On September 4th as part of the 78th Venice Film Festival Giornate degli Autori program, Miu Miu premiered its 22nd commission of their Women’s Tales titled I and The Stupid Boy. Directed by Kaouther Ben Hania, the premiere screening joined the 21st commission of Women’s Tales titled Shangri-La directed by Isabel Sandoval. 

Since 2011, Miu Miu has commissioned two films a year, one for their summer and winter collections.The acclaimed short-film series invites today’s most profound and original female directors to investigate vanity and femininity in the 21st century; plus the directors are given full creative control for the production of their respective film. 

Kaouther Ben Hania is a Tunisian film director most known for her recent work, The Man Who Sold His Skin, which was nominated for Best International Feature Film at the 93rd Academy Awards in 2021. Ben Hania’s 2017 feature, Beauty and the Dogs, was selected in Cannes Film Festival’s official selection Un Certain Regard.

In I and The Stupid Boy, Nora the protagonist is played by French actress Oulaya Amamra, who a striking young girl in new love. All dressed up, she takes a shortcut through an abandoned building, on the way for her hot date. Kevin, her ex, pulls up in the background. What ensues is a now universal 21st century story of male-female power, sexuality and shame — with a biting, feminist twist. Kevin’s part is played by actor Sandor Funtek, who recently had two films presented at Cannes 2021 The Story of My Wife and Suprêmes.

“I wanted to create an impossible love story,” says Kaouther. “The girl in my story is very empathetic,” she continues, “whereas the boy sees everything from his own perspective.” Kaouther’s film explores the breakdown of communication between these divergent personality types. The way Nora is dressed in her Miu Miu apparel is fundamental to the character’s story arc. “Nora has sex appeal, she wants to be cool. When she’s stopped by Kevin, her costume doesn’t help her. I love this contradiction.” Kaouther adds, “Costumes are a very powerful tool in cinema, like scenery and lighting.”

The story’s genesis originates when Kaouther once overheard a young girl in Paris shout desperately at a boy, “Give me back my phone!” I and The Stupid Boy contains a multitude of contemporary themes facing young women everywhere today: technology and intimacy, toxic relationships and self-value, and how, as Kaouther puts it, “secrets become easily revealed in a single click.”

Watch the film below: