IT
Miu Miu Women's Tales

#17 SHAKO MAKO

by Hailey Gates
Italy, United States, 2019, 17', colore, DCP
Screenplay: Hailey Gates
Sunday 01 September 2019
16:45 Sala Perla Tickets, All Accreditations
 

cinematography
Adam Newport-Berra
music
Christopher Bear

cast
Alia Shawkat

producers
Alicia Van Couvering
Jonathan Lee
executive producer
Max Brun
in association with
Lana Kim
Jett Steiger

productions
Hi Production
Ways&Means

International
press office
Miu Miu Women's Tales
Chiara Calzavara

Farah, a bread seller, walks the streets of a Middle Eastern town, while an American military vehicle, surrounded by soldiers, slowly passes by. A moment's silence. Then, a devastating explosion. Civilians are bloodied, wounded. The horrors of war. "Farah" looks around aghast and wailing. But nothing here is quite what it seems. In fact, "Farah" is a character played by an aspiring actress called Laila. And this isn't Iraq, but a replica village erected on the Fort Irwin army base in California, used to train American troops before being sent abroad. Laila believes her acting talents are being wasted away in this arid simulation, where female role-players are limited to mute, background roles. She takes things much more seriously. Laila plots her way out.

 

Filmography

2019 Shako Mako (short)

Hailey Gates is an American writer, actress, model and journalist who grew up in Los Angeles. After graduating from the Experimental Theatre Wing at the Tisch School of Arts, Hailey worked at The Paris Review. She left to host the Viceland series States of Undress, which saw Hailey travel around the world, often to conflict zones, to report on the social dimension of fashion weeks in politically fraught settings. Hailey has also acted in David Lynch's acclaimed reboot, Twin Peaks: The Return and the feature Ricki and the Flash, starring Meryl Streep. Alongside artist Tom Sachs, Hailey co-wrote and produced A Space Program. And Hailey also modeled for Miu Miu's campaign entitled "Subjective Reality." Shako Mako marks her directorial debut.

"I became fascinated by instances of people acting, but in real life, and how that affects the psyche and your emotional state. This type of military exercise was innovated by a TV producer. I thought it was so interesting that we were sending soldiers to Iraq and training them in a Hollywood-esque facility." [Hailey Gates]

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