Forget Susan B. Anthony, Gloria Steinem, and Ruth Bader Ginsburg. Ann Lee may well have been the first woman to convince men that women were their equals. So persuasive was she that she turned the idea into a religion—the United Society of Believers in Christ’s Second Appearing, better known as the Shakers, named for their ecstatic worship. Here was a religion in which God was understood to be both male and female, and which embraced church leaders of both genders. The Shakers practiced celibacy, communal living, pacifism, and radical simplicity. The Testament of Ann Lee, a historical film about the founding of the Christian sect and its transfer to America, stars the indomitable Amanda Seyfried as the trailblazing Lee. Daniel Blumberg has composed an experimental score based on original Shaker hymns. As Seyfried says of her singing in the movie, “I didn’t have to sound beautiful in a way that is beautiful to me. It was more like a woman on her knees.” Directed by Mona Fastvold. —Carolina de Armas