In the final session of the Council of Trent in 1563, Vatican theologians uphold the permissibility of the sacred image and icon against Reformation charges of idolatry, leading to an explosion of investment into the fine arts in Europe including, for the first time, the female artist. Sofonisba Anguissola is the first professional female court painter, amassing a body of work depicting Europe’s finest nobles and dignitaries. But throughout her career she returned again and again to the subject that fascinated her most: herself. Counter-Reformation is a non-conventional, essayistic documentary that untangles and retangles threads of politics, religion, history, and the self-portrait, leading the filmmaker to an examination of her own contemporary cinematic practice. A deeply personal mediation on faith and the moving image, Counter-Reformation seeks to place experimental cinema within a theological and religious sphere; an under-explored but urgently fruitful reconciliation.