By Emanuele Genna and Chiara Bardella

Yesterday afternoon, the Italian Pavilion in the Hotel Excelsior hosted the second talk in the Miu Miu Women's Tales series. Presiding over the proceedings, as moderator, journalist Penny Martin rose inimitably to the occasion to dialogue with the two actresses Ciara Bravo (well known to audiences for her role as Katie Knight in the TV series Big Time Rush), and Patricia Allison (alias Ola Nyman, in the Netflix series Sex Education)

As a warm-up, the two thespians were asked how they had found out about the short films made by Miu Miu. Bravo owned to adoring the handiwork of female filmmakers. Miu Miu's agenda, the Red Band Society star declared, is of vital importance because it moves the figure of women front and center, in a milieu, that of entertainment, in which women often struggle to shine. The discussion next shifted to screenwriting and the fact that, more often than not, actresses come up against roles for female characters written by men - men who may try to put themselves in their shoes, of course, yet will never be able to produce a three-dimensional portrait of a woman's psyche as well as a woman screenwriter.

The talk then turned to recently approved and long overdue guidelines for the film industry: rules that are designed to guarantee safety and consensuality in the filming of sex scenes, curtailing the risk of intimidation and subjugation that such a film set often presents. Moreover, the speakers underlined the growing importance of lead roles for women in productions made by the platforms: 42%, against 27% on cable television. The statistic attests to the booming opportunities both for actresses, given the chance to play complex modern characters, and for women viewers, who can identify with these characters and instantly feel they have achieved a significant degree of representation in the stories told. Bravo believes this is due to the new world of streaming, which lacks consolidated roles and thus offers the freedom to break new ground in an environment that is supportive of women.

The conversation ended on an optimistic note, as the actresses shared their fervent hope to see more stories featuring complex female characters on screen, represented honestly and transparently, as a necessary step on the road to a new equity.