This week's filmmaker for our Female Filmmaker series is an inventive indie filmmaker who does a little bit of everything. She has even gone nude herself! Let's talk about the exciting, strange, and quirky career of the tall and intelligent Miranda July.
Miranda July might be the poster child for quirky, indie 2000s aesthetic. That is when she came to prominence, but she is so much more than a quirky indie filmmaker. She is a writer, director, and actress, and she even did the narration for the Oscar-nominated documentary Fire of Love. She keeps busy and she keeps herself busy with projects that wind up being a big deal. That's saying something for the mousey brunette! So where did July come from?
The curly-haired cutie with a classic, lanky frame and bright blue eyes came to us from Vermont. She was always an oddball and a creative force to be reckoned with. In high school, she even wrote letters to an inmate in prison for murder and then wrote and performed a show about it at a local punk rock club. She was only sixteen! That's maturity and ingenuity. She delved into writing and performance art...and stripping.
Seriously! While living in Portland, Miranda July took on a series of odd jobs to support herself as she tried to get her writing and performing career off the ground. She waitressed, she worked as a taste tester for Cocoa-Cola, and she stripped. Hey, if you're going to become a stripper, then Portland is the place to do it!
Miranda's 2007 book No One Belongs Here More Than You was filled with quirky musings, stories, and essays. In 2005, she directed her first feature-length film called Me and You and Everyone We Know.
In 2011, she appeared in her film The Future. She wrote, directed, and acted in this co-production with a German production company. This is also where she made her nude debut! She bends over slightly and lifts her mini-skirt to show her cheeks. Hey, that's quite an ass for a skinny thing like Miranda! This R-rated movie earns its rating with this ass shot 43 minutes in.
Her most recent film was Kajillionaire which starred Evan Rachel Wood and Gina Rodriguez. These two stars were quite a get for the amazing filmmaker and they rounded out this charming film about a humble family of criminals. The pair also engaged in lesbian lip locks.
As an actress, she has branched out beyond her own films. She lived in Portland for a while, so she was a natural choice to star in two episodes of Portlandia. She also starred in the critically acclaimed 2018 film Madeline's Madeline. She showed pokies when she wore a tank top.
Miandra is a smart cookie and she has interesting takes on differences between male and female directors. On male directors, she has said that: "They become kind of brands. It's much harder to do that if you're a woman. That's crucial for longevity...All those men are also personal. I don't mind that, but I do mind that it's not really questioned, whereas I or another woman is looked at as so self-obsessed. Men are just not being judged in the same way. They're never going to be annoying in the same way."
That's an interesting and accurate take. Miranda has been accused of naval gazing, but is she doing anything much different than other filmmakers? So how did she stand out and get our attention? By going nude! Like I said, she's a smart woman and I can't wait to see what she does next.
