SHANGRI-LA, directed, written and performed by Isabel Sandoval, is the twenty-first film commissioned by Miu Miu for its acclaimed Women’s Tales series of short films directed by leading contemporary international directors, exploring and celebrating vanity and femininity in the twenty-first century with a critical eye. Set in California, during a period in history when interracial relationships were outlawed, the film tells the story of a Filipino woman who is besotted with her white lover. She shares her most intimate thoughts and sensuous words with him in a church confessional, while the man on the other side of the grate listens to her in silence. But this is no standard religious ritual – the booth turns into a romantic time machine and travels through a succession of future scenarios, in which the protagonist appears as multiple dazzling women who achieve their dream of loving whoever they want and finding genuine fulfilment. The title SHANGRI-LA evokes the idea of an earthly paradise isolated from the rest of the world. For some immigrants, America was a promised Shangri-La, but the reality in the nineteenth and early twentieth century turned out to be quite different. Isabel Sandoval’s film takes a different look at this historic moment, from the perspective of a trans woman of colour who dreams of being free to love in a utopia without any prejudices.
SHANGRI-LA debuted on 23 February 2021 at miumiu.com and on Miu Miu’s social media channels.