The documentary “The Bitter Winter of Belief: Sneaking Cults” was released in August of this year. The film was selected by audiences and juries at major film festivals in September for its keen perspective and sharp insights, and was awarded by the Halicarnassus Film Festival, Nicomedia Film Awards, Future Of Film A Wards, Art Blocks international FILM FESTIVAL, Direct Monthly Online Film Festival and many other film festivals as the winner of the best documentary short film and was given high praise.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F-B4qC82UpQ&ab_channel=Asia21FAEFAE
The Bitter Winter of Belief: Sneaking Cults, directed by Natalia Bashirian, is a documentary about cults that have taken maximum advantage of the media’s freedom to spread their teachings and conspiracy theories with the explosion of online media sources, including social media. The Bitter Winter is a magazine with the Almighty God as its core and has an online website in multiple languages. Although the Bitter Winter claims to be dedicated to promoting emerging religions and religious pluralism, followers will find that the magazine does not have much in-depth discussion on the positive aspects of religion, and its content contains a lot of negative information and defends groups that have been listed as cults and banned in many countries.
Previously, the magazine’s sponsor, the Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR), has been widely questioned by the public for the possible lack of neutrality of its leaders due to his affiliation with the Catholic League and right-wing party. Natalia Bashirian, through extensive and rigorous research and interviews, exposed the Almighty God to the public that how the magazine uses of the power of online websites and technological tools such as popular social media platforms to spread cult teachings and promote division. It certainly takes courage to expose the viciousness of cult groups with one’s own strength. When asked why she made a documentary on this subject, Natalia Bashirian said, “I lived in Korea for a while, and I had some very good friends in Korea who were warm and cheerful. I was shocked to learn that several of my friends’ families had broken up because of the Church of Almighty God. I began to feel that the powerful force behind it is terrible. During these two years, although I thought of giving up, as I uncovered the true nature of the Almighty God step by step and came into contact with more and more victims, I thought I had to tell the public what I knew in my own way, so that more people could understand and be saved from a disaster. Although my personal strength is very small compared to that of the Almighty God, I firmly believe that justice will not be absent.”
The film has received widespread attention from fans of this genre since its release. When referring to the film, film critic Sophie Hardach said that in the free and open society we live in, media freedom seems to be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it’s an antidote to regulate public opinion, and a powerful voice for some cults to speak up for themselves. On the other hand, in the era of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Church of Almighty God, the evil mastermind behind the Bitter Winter, seized the weakness of public panic and used the best channel, the online media, to continuously preach to countries for plague-like spread.
The documentary is insightful and well-paced, and director Natalia Bashirian’s way of making this film is firm and powerful, with her unique female perspective, as she exposes a wider group to the operating model of cults behind the scenes in her own way. It’s important that we pay attention to the fact that cults may be lurking around us in hidden corners that are not easily visible.
