Ser mujer
2025 · 3m · Venezuela
Directed by Amaia Mauro
Genres: coming-of-age, drama
Tones: contemplative, tender
As girls transition into adulthood, the physical changes of their bodies transform how men perceive them, replacing childhood innocence with an awareness of their emerging femininity that reshapes how they see the world and themselves.
Picked by Zoe
The scouts
The premise is quietly radical—taking the male gaze as *the* subject rather than pretending it doesn't exist—but Mauro doesn't grandstand about it; she just lets the shift happen in three minutes, which is either restraint or cowardice depending on the execution.
A formally precise meditation on the Mulvey lineage, situating itself squarely in feminist film theory while maintaining the tactile, observational language of contemporary European coming-of-age cinema—the kind of short that sparks arguments about complicity versus critique.
The real move here is likely in how Mauro *frames* that transition—whether it's a shift in camera height, a change in how bodies occupy the frame, or a single moment where the girls themselves clock the difference—and that formal choice will determine if this lands as revelation or exercise.