Le Viol de la Méduse (Version 1)

Alia Raza's Le Viol de la Méduse (Version 1) reimagines the mythical Greek muse Medusa as a character played by contemporary fashion world muse Julia Restoin-Roitfeld. The story of the young Medusa's rape by the sea god Poseidon while worshiping at the temple of Athena and her subsequent punishment, a curse that to turn her into a mutant, is told through imagery deriving from beauty and fashion photography, commercials and music videos, creating a contemporary, seminarrative film collage that portrays an ancient myth in two minutes. In a twist on the original story, Medusa reverses Athena's curse and returns herself to human form. The objects that map her suffering - gardenia and tuberose flowers, dried leaves and incense, black sand and white powder, cigarettes and scotch whiskey - are imaginary notes in the mythic fragrance of Medusa's journey from girl to monster to woman.