It’s a sunny spring day in Paris, and a young woman is in a mechanic’s workshop, tending to a vintage silver Ford. She checks the engine oil and polishes the hood, with grease smeared across her cheek. She hops into the car and begins a leisurely, aimless journey around the city, where she has a series of strange, slightly surreal encounters—helping a woman move an antique chair across the street, dropping off boxes of plants at a store—before approaching the famous Fontaine des Lions in the city’s 12th arrondissement, where a figure stands waiting.
She’s wearing an oddly wintry outfit for such warm weather—a trapper hat decorated with embroidered crystals, a snug shearling-lined coat, knee-high boots—and carries bags with her, as if arriving for a stay with our unnamed protagonist. Then, she starts walking toward the camera, and as you look more closely, you notice: is that… Kim Gordon?
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
Yes, in fact, it is: the maverick musician and former Sonic Youth frontwoman is the titular star of this Claire Denis-directed short film, Avec Kim. (True Gordon fans will know this isn’t her first time in front of the camera, having made brief but memorable appearances in Todd Haynes’s I’m Not There and Gus van Sant’s Last Days.) The film, which co-stars French actor and director Suzanne Lindon as the younger woman, premieres today at the Venice Film Festival as part of Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the acclaimed short film series led by Miuccia Prada and her right-hand woman, Verde Visconti.
While past directors have included everyone from Agnès Varda to Ava DuVernay to Miranda July, having Denis involved this year feels like a real triumph: the legendary 80-year-old French auteur behind modern classics like Beau Travail and 35 Shots of Rum is known for her unflinching explorations of the lingering scars of colonialism, shaped by her upbringing in West Africa, as well as her tactile, elliptical visual style. As one of French cinema’s most uncompromising directors, it’s exceptionally rare for Denis to take on projects outside her feature films; it’s been over a decade since she made a short.
Thank goodness she did: Avec Kim is a mysterious and ultimately moving meditation on intergenerational female friendship, which seems to mirror the relationship Denis herself shares with Lindon. After watching Lindon’s debut feature, 2020’s Spring Blossom, Denis reached out to express her admiration, sparking a close friendship; they ended up collaborating on the screenplay for Denis’s most recent film, The Fence. (There’s some Gordon-Denis lore worth knowing here too, with Denis also directing a Sonic Youth video back in 2006.)
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
It all feels part and parcel of the overall Miu Miu philosophy, which—despite its ties to a younger, more playful side of the Prada spirit—has recently made a deliberate shift toward more age-inclusive casting, with figures like Kristin Scott Thomas, Gillian Anderson, and even Willem Dafoe all walking the runway over the past few years. It’s not necessarily about youth, but about a rebellious streak: the kind that both Gordon and Lindon possess in abundance.
On a hot, humid afternoon in Venice the day before the premiere, Vogue caught up with Gordon and Lindon (the former fresh off a flight from Los Angeles, as cool as ever in a grey version of the sunglasses worn in the movie) in a mercifully air-conditioned booth at their hotel—and learned more about how the film sparked a friendship between them, too.
Vogue: Tell me a little more about your relationship to Claire’s films, and how you first connected?
Kim Gordon: I met her years ago through Olivier Assayas, who I’m close friends with. I don’t remember exactly when. But I always admired her films: Beau Travail, White Material. She also did a Sonic Youth video a long time ago. She just asked me if I wanted to do this project with her. II was absolutely overjoyed and thrilled to do it.
Suzanne Lindon: Actually, my dad [actor Vincent Lindon] made a film with Claire when I was born, but I had never met her. She went to the movies to see my first feature, Spring Blossoms, and left me a message that I kept because it felt so surreal to have Claire talking to me about my film. Then she reached out and asked if I wanted to co-write her latest film, The Fence, with her. So I started writing with her, which is a very intimate process—we worked in her kitchen and saw each other every day for a year and a half. Then she asked me to do this project with her and with Kim. I knew that you [gesturing to Gordon] and Claire were friends because she sometimes talked about you while we were working together.
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
I read that you had to learn to drive in two weeks for the film, Suzanne?
Suzanne: Yes. I didn’t know what the movie would be about, but she called me and said she wanted to film me driving, and I didn’t know how to drive. I told her, ‘Yeah, sure! Great idea!’ And then I immediately called the driving school around the corner from my home. [Laughs.] I started taking lessons, but I knew I had to pick Kim up in my car, and I was so scared because I wanted Kim to be safe in my car.
Were you nervous to get in the passenger seat, Kim?
Kim: Actually, not at all. [Laughs.]
Suzanne: You were less nervous than I was.
The film has no dialogue, and I know Claire likes to improvise and figure things out as she goes. Was there a script of some sort? What material were you working from to play your roles?
Kim: There wasn’t a script. I was just told we’d be riding around Paris in the car.
Suzanne: I think she told us she wanted to film us in the car, and that was it. That’s what I loved about the project—I knew Claire would capture things, but she didn’t need to explain to us what she had in mind.
