Miu Miu

It’s California, during the Great Depression. A woman is confiding her most intimate thoughts in a church confessional, while the man on the other side listens silently and intently. But this is no ordinary religious ritual seeking salvation. The woman — a second generation Filipino farmhand — is rapt in roleplay reverie, her sensuous words aimed at her white American lover, during a historic period when such interracial relationships were forbidden by state law. The confession box transforms into a romantic time machine, ecstatic and melancholic, traveling into alternate futures. She manifests as multiple, dazzling women, and they can love freely. This is the 21st commission from Miu Miu Women's Tales​ series.

“Farah,” a bread seller, walks the streets of a Middle Eastern town, while an American military vehicle, surrounded by soldiers, slowly passes by. A moment’s silence. Then, a devastating explosion. Civilians are bloodied, wounded. The horrors of war. “Farah” looks around aghast and wailing. But nothing here is quite what it seems. In fact, “Farah” is a character played by an aspiring actress called Laila. And this isn’t Iraq, but a replica village erected on the Fort Irwin army base in California, used to train American troops before being sent abroad. Laila believes her acting talents are being wasted away in this arid simulation, where female role-players are limited to mute, background roles. She takes things much more seriously. Laila plots her way out.

Have you ever found it impossible to say something, face to face, to someone you know, someone you love? The words just won’t come out? New messaging service, Somebody, could help.

On the day of an inauguration to head the family business Stane confronts marriage, love and patriarchy.

Soon after Elizabeth receives this text message, her mother isn't the only one lost in sleep. Elizabeth's car has broken down. It's freezing cold, no sign of life nearby. She just has to wait, patiently. The recovery guys will be here soon, Elizabeth. Till then, she warms her young hands on the vents, drifts into a strange slumber, followed by an even more surreal awakening. Icelandic landscapes merge with Elizabeth's memories. Fears are magically transformed into comforting and fantastical fabrics. Father, upstairs, alone.

“Miss Jasmine! I have a package for you!” The 14-year-old girl with braces takes a break from milking the goat. Her local postman has delivered a surprise. She opens it up. Out floats a magical magenta ball dress ten times her teenage size. “I am curious,” she says, and enters the folds of the dress. From here, Jasmine⎯headstrong, a dreamer, a realist⎯takes us on a modern anti-fairy tale through caves and stalagmites, streets and shop windows, obsessions and everyday empowerment.

It’s quintessentially late afternoon Californian sun. The eponymous house gently hosts a number of clipped social encounters. Each of these denotes dynamics of power in race, gender and class. While it’s the macaw that seems ostensibly and literally caged, Bravo’s drama of manners suggests that every single one of us may not be quite as uncaged as we assume.

Carmen, by Chloë Sevigny, is the 13th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the short-film series by women who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century. Carmen has a loose, voyeuristic, improvisational mood that reflects Sevigny’s interest, making a short-film about process, being a woman, celebrity and ego.

The Door, by Ava DuVernay, is a celebration of the transformative power of feminine bonds, and a symbolic story of life change.

Nothing went as planned: what seemed to be an original idea (taking an international fashion event to a small town in the Argentine Pampas) ended up as a mysterious affair, with a mannequin who seems to have vanished, and who insists on leaving small clues scattered across the immense plains. But nothing seems to be too strange for Commissioner Sirota and her particular method which, this time, includes a clairvoyant, a legendary detective arriving from Santa Rosa and some picturesque “peritas” who choose to work at night, swinging to the rhythm of Ska. In the middle, a disturbing question: Is it a police case they are dealing with, or is someone taking them (the police, the whole town, the Italians – all of us, perhaps) for a fool?

In “Le Donne della Vucciria”, sixth Miu Miu Women’s Tale, Palestinian female director Hiam Abbass contemplates the transformative power of clothes, music and dance in a charming, evocative study of the women of the Sicilian city of Palermo.

"We understand this political climate has turned your world upside down," the 1950s TV-ad voice- over tells you. "Underground shelter is your best defense against radioactive fallout." Cue perky music, tap dancing twins, and a ballerina that bakes the perfect croissant. Welcome to your new luxury home - buried 26 feet below. Complete with mini-golf course, dance floor, swimming pool, two jacuzzis, and a thoroughly modern mermaid. "This is reality." That is, until the nuclear siren rings.

Made during confinement, "In My Room" plunges us into the poignant story of a woman at the twilight of her life, through recordings of the director's deceased grandmother. Living rooms become stages where life is performed. Windows become portals to the lives of others.

Gita, a young woman in search of a life purpose, leaves her hometown in China for Malaysia. As she struggles to come to terms with her past and identity, Gita devotes herself to an intense martial arts training course—turning inwards and arriving to groundbreaking epiphanies about herself.

An enchanting and dramatic short film set in London’s Claridges hotel. As its name suggests, the piece takes us into an ultra-feminine environment where gestures between women are traded in a ritual of opulent beauty.

Miu Miu Women's Tales #12 - Short film directed by Crystal Moselle starring The Skate Kitchen crew

Naomi Kawase describes Sakura Ando, the lead character in her film, as "a mysterious creature" who is "like a fairy. SEED is the story of the journey this girl takes from the enchanted nature of Nara to the chaos of Tokyo, and the encounters she has along the way. A boy offers her the gift of an apple, which she in turn gives to a homeless man, who proffers a soft piece of chiffon fabric in return. Moving like a tree that sways in the wind, the girl embodies a spirit that secretly runs through places and living things. The eleventh film commissioned by Miu Miu Women's Tales was directed by the multiple Cannes award-winning Japanese director Naomi Kawase.

Luz works at a gallery but her real passion and purpose in life is as an opera singer. She’s been invited to audition for Madame Butterfly at one of the principal theatres in Mexico City. Luz must practice. Her friends Lycian and Chío instruct her. How to make her voice and hands dance. She’s told “Your mouth is twice the size of your eye,” and this is all part of a divine geometry that governs the world. The 25th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales.

Directed by Argentinean Lucrecia Martel, MUTA, meaning both “mute” and “transformation”, is a beautiful and cryptic portrayal of an all female world of symbolism, hidden meaning and intrigue.

An insight into the creative process of photographer Brigitte Lacombe, exploring her obsession with taking pictures and how her lens defines her relationship with her subjects and the world.