The Ceremony

Winner of the Edinburgh International Film Festival 2024’s inaugural Sean Connery Award for Feature Filmmaking Excellence.

When the body of an illegal colleague is found on site, Romanian car-wash supervisor Cristi knows that discovery of the death will destroy the business and upend the lives of all the workers supported by it.

Fearing retribution from the car-wash’s owner, he decides to quietly dispose of the body with the help of Yusuf, a stubborn Kurdish worker who agrees to help, but only if he’s allowed to perform a religious burial for his countryman. With only a single day and night to fulfil their mission, the pair head out of Bradford into the wintry expanse of the Yorkshire Dales to search for a suitable secluded spot. As they drive, they turn to conversations around their lives, and their situations, and as nerves begin to fray a righteous clash of morals emerges which threatens to derail their journey and put them both in danger…

From director Jack King, The Ceremony tells an affecting story of two souls conflicted by their personal differences but bound by their common humanity and unwavering sense of morality.

Winner of the Edinburgh International Film Festival’s Sean Connery Award in 2024, The Ceremony is part crime story, part road-movie, and part-surrealist drama. It gives an acute insight into the modern migrant experience, discarding politics and discussion around immigration or national identity.

Genre: Drama

Technical Details

Director: Jack King
Running Time: 92 minutes
Language: English (with English subtitles)
Certificate: TBC
Accessibility Format: English subtitles

Date: 22nd August 2025