Private Project

The Style of illusion


"Fashion is art, and fashion thus sets (style) standards. As the mirror that leads people to open themselves in new areas, new imaginary categories, fashion is also what allows something or someone to feel right as it is. In fact, fashion has a performative power – What does it means? Simply that without some magazines putting on their covers minorities, racial or sexual, these won’t be promoted as acceptable.

When it comes to speak about diversity and minority, the fashion world definitely enhance their esthetic value- yet, white models are still the figurehead of the project. Collections can be inspired by continents and countries, but they will be presented with none of their people.

The Style of Illusion illustrates a saying about the matter of cultural appropriation. How fashion can be seen as a performance to cover our weaknesses, the desire of being someone else. How pop culture affects us. Is the reflection in the mirror right? "

Also you could add the credits:

Directed and Produced by Maria Millan
Models: Lottie and Zahra from Bookings London.
Camara: Antoine Gourlez
Editor: Julien Camarroque
Production assistant: Antonio Curcetti
Styling: Maria Millan
Styling Assistant: Dariuz
Make Up: Magda Skoczylas
Hair: Toshinaru Kokubun
Runner: Charlyne Larue

  • Maria Millan
    Director
    The Refuge
  • Maria Millan
    Writer
    The Refuge
  • Maria Millan
    Producer
    The Refuge
  • Lotty Benson
    Key Cast
  • Zahra Gobir
    Key Cast
  • Project Type:
    Experimental
  • Runtime:
    1 minute 57 seconds
  • Completion Date:
    November 16, 2017
  • Country of Origin:
    United Kingdom
  • Country of Filming:
    United Kingdom
  • Language:
    English
  • Shooting Format:
    Digital
  • Aspect Ratio:
    16:9
  • Film Color:
    Color
  • First-time Filmmaker:
    No
  • Student Project:
    No
Director Biography - Maria Millan

Maria Millan is a Venezuelan film director and a screenwriter, based in London. In 2026, she will take part in an international art residency organised by SACO (Bi- Annual Contemporary Art Fair) in the Antofagasta region of Chile.

She recently directed Hands on Clay, a film commissioned by Sheffield DocFest and sponsored by Prime, which premiered at the festival in 2025. The film offers an intimate portrait of two women ceramic artists who step away from London’s pace to embrace a slower, tactile way of living and working, reflecting Maria’s ongoing interest in process, labour and emotional landscapes.

Maria is an alumna of The Latino Filmmakers Network Fellowship at the Sundance Film Festival 2025, where she participated with her screenplay The Hollow Women. The project was also developed through the Hessen Lab at the B3 Biennale in Frankfurt, was a semi-finalist for the Stowe Lab Screenwriting Fellowship in the US, and was selected for the Abortion Pipeline 2025. She previously took part in Talent Led: Next Gen by the Independent Film Trust (now Story Compound) in London.

Her documentary Trans_CCS premiered at the 33rd Tampa Bay International Gay & Lesbian Film Festival and went on to screen internationally, including at GRRL HAUS Cinema, BANGIFF, Philadelphia Latino Arts & Film Festival, Seattle Latino, Tokyo Shorts, and The Lonely Seal Film Festival in Boston. The film follows a trans woman navigating survival during lockdown and has been recognised for its sensitive, character-driven approach.

Maria directed her first feature-length documentary, Family Pride, Queer Aside, which premiered in 2024 at the Feminist Border Arts Film Festival in the US, where it won both the Jury and Audience Awards. The film screened at festivals across the US and Europe, including Queer Film Festival Utrecht, and has been used in academic contexts by researchers and educators. It was included in research at the University of Boston’s Queer Studies Department and screened at universities across the UK, Ireland, Germany and the US, accompanied by talks and forums led by Maria.

​In fiction, Maria directed the thriller The Refuge (2018), starring Lujza Richter Hugo and Demi Hannah Scott. Set in a women’s aid refuge on the verge of closure, the film was selected for L’Etrange Film Festival in Paris and The Women’s Film Festival in Seattle, received a private screening and Q&A at Silencio (David Lynch’s private members’ club), and is currently available on Amazon.

Maria began her creative career in the art department, working on set design for television advertising in Caracas before relocating to London in 2011, where she transitioned into photography, contributing to publications including Vogue Italia and Fruk Magazine. She holds a BA (Hons) in Communications and Media specialising in Audio-Visual Arts from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas, and trained in directing and editing at EICTV in Cuba.

Across all her work, Maria centres under-represented voices and marginalised communities, with a sustained commitment to stories led by women and LGBTQ+ individuals. Her practice consistently challenges systems of silence and inequality, and she actively advocates against domestic violence, using cinema and photography as tools for visibility, empathy and social change.

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