Silence observed in the Jesus cage

<jats:title>Abstract</jats:title> <jats:p>From nine years of research and hundreds of hours of video footage, audio interviews, and still photographs, Chosen (Custody of the Eyes) is Abbie’s feature-length documentary-in-progress focusing on one woman: Heather, evolving over time, from one identity to another – Sister Amata – as she integrates into a religious order that follows an ancient rule. Chosen is a collaborative endeavour; Abbie lent HD video cameras to Heather/Sister Amata, a painter and former blogger, and to the nuns. Set within the enclosed community, Chosen (Custody of the Eyes) tracks the nuns’ public and private performances in a highly ritualistic space – a rich material culture focused on the spiritual realm; the liminal phase that is the process of becoming (Heather attempting to construct a new individual and cultural identity, and becoming Sister Amata); the belief that one is ‘chosen’ and questions of fate and agency; and the certainty of adopting the rigid lifestyle of an ancient rule, contrasted by the nuns’ acceptance that they will not know the results of their sacrifice until the afterlife.</jats:p>