Laura Paredes as Lidia Martínez, the medium
“The clothes, mysteriously sprang out like water in the middle of a field”.
Writer/ Director Laura Citarella with her natural gift for creating mystery and intrigue pulls you in. Before you know it, you are hooked. This new short El Affaire de Miu Miu (2024) flows on, with a similar quality.
Laura Citarella, born in 1981 in La Plata, Argentina, made a strong impact in Venice in 2022, with her film Trenque Lauquen and is considered a powerful new voice from Argentina. Trenque Lauquen (2022) is all of 4 hours long (in two parts- both available on MUBI) but with a gentle quirky humour, intrigue, and the vast pampas landscapes explored to full effect, it becomes mesmerizing. Much appreciated on the festival circuit, it was honoured with 10 nominations and 10 wins.
For almost twenty years now, she has worked with ‘El Pampero Cine’, an independent organization that experiments on ways to create, produce and screen films. She started out with Ostende” (2011) with Laura Paredes, then brought out La Mujer de los Perros (2015) starring Verónica Llinás and in 2022, her powerful and mysterious Trenque Lauquen . Citarella has often worked with the same team, and in El Affaire Miu Miu (2024) she has called on their talents again.
El Affaire Miu Miu, is the 28th Chapter for the #MiuMiuWomensTales series. She is accompanied in Venice by Malaysian Taiwanese director Tan Chui Mui, director and star of the Barbarian Invasion (2021) who is screening her # 27th Chapter: ‘I am the Beauty of your Beauty, I am the Fear of your Fear’ (2024).
‘El Affaire Miu Miu’ is an intriguing tale.
‘La Caterina’, an Italian supermodel, is flown in a small cessna to the pampa’s town of Trenque Lauquen with her Italian photographic team and a wardrobe of valuable Miu Miu clothes and accessories. Everyone comes out to welcome them considering it a special honour and, finally at the end of the first day, the model retires to her hotel exhausted. When she then vanishes into thin air and all logical options have been exhausted, the local Police Chief launches an investigation to find her.
There is more than an echo of Trenque Lauquen, where a woman also disappeared. Citarella reuses certain characters like ‘Chicho’ (Ezequiel Pierri) and then adds new ones with familiar faces, like the enigmatic Laura Paredes who plays Lidia Martínez, a clairvoyant, who offers “visualization assistance” but appears not be able to see anything. On the case also, is the matriarchal investigator María José played by the wonderful Verónica Llinás.
Verónica Llinás as investgator María José
For a 26-minute short, this delightful film encompasses a world of its own and we are all now waiting to know what comes next! Laura Citarella uses subtle detail to add humour to the story. Such as the investigator, María José’s jumper quietly accumulating the numerous large flower brooches so beloved by the disappeared model. The three women on the case, the Chief Commissioner, Delia Sirota, the investigator and the medium, bounce beautifully off each other, as they are drawn deeper into the mystery with quirky clues left, literally, dangling from a tree.
The atmosphere of the vast pampas landscapes are further enhanced by the moody cello music of Gabriel Chwoknik and his other musical effects. Just when the medium finally gets her mojo back and is able to ‘see’ the missing women, it appears the problem has been solved, but for these three women it has only just begun.
All the while, Chicho (Ezequiel Pierri) the organizer of the whole event, frets frantically that no blame should fall on him and mess up his business. The Italian photographic crew are basically absent and appear not to care either way, but Miu Miu, the fashion house, are anxious to recover their valuable collection of clothes that the investigating trio are holding as ‘evidence’.
El Affaire Miu Miu final shot
From the inspirational idea of creative director Miucca Prada, the fashion giant Miu Miu, part of the PRADA Group, initiated the challenging series of ‘Miu Miu Women’s Tales’ back in 2012, combining fashion and film. Their aim is to enable international directors of very different backgrounds and experiences to create their personal visions of the ‘female’ experience. For this, Miu Miu sponsors two women directors every year to shoot a short film each, relating to the world of women. These shorts are then screened at the Venice Film Festival to which the creators and the casts are invited, followed by comprehensive 2- day discussions. The all-female international personalities that are invited will hold conversations and participate with audiences at the 2024 81st Venice Film Festival to examine film from a woman’s perspective. Many notable women have participated before, including Carla Simón and Maggie Gyllenhaal.
El Affaire de Miu Miu ( 2024) at the 81st International Venice Film Festival
Writer Director Laura Citarella/ Producers Max Brun and Ezequiel Pierri/ Cinematographer : Inés Duacastella and Agustín Mendilharzu / Editors Miguel de Zuviría and Alejo Moguillansky/ Music Gabriel Chwoknik / Sound Marcos Canosa
Cast : Verónica Llinás, Laura Paredes, Juliana Muras, Ezequiel Pierri/ Rafael Spregelburd, Elisa Carricajo, Cecilia Rainero and Guillermina Villa Simón.
