Madame B, Explorations in Emotional Capitalism

A 19-screen video installation and single channel feature-length film, designed for cinema, shown in a number of international institutions. Adapted from the legendary, prophetic novel from 1856, Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, updated into an ambitious feature film about our own time, Madame B explores the way dominant ideologies from the late nineteenth century – specifically, within the framework of patriarchy, capitalism and its investments in emotions, while love is for sale - are still rampant; today more than ever, perhaps. Capitalism and gender ideology, both luring people with that carrot of the contradictory expectation of permanent excitement, conspire to make individual lives hard, disappointing, and sometimes ruinous. By drawing on classic literature in order to provide an allegory for contemporary mores, the work will offer a radically new interpretation of the text, replete with powerful symbolism that evokes this reimagining. In this way, Madame B questions visually the role of women in a society driven by masculine and capitalist impulses. At the same time, the film explores ways in which cinematic writing can be turned into visual story-telling