That One Day, by American director Crystal Moselle, is the 12th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the acclaimed short-film series by women who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century. Crystal Moselle’s debut, The Wolfpack, about a family who home schooled and raised their seven children in the confinement of their apartment in the Lower East Side, won the U.S. Documentary Grand Jury Prize at 2015’s Sundance Film Festival. Moselle also made the viral video sensation Shapeshifting, on a pack of 14-year-old ballerinas. Everything can change in one day.
Rachelle, a 17-year-old girl living outside of New York City, discovers this, riding her skateboard through a journey of selfdiscovery. Intimidated by casual, macho sexism, Rachelle stumbles across a gang of charismatic, fearless skater girls. They show her another world is out there. A world of female friendship, strength and belonging. “Today,” confesses Rachelle “is the first day that I haven’t been feeling that sense of loneliness.”
We spoke to Miu Miu about their process of finding directors.
Can you describe in a few words what is special about Crystal’s work? Crystals storytelling starts with characters and real life. Her ability to empathize with them, narrate their stories and convey their personal emotions makes her work very unique. She also manages to involve the viewer at a very deep level as if you were part of the narration itself: this is simply the magic of cinema.
How do you find the women you work with on the series? Cinema and fashion have always been subtly but powerfully linked and are among the strongest cultural expression in life. Fashion is for us also a tool to explore collaborations and ideas. The Directors we work with have proved to have strong personalities and different points of view on femininity. Fearless women who are not afraid to storify personal perspectives as expression of creativity.
What have been the reactions to the films? Miu Miu Women’s Tales project was born to promote critical reflection and to emphasize profound investigation on women, their dignity, their battles, their expressions. Not a cosseted ghetto, nor the feigned surprise of the new but a moment of exploration which underline the quality of female creativity. Embracing women’s complexities and contradictions, the audience naturally captured the essence of the Miu Miu Women’s Tales series which, since its debut in 2012, marked the path to several similar projects based on the same nature.
Do you think the only way more women will get to direct commercials is if brands commit to that choice? The more there is a conversation the more possibilities we have that in the future there will be no gender discrimination also in this field. The fashion industry is already giving strong visibility to female creativity and possibly the rest will follow…..
Watch a full interview with director Crystal Moselle about Women’s Tales #12 That One Day.