of all, people see the value in it that we see and that they go out and support it.” And when they see it he wants them to “come away with a profound appreciation for the incredible artists” in front of and behind the camera, from co-star Andra Day to production designer Olivia Peebles. “So I hope people walk away, look at those credits, and pay attention to those artists and artisans who made this thing really work.”