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Children of the Cult

Children of the Cult is an international investigation into the Rajneesh movement. One of the world’s biggest and most successful cults, it had communes in more than 50 countries in the 70s and 80s and was immortalised in the Netflix series ‘Wild Wild Country’. But until now, a central truth about the organisation has remained hidden.

Filmmaker Maroesja Perizonius, herself a child of the Rajneesh communes has connected with other former commune children and together, they’ve decided to change that.

Part retrospective, part unfolding investigation, this film tells the barely believable story of the treatment of children within the cult. Children who grew up in an environment where sex was everywhere, where they were separated from their parents and where there were no boundaries. Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh built an entirely new society with its own moral code- where terrible crimes against children were facilitated and normalised.

The organisation still thrives today, profiting from Bhagwan’s teachings, yet no one has yet been called to account for the harm caused to children in its communes across the world. In the course of her unflinching investigation Maroesja unmasks perpetrators and demands answers from the closest members of the Cult’s inner circle.

  • Maroesja Perizonius
    Director
    Director, writer
  • Alice McShane
    Director
    Director
  • David Modell
    Executive Producer
  • Ben Ferguson
    Producer
  • Victoria Hollingsworth
    Producer
  • Ella Newton
    Film Editor
  • Jamie Welham
    Director of Photography
  • Project Type:
    Documentary
  • Runtime:
    1 hour 16 minutes
  • Completion Date:
    September 29, 2024
  • Production Budget:
    500,000 USD
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United States, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    4k
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
  • Premiere
    London
    United Kingdom
    October 2, 2024
    United Kingdom premiere
Distribution Information
  • Magent Films
    Distributor
    Country: Germany
    Rights: All Rights
Director Biography - Maroesja Perizonius, Alice McShane

Maroesja Perizonius is a Dutch director and writer with a background in journalism and copywriting. After working as an assistant documentary producer she directed her debut 'Child of the Commune' in 2004, in which she spoke with her mother about joining a cult at a very young age and the sexual abuse she experienced there. The film was broadcast all over Europe and won the Dutch prize for the best debut.

As a writer Maroesja published a memoir about living in a cult which was translated to German. She lives in Amsterdam with her family.

Add Director Biography
Director Statement

Twenty years ago I wrote and directed 'Child of the Commune', a personal documentary about my childhood in the cult of the guru Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh, now known as Osho. In my debut I spoke with my mum about her choice to leave our home and move into a religious commune that focused on spiritual enlightenment and sexual freedom. I exposed the abuse that I experienced, but although I saw that child sexual abuse was rife, I was the only one wanting to talk about it at the time.

When 'Wild Wild Country' came out on Netflix in 2018, I binged it that very day. Imagine seeing a six part documentary series about the cult that dominated your childhood. But the children weren’t mentioned at all.

I wasn’t the only one noticing this: former children of the Osho cult started to gather and this led to an outpouring of testimony of abuse. I pitched my plan to make this film, in which many stories that have been hidden for a long, long time can finally come to light.

'Children of the Cult' is part retrospective, part unfolding investigation into one of the world’s biggest and most successful cults, with communes in more than 30 countries. The organisation still thrives today, profiting from Bhagwan’s teachings, yet no one has yet been called to account for the harm caused to children.