Since 2011, Miu Miu has committed to putting a spotlight on female directors through its short film series aptly titled Women’s Tales. Premiered at LA’s arty Silver Lake on the 25th January, the Italian brand presented for its 17th edition its new film Shako Mako directed by actress, model and Viceland host Hailey Gates, following in the footsteps of cult directors such as Agnès Varda, Chloë Sevigny and Haifaa Al-Mansour, to name but a few.
Set in a mock Iraqi village, Shako Mako follows American-Iraqi actress Alia Shawkat, and a team of amateur actors who hope to make it in entertainment industry, and we see them rehearsing scenes and recording audition tapes. “It’s a role I’ve always hoped to play, an actress who wants a part too much? I can relate to that. And I feel really lucky to be able to connect to my heritage this way,” said Shawkat in a statement.
While the 16-minute film is quite comical, it also subtly explores crucial notions of identity, perceptions and belonging.
Shooting with an almost quirky BTS-aesthetic, Gates— famed for using fashion as a starting point to unpack political issues— has managed to nonetheless ingeniously delve into hot topics, at a crucial time when conversations surrounding feminism and diversity in fashion and film are beginning to be taken seriously.
Watch the film below.
