An Original Animated Feature
70,000 Years · Eleven Civilizations · One Question
Before we named the heavens, before we built the temples —
we looked up. And we wondered.
Depicted
Takemikazuchi, god of thunder and the sword, faces Takeminakata, god of wind, water and war — two Shinto deities locked in a contest over who shall rule the earth. One of eleven civilizations explored in Before the Gods.
The Film
Before the Gods is an adult animated feature spanning 70,000 years of human history — an epic meditation on the oldest question our species has ever asked: Why are we here?
Moving across eleven civilizations and eleven distinct visual worlds, the film traces the emergence of religious belief not as doctrine, but as raw human need — born from grief, wonder, fear, and love. From the first burial rites in a prehistoric cave to the burning of ancient temples, these are the moments before the myths solidified, before the priests arrived, before anyone knew what to call the divine.
The audience is everyone who made Flee an Oscar contender and everyone who made The Ten Commandments one of the highest-grossing films in history. That audience has never been given the same film. This is that film.
One Question · Eleven Civilizations · 70,000 Years
70,000 BCE
Southern Africa
A hunter loses his friend. And asks the first question.
18,000 BCE
Beringia — The Ice Bridge
They carried fire across a frozen world into the unknown.
c. 3,000 BCE
Mesopotamia
The first cities. The first priests. The first gods with names.
c. 550 BCE
Babylon
In exile, a people wrote down everything they could not afford to forget.
c. 20 CE
Nazareth
The Torah he knew by heart. The world had no idea what was coming.
7th Century CE
Persia — The Sacred Fire
His city burned. He carried the flame out on a boat. It never went out.
The World of the Film
From the first fire on the African savanna to a hospital room beneath the Milky Way — the visual world of Before the Gods.
Act One · 70,000 BCE · East Africa
The First Question
Before language had words for it — the reaching.
Act One · 18,000 BCE · Beringia
The Great Bear
The ice holds. The world is still. Something watches from the other side.
Act Two · Mesopotamia · 3,000 BCE
Ninhursag
The Mother Goddess. Before all the others — there was her.
Act Three · Babylon · 550 BCE
Ezra & Tobias
In exile, they did the only thing left. They wrote it down.
Act Three · Nazareth · c. 20 CE
The Tekton's Workshop
Five hundred years after Ezra wrote the Torah, he read it. He knew it. Before the ministry. Before the miracles.
Vignette · Athens · c. 430 BCE
Athena
The Parthenon. The goddess inside. The city below believing.
Present Day
Theo & Grandma
A modern hospital room. The Milky Way through the window. Theo stands there, looking up at the same stars — asking the same question that Kael asked 70,000 years ago.
Contact
Before the Gods is currently in development. We welcome conversations with financiers, co-production partners, festivals, and press.
Industry Access
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