São Paulo. At the forefront of a stage, elevated on high stiletto heels and donning a bright yellow two-piece suit, Valeria addresses a crowd of astonished faces with a powerful voice. Through her words resonate the values and principles advocated by the Evangelical Church. Yet, it is within the intimacy of her office, in her role as a social worker, that the camera first introduces her character, compelling us to pay attention to the subtlety of her voice tone. The boundaries between the two roles she occupies necessarily blur as Giselle confides in her. Giselle's fate depends on Valeria's decision: in this room, a report of ascendancy marks their positions, conditioning their relationship by extension. However, the daily scenes filmed within the family unit, where both assume a motherly role, contribute to the blurring of social boundaries that separate them. The themes addressed may imply otherwise, yet no role is fixed; each situation depicted can only be understood through a complex relationship to other facts. And then, there are very few men seen in Shadows in the House, further evidence of the emphasis that Justine Triet chooses to place on women in her cinema.

Yulia Kaiava
Tënk's editorial assistant