The Shepherd

When a Navajo family unknowingly betrays a witch, he vows to destroy the entire clan. A powerful but greedy clan leader struggles to save his family from the bloodshed, unaware his beloved young daughter is called to the darkside herself.

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SYNOPSIS

Tse, a Navajo leader, has suffered for years with the “ghost sickness,” an illness where he fends off a vengeful ghost in his nightmares. One night while having this nightmare, he almost strangles his beloved twelve year-old daughter, Haseya. Tse’s 8-month pregnant wife demands he finally do something about being healed. With the assistance of Tse’s mysterious shepherd, Tse locates the last person who might be able to cure him: an old blind man disguised as a healer, but who is really a shapeshifter turned to dark ways. The blind man heals Tse, but after an argument between the two, Tse greedily cheats him on proper payment. In revenge, the healer sets out to destroy Tse’s entire clan and rob the graves of his victims. He kills nightly, and Tse’s clan members comb through the community to find the one responsible, taking innocent lives along the way with their baseless accustations.

Under the influence of the healer’s possession, Tse begins to question if he has had a direct role in the murders. The mob points their wrath at Tse. Desperate to save his daughter and wife from this crazed witch-hunting mob, Tse takes his family on a dangerous trek into the mountains to hide from those determined to kill him. Tse mentally unravels from stress and sleep deprivation. After finding his wife near death, Tse erroneously believes his own daughter has now become possessed and caused the murders, and he hunts her down. Haseya hides from her father in the shapeshifter’s cave where he attempts to win her over to join him. When Tse corners Haseya, she finally breaks through to him as the shapeshifter appears. In a moment of clarity, Tse defends his daughter, sacrificing himself to save her life so she may destroy the shapeshifter herself.

PROJECT DETAILS

BUDGET 1.9 million USD
GENRE: Period supernatural horror
ESTIMATED RUN TIME: 90 minutes
RECOGNITION: semifinalist in horror category for Slamdance 2019 Screenplay Competition; semifinalist in ScreenCraft Screenwriting Fellowship 2019; official selection for Frontières International Co-Production Market, 2020; selection for Cine Qua Non Lab Script Revision, 2021

TIME PERIOD: early 1890s
STATUS: early financing
PRODUCERS: Owee Rae & Hangar 18 Media
DIRECTORS: Nicole Elmer and Jorge Sermini
SALES AGENT: Raven Banner

TONALLY COMPARABLE FILMS, VISUAL INFLUENCES

The makers of The Shepherd are inspired by the recent revival of the horror genre, and the way some filmmakers are imbibing social commentary into the genre. Some films of note are The Babadook, Get Out, and The Witch, films which examined issues of motherhood, feminism, and racism. Visually, we look to the gritty darkness of films like The Revenant, McCabe and Mrs. Miller and The Blacksmith and the Devil, as well as the way The Searchers captured the landscape of the American Southwest. We are also inspired by the envelope-pushing visual approach of filmmakers like Panos Cosmatos (Beyond the Black Rainbow, Mandy) and Dario Argento (Suspiria).

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STATEMENT OF INTENT

The Shepherd is a historical Navajo horror film entirely in the native language, set in the visually-stunning southwest USA.

But making a film like this also poses crucial social statements that give The Shepherd even more importance. What happens to a community when fear turns people against each other, rather then the threat itself? It’s a timely question in light of the political divisions happening in so many countries today.

This film also combines horror with a genre that is ripe for re-examination; the Western, but tells the experience of those that lived in “the West” long before Europeans came with their destructive expansionist agenda. In this case, the characters are the Diné (Navajo). It almost goes without saying that Westerns throughout film history are guilty of portraying Native Americans inaccurately. Midcentury films could never see beyond the monolithic “savage,” and even recent examples (Dances With Wolves, Hostiles) uphold the romanticized stereotype of the “Noble savage” where white characters still remain the primary focus, and indigenous people are sideline characters responsible for showing whites how to be better people.

We want our production to have social impact by hiring diverse crew and cast. As directors, we come from communities often on the periphery of film stories (Jorge as a Latino, and Nicole as a queer female), and so our work strives to support overlooked voices and perspectives. We have worked with and will continue to work with Navajo creators and the community on this project. The film will be shot entirely in the native Navajo language (Diné Bizaad), contributing to the cultural preservation of the language.

Inspired by history and our research, The Shepherd provides a more modern, inclusive, and nuanced take on the Western through this vivid and horrifying story. A film like this is long overdue.

-Directors Nicole Elmer and Jorge Sermini