Kim: I mean, she’s also so abstract and poetic when she speaks in English. I don’t know about in French, but in English, no matter what she says, it comes out amazing. She mentioned the statue of the lions as being really special. That was one of the main things.
Suzanne: I remember from working with her on the script for The Fence that she has a unique way of writing films because she never fully decides at that stage. She’s always writing, but I think what I love about working with Claire is that you stay very free. I mean, we were talking in the car, and I think at some point we almost forgot we were being filmed.
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
There’s a mysterious quality to the film—it’s not entirely clear when it’s set, or what the relationship between the characters is. Was that something you discussed with each other or with Claire to try and figure out? Or did you want to keep it ambiguous for yourselves as well?
Kim: Well, I think I just assumed it was two friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time and were going to have this adventure together. It was also just so fun for me meeting Suzanne. I enjoyed it so much that it became easy. She made me very comfortable.
Suzanne: What I love is that, to me, this film will be a memory of the day we had. Sometimes we were waiting for the set and the team to be ready, so we talked to each other and really got to know each other, just like two friends who hadn’t seen each other for a long time. I was so happy to get to know you, and I think the relationship in the movie is actually the relationship we had that day.
Kim: It’s true.
The clothes are woven into the story so seamlessly—the workwear from the spring 2026 collection for the mechanic scenes, or that fabulous crystal-embroidered trapper hat you wear, Kim. Were you involved in picking that out?
Kim: It was among my options. It was very hot that day, by the way. [Laughs.]
Suzanne: It was April in Paris, and Kim was wearing this shearling hat in this hot old car. Why did you go for the hat?
Kim: I just thought it was awesome. I thouRight, I’m never going to own this, but I’m going to wear it. I don’t know, really.
Suzanne: The moment where we swap the hat and sunglasses meant a lot to me, because it really captures the essence of our friendship—two generations of women who are close friends. I love that, because that’s how I feel about Claire. I feel closer to her than to friends I’ve had since high school. So that moment of us sharing the hat says a lot, I think.
Photo: Brigitte Lacombe
Kim, tell me a bit more about working on the score. Was that always the plan?
Kim: Originally, I wanted to do it the way Neil Young did Dead Man Walking—just by watching the film and playing along. I did some of that, but I also went back and added parts later. At the start, Claire said she wanted something mysterious—she doesn’t give much direction, so it can be tricky to figure out what she actually likes. I knew she wanted the opening with the mechanic to feel more industrial. There was a song on my latest record she really liked, and she said, ‘Oh, can you do something with that melody?’ I wanted to create something that felt very open.
Suzanne: I haven’t seen the film yet, but I can’t wait to hear the music. My memories of what we shot are very clear, so I have an idea of what the film might be. But I know Claire will surprise me, so we’ll see.
It sounds like you really built a friendship through making this. Have you seen each other since? What’s it like being back together here in Venice?
Kim: It’s so great. It feels like we just saw each other yesterday. And Suzanne’s made a whole film in between!
Suzanne: Kim was one of the first people I dared to tell about the film, because I felt she could understand how stressful yet incredible that experience is. I remember you really encouraged me to go for it, and that meant a lot. I just started editing it 10 days ago, so we’ll see what it becomes. But Kim will be one of the first people I show it to.
Kim: That’s awesome.
Suzanne: You’re a part of my story now.
This interview has been condensed and edited for clarity.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here is a list of FAQs based on the topic of Kim Gordon Suzanne Lindon and their collaboration with Claire Denis for Miu Miu Womens Tales
General Background Questions
1 What exactly is Miu Miu Womens Tales
Its a ongoing film series commissioned by the fashion brand Miu Miu They invite female and nonbinary directors to create short films that explore femininity beauty and modern life from a womans perspective Its shown at major film festivals and online
2 Who are Kim Gordon and Suzanne Lindon in this context
They arent the directors herethey are the stars of the film Kim Gordon is a legendary musician and visual artist Suzanne Lindon is a French actress and filmmaker In this project they play lead roles in the short film directed by Claire Denis
3 Who is Claire Denis
She is a highly acclaimed French film director known for movies like Beau Travail and High Life Her work is often artistic emotional and deals with complex human relationships
4 What is the title of the film they made together
The short film is titled The Staggering Girl
5 What is the film about
Its a dreamlike visual story about a woman who returns to Rome to visit her aging artistic mother It deals with memory family and the feeling of being pulled between different worlds Kim Gordon and Suzanne Lindon play mysterious almost ethereal figures who appear in the protagonists memories and fantasies
About the Collaboration Friendship
6 How did this unlikely trio end up working together
Miu Miu often pairs a director with performers they admire or who are outside the traditional acting world Claire Denis handpicked Kim Gordon and Suzanne Lindon because she wanted their specific unique energiesGordons raw cool presence and Lindons delicate modern French style
7 Did Kim Gordon and Suzanne Lindon know each other before this
No they hadnt met before the shoot The film became a way for them to connect and they have spoken about how they formed a quick genuine bond on set which translates to their onscreen chemistry