Being a woman under a global pandemic. Stories of femininity and isolation

Miu Miu keeps on its Women’s Tales series, centered on the female gaze in independent cinema. The last entry, ‘IN MY ROOM’, explores solitude and heritage during the Covid-19 lockdown

While the world is still under the clutch of a global pandemic, Miu Miu’s Women’s Tales keeps developing new visual content revolving around the female gaze. In a misogynistic system as the film industry, where women were constantly intended as side characters and playthings for men, Miu Miu is trying to give voice to another perspective, putting a female director in charge. Instead of targeting the box office, the brand chose a cinephile approach, using short film’s language and managing to premiere constantly in one of the world’s most renowned movie festivals: since its start in 2011, the short film series Women’s Tales is a regular host of Venice Film Festival. While the decision to speak only to an intellectual audience might seems lead by elitism, not trying to reach a wider public and speaking to one already eager to listen, choosing the average movie formula would prevent the brand to fully achieve its goal, restraining the creatives into an already crystalized form. The series feature works from personalities as Zoe Cassavetes, Alice Rohrwacher, Agnés Varda, Chloë Sevigny, Haifaa Al-Mansour, Dakota Fanning, and its last entry, ‘IN MY ROOM’, premiered during 2020 Venice Festival as a part of Giornate degli Autori, a selection of essai cinema.

Directed by Mati Diop, previously known for Atlantics, ‘IN MY ROOM’ was shot in a Paris’ apartment during the Covid-19 confinement period, creating a document which succeeds in weaving together global and personal crisis through a woman’s eye. The halt of every day’s life becomes  a possibility for introspection, for finding the rhythm of our breath and reconnect with our heritage; the inspiration of the short movie came from the retrieval of Matis’ grandma tapes, a bunch of conversations recorded in the apartment where the woman lived in self isolation for twenty years. Further enhancing its link with essai cinema’s audience, Miu Miu Women’s Tales announced a collaboration with Efe Cakarel’s streaming system MUBI, the author’s cinema response to Netflix. The platform is the alternative to today’s binge-watching giants, offering a everchanging list of hand-picked gems instead of a bulk of casual entertainment products. All the Women’s Tales short films are available on MUBI since September 7^th, giving finally all cinephiles the occasion to plunge into Miu Miu’s exploration of the woman gaze. Pandemic might stop routines and shake the pillars of our lives, but it cannot stop creativity and prevent awareness from spreading.