Before the Light (2023)

Before the Light (2023) poster

Emotionally charged story about three women standing against male dominated church preventing them from following their calling to serve God and their communities. Protestan female ministers who wish to serve God, the Church and people as pastors in today’s Latvia can only do that under the wing of foreign churches. Latvia is the only country in the world whose official Lutheran church has banned ordination of women after successfully practicing it for two decades. While some of the women ministers, refusing to accept this, leave the country to build lives as fully-fledged pastors elsewhere in the world, others carry on serving as second-rate assistants or other church workers. However, today there are female theologians who are ready to fight for a future in more equal society thus ending the discrimination based on ‘other sex’ or ‘wrong’ gender. The road towards changes leads through frustrations, confidence and doubts, obedience and rebellion.

Director: Kristine Briede
Genre: Documentary
Runtime: 77 min
Release Date:

Screenplay

Music: Sniedze Prauliņa, Rihards Zaļupe
Cinematography: Jānis Šēnbergs
Editing: Andris Grants
Production: Baltic Balkan Productions, Rucka Art Foundation
Country: Latvia
Original Language: lv
More Films by Director: Kristine Briede
More Films in Genre: Documentary

Frequently Asked Questions

What is Before the Light about?
Emotionally charged story about three women standing against male dominated church preventing them from following their calling to serve God and their communities. Protestan female ministers who wish to serve God, the Church and people as pastors in today’s Latvia can only do that under the wing of foreign churches. Latvia is the only country in the world whose official Lutheran church has banned ordination of women after successfully practicing it for two decades. While some of the women ministers, refusing to accept this, leave the country to build lives as fully-fledged pastors elsewhere in the world, others carry on serving as second-rate assistants or other church workers. However, today there are female theologians who are ready to fight for a future in more equal society thus ending the discrimination based on ‘other sex’ or ‘wrong’ gender. The road towards changes leads through frustrations, confidence and doubts, obedience and rebellion.
Who directed Before the Light?
Before the Light was directed by Kristine Briede.
How long is Before the Light?
Before the Light has a runtime of 1h 17m (77 minutes).
What genre is Before the Light?
Before the Light is a Documentary film.
Where was Before the Light produced?
Before the Light was produced in Latvia.