LOADING
Directed by Caroline Golum | 73 minutes | 15+ | Australian Premiere |
11:00am Sunday, 17 May | Balam Balam Place - Cinema 4 | Buy Tickets | Buy Passes
IMPRISONED BY HER OWN CHOICE, A WOMAN TELLS THE TALE OF HER FANTASTICAL VISIONS
Co-Presented by Melbourne Theosophical Society Bookshop
True story: In the 14th century, a woman named Julian experiences extraordinary visions—of a crucifix weeping blood, of herself strangled by the devil, of all God’s love held in a hazelnut. In response, she decides to live in ascetic seclusion and utmost passion as a nun, determined to record these visions on paper. Her writings, now known as Revelations of Divine Love, are the earliest surviving texts in the English language to have been written by a woman.
Julian of Norwich chronicled her manifestations in the midst of a global pandemic, a national uprising, and a societal shift in gender roles and norms. This film borrows its title from her book and expands on her account with ecstatic speculation. With its handmade production design, sincere spiritual inquiry, and DIY ambition, this movie projects the medieval past onto the present dark ages and finds much in common.
Screens with a pre-recorded interview with director Caroline Golum.
SIMILAR: First Reformed, The Testament of Ann Lee, The Last Temptation of Christ, The Chronicle of Anna Magdalena Bach, Margery Kempe by Robert Gluck
“Brimming with the mystery of manifestation, it is a work of sheer will, equal parts spiritual inquiry and cinematic lament.” - Sofia Bohdanowicz, Filmmaker Magazine
“Golum’s film is many things: a dramatization of the life of the fourteenth-century anchoress and mystic Julian of Norwich; a catalog of her holy visions; a plague story; a rebellion story; an expression of the persistent supremacy of love in a world of nearly unbearable suffering. It is both period-accurate and pointedly anachronistic, carefully handmade and plainly artificial. It is totally remarkable, and then some.” - Robert Rubsam, The Baffler
Country: United States
Year: 2025
Language: German, Latin, English