Christopher Eccleston, Pete Postlethwaite and Toyah Willcox star in Chris Newby's 1993 film Anchoress, a sensual tale of religious conflict, in which a young girl's transcendental vision threatens to upset the foundations of her community.

Inspired by records of the real Anchoress of Shere (near Guildford, Surrey), who was voluntarily walled up in a tiny cell adjoining a church, the film vividly evokes life in a remote medieval village and explores the gulf between patriarchal power and female rebellion.

After claiming to be in direct contact with the Virgin Mary, 14-year-old Christine (Natalie Morse) takes the advice of her local priest (Christopher Eccleston) and becomes an anchoress. Over the protestations of her parents, she devotes her life to prayer, surviving on charitable food donations while dispensing advice to pilgrims. Becoming an anchoress was a form of voluntary martyrdom, the sealing-up ceremony having a deliberately funereal feel, as though the subject had already died – which, in a sense, she had, at least from the outside world's perspective.

Featuring exquisite cinematography by Michel Baudour, the film has been re-mastered for this DVD release from the original negative under the supervision of its director, Chris Newby. The DVD will be released in the UK on 22nd June 2009 by the BFI at the RRP of £19.99 with the following special features:

• The Old Man of the Sea (1989, 21 mins) - Newby's short film on the ancient relationship between man, nature and the supernatural;
• Flicker (2001, 4 mins) - Newby's study of the Guy Fawkes Night celebrations at Lewes;
• Stromboli (1998, 11 mins) - Newby's portrait of the Aeolian island known for its violent volcanic eruptions;
• Illustrated booklet.