27/03/2019 - The Irish-Belgian thriller is the English-language debut by the two-time Silver Bear winner

Director Małgorzata Szumowska (© Mateusz Ochocki/Polish Film Festival)

Małgorzata Szumowska (Mug [+see also:
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interview: Małgorzata Szumowska
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interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile]) has finished shooting an Irish-Belgian thriller called The Other Lamb [+see also:
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interview: Malgorzata Szumowska
film profile] on location in Ireland. The protagonist of the story is a young woman called Selah, who was raised in a religious cult called The Flock. After she takes part in a rite-of-passage ceremony, her view of her congregation and its leader Shepherd’s teachings changes. Selah also starts to experience the sensual and sexual sides of life. 

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In 2017, the script, written by Catherine S McMullen, was placed on the so-called Black List, which is a repository of the best unrealised screenplays. “What also convinced me to make this film was the fact that it’s produced by people who worked on Whiplash and Nightcrawler: David Lancaster and Stephanie Wilcox,” Szumowska tells Cineuropa. “I was also attracted by the very strong script and cast, including Raffey Cassidy, who showed huge potential in The Killing of a Sacred Deer [+see also:
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film profile]. I feel more than prepared to make my first English-language movie, and I am very open to working on a genre film,” the Polish helmer adds.

Szumowska has already worked outside her native Poland – in 2011, she directed Elles [+see also:
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trailer
interview: Malgorzata Sumowska
film profile], starring Juliette Binoche. She points out that The Other Lamb will have an “American indie” feeling but that it also has a lot of European components, including the support of Screen Ireland. “I brought producers from Zentropa on board,” says Szumowska, who also invited her regular collaborators to get involved: DoP Michał Englert and EFA-winning costume designer Katarzyna Lewińska. Besides Cassidy, who plays the main character, Denise Gough (Colette [+see also:
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The full list of producers is as follows: Lancaster and Wilcox (for Rumble Films), Aoife O’Sullivan and Tristan Orpen Lynch (Subotica), and Marie Gade Denessen (Zentropa). Belgian outfit Umedia is serving as a co-producer. The Polish distributor is Kino Świat, and TrustNordisk handles the world sales.