Celia Rowlson-Hall Directs Miu Miu Women’s Tales #14

miu miu women's tales

Way back in 2011, we blogged about the fact that Fashion brand Miu Miu had begun to enlist female directors to shoot a series of short films entitled The Women’s Tales and introduced you to the first film of the series, The Powder Room shot by Zoe Cassavetes.

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

Now, 6 years later Miu Miu has continued with the series and has now produced their 14th – (The [End) of History Illusion] directed by Celia Rowlson-Hall for Miu Miu Women’s Tales series.

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

“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.

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

(The [End) of History Illusion], by Celia Rowlson-Hall, is the 14th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales. The acclaimed short-film series invites today’s most profound and original female directors to investigate vanity and femininity in the 21st century.

Below is the entire 13 minute film:
YouTube video player

Dancer/choreographer/filmmaker Celia Rowlson-Hall is best known for her iconic choreography in the hit TV show Girls; her work on music videos by Alicia Keys and MGMT; her sweet, sad shorts, such as The Audition and Prom Night; and the 2015 feature, MA, a contemporary, wordless re-telling of Virgin Mary’s venture, through deserts and dirt-tracks. Filmmaker Magazine says Rowlson-Hall “folds one art form into another” and “allows her to employ her body as a storytelling vehicle.”

About her new Women’s Tales film, Rowlson-Hall says, “I wanted to explore commercialism in the face of fear, creating a spectacle to distract and entertain, an escape from our present day reality.” She knew the perfect readymade setting: a Cold War era, Las Vegas nuclear bunker, which was shaped into a picturesque family home, designed to survive a nuclear war for an entire year. “When I saw the new Miu Miu collection,” reflects Rowlson-Hall, “there was something about the textiles and colours that made me want to create characters which could come with this space.”

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

These characters slowly come apart in (The [End) of History Illusion] as the cataclysmic events above ground take their toll below. This pastel-hued community can no longer sustain the Hollywood musical illusion. A new reality breeds chaos and confusion. The spirit of the film takes inspiration from how Rowlson-Hall thinks of Miu Miu: “elastic, grounded, sensitive and risk taking.”

Photos from the the shoot:
Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

miu-miu-womens-tales-14/

Miu Miu Womens Tales #14

Credits:
Directed by Celia Rowlson-Hall
produced by Elise Tyler
Still photos in this post by Brigitte Lacombe
Makeup by Brittany White
Hair by Amy Wilson
Choreographer Sarah Prinz
Fashions by Miu Miu

information and video courtesy of Miu Miu