“Enlightening, heartrending, rage-inducing.”
Gloriavale: New Zealand’s Secret Cult
by Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady • 2022 • 89’ • Australia / New Zealand
Credits
Directors/Producers:
Noel Smyth & Fergus Grady
When widespread abuse is uncovered at a New Zealand cult, a family must turn to the legal system in an effort to save themselves and their community from the all powerful leaders “the Shepherds.” With unprecedented access to the notoriously secretive community, the film follows a lone family as they mount a ground-breaking legal case against the Shepherds.
Festivals
New Zealand International Film Festival 2022
CinfestOZ 2022
Seattle International Film Festival 2023
Filmmaker’s Biography
Noel Smyth is an Australian documentary writer, director, producer, cinematographer, editor. His debut feature documentary Camino Skies (co-directed with Fergus Grady) won the Doc Edge Film Festival awards for ‘Best NZ Directors’ and ‘Best NZ Emerging Filmmakers’ and was nominated for ‘Best NZ Feature’, ‘Best NZ Editing’, ‘Best NZ Cinematography’.
Fergus Grady is a producer/director who has fifteen years experience in the film industry. His debut feature documentary Camino Skies was the second highest grossing NZ documentary of 2019 winning two Doc Edge Film Festival awards. He executive produced the Netflix original Cargo and also associate produced West of Sunshine.