Venice Film Festival has announced the offerings for this year’s Miu Miu Women’s Tales, a “dedicated program of film screenings and revealing conversations by some of the most exciting women directors and actresses today” presented as part of Venice Days. The event will kick off September 2 with shorts directed by “Mary Shelley” helmer Haifaa Al-Mansour and actress Dakota Fanning.
Set in 1980s Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, Al-Mansour’s “The Wedding Singer’s Daughter” is about a young girl straining against the restrictive gender norms of her culture. Fanning’s directorial debut, “Hello Apartment,” traces a woman’s emotional evolution “from the perspective of where she loves and lives.”
Women’s Tales will also host a series of discussions featuring women working in film and TV at Spazio della Regione del Veneto. Filmmaker Penny Martin (“The Gentlewoman”) will serve as moderator. Al-Mansour and Fanning will participate in the first of these talks. Gugu Mbatha-Raw (“A Wrinkle in Time”), Bel Powley (“Diary of a Teenage Girl”), Stacy Martin (“High-Rise), Kristine Froseth (“Sierra Burgess Is a Loser”), Sadie Sink (“Stranger Things”), and Alison Sudol (“Transparent”) will take part in subsequent conversations.
“The women invited by Miu Miu from year to year to make up this astonishing album of tales are doubly blessed — with determination as well as talent,” stated Giorgio Gosetti, director of Venice Days. “They are multi-faceted artists who mix media — flitting from film to fashion or art — and weave narratives out of their passions and fears, unafraid of any judgments they may receive. Against the backdrop of this crucial year for the role of women, as they defend and reclaim their rights, [Venice Days] is delighted to welcome these artists who, with Miu Miu’s invaluable support, have been sprung from the pigeonhole their gender assigned them and are free to create their art using a full palette of colors and experiences.”
Jennifer Kent’s period revenge tale, “The Nightingale,” is the only film that will screen in competition at Venice this year. The European Women’s Audiovisual Network (EWA) wrote an open letter to fest prez Paolo Baratta about the Venice’s history of excluding female directors.
Miu Miu Women’s Tales runs September 2-4. Venice Film Festival takes place August 29 – September 8.
