Małgorzata Szumowska : 2019
Selah is a young girl born into an alternative religion known as the Flock – the only life she has known. The members of the Flock, all women and female children, live in a rural compound, and are led by one man, known only as Shepherd. Their self-sufficient community possesses no modern technology, and is hidden away in the woods, far from modern civilisation. Shepherd is the group's guardian, teacher, and lover. Each of the members of the group is either his wife or daughter. Selah is pure in faith, but also dangerously headstrong. She was raised as a daughter of Shepherd, but it is only a matter of time before she also stands to become a wife. As an encounter with the authorities forces the women and Shepherd to build a new Eden further inland, Selah increasingly doubts her faith. The onset of puberty brings with it harsh new rituals, and her first glimpse of what happens to Shepherd's women as they age. Following this shocking and transformative experience Selah begins to have strange visions that make her question her own reality, and everything that Shepherd has taught her and her sisters. A disquieting examination of faith, compliance and the roles that gender and community play in enforcing cultural norms. Małgorzata Szumowska's feature, her English-language debut, premiered in Special Presentations at Toronto International Film Festival 2019, and screened in competition at San Sebastián International Film Festival 2019.
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