“GENUINELY EMPOWERING. THIS IS GALVANISING, BOUNDARY-PUSHING ART AT IT'S BEST.”

⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️

— Charlotte Jansen,The Guardian

UNESCO World Heritage logo with a black laurel wreath surrounding the text 'UNESCO World Heritage'.
A black silhouette of a dog on the left, a black silhouette of a cat on the right, both facing the same direction, with a white background.
Black and white abstract illustration with geometric shapes and lines.
Silhouette of a person holding a flag with the text 'Stop the War' on a city street at sunset.
Collection of quotes and reviews about a film called 'Maya,' featuring positive comments from various sources such as Wired, Le Figaro, Filmmaker, France 24, Hindustan Times, The Hindu, Forbes, Vanity Fair, The Nod, Hyperallergenic, Financial Express, and Voices of VR, with some quotes emphasizing empowerment, creativity, and immersive storytelling.
Meta Quest logo with black text and blue linked circles symbol.

“It’s not every day you find yourself riding on a giant tampon across a blood red lagoon, on your way to fight a cyclopean octopus with your bare hands. But here you are, on a journey of self-discovery – which also involves some intense face-offs with cruel teenagers and a grilling from your mother in your bedroom (to those who have grown up with south Asian parents, a trigger warning – this character is terrifyingly accurate).

Artist-activist Poulomi Basu has made a genre-bending playable artwork/ interactive virtual reality/ immersive animated film about a menstruating superhero, Maya. It would be easy to scoff at this, but Maya: The Birth of a Superhero, co-directed by Basu’s longtime collaborator CJ Clarke, is a fun and poignant coming-of-age romp that is genuinely empowering. Part superhero satire, part psychological thriller, Maya takes the participatory genre in a bold new direction.

Whether you’ve menstruated or not, this brings you closer to what it’s like, and how it might be seen differently – as the film makes clear, menstruation is still globally stigmatised and, in many cultures, a taboo.

Basu’s previous work, Blood Speaks, managed to shift laws around menstrual exile, known as chhaupadi, practised in Nepal. While that piece took a documentary approach to show the conditions of a teenager with postpartum bleeding forced to live in a hut in exile, here Maya unites the experiences of women in the east and west, turning shame into a superpower.”

- The Guardian, 4****

Poster for the immersive experience 'Maya: The Birth of a Superhero.' Features a large red blood droplet with a silhouette of a woman inside, appearing to be lying down or floating. The moon is inside the blood droplet. The poster has a black background with red and white text, including quotes and names of creators and sponsors. The text highlights the event's focus on Maya, a superhero, with references to the Festival De Cannes.

An immersive story following Maya, an ordinary 21st Century girl, as she transforms into a uniquely female superhero whose powers derive from menstruation.

The story of a South Asian girls coming of age and the awakening of her sexuality. She must overcome her own shame and fear to find her inner strength and true super-powers.

With the arrival of her first period Maya’s world is turned upside down as she is confronted by the restrictive traditions of her conservative family and a world of hidden shame, stigma and taboo in contemporary London.

An odyssey of womanhood and femininity, referencing ancient symbols of spiritual and feminine power, the piece draws together the real and the imaginary to trace possible paths to resilience and justice. The Player must discover a radical power based on self love, care and solidarity.

Created and co-directed by renowned artist and women rights activist, Poulomi Basu and co-directed by CJ Clarke, MAYA: The Birth of a Superhero stars Indira Varma (Game of Thrones), Charithra Chandran (Bridgerton) and Florrie Antoniou.

For more information, please get in touch.

Produced by Just Another Production Company and Floréal in co-production with France Télévision – Francetv Storylab, in conjunction with the Meta VR for Good program.

This project was possible thanks to the support of the CNC – Centre national du cinéma et de l’image animée, The City of Paris and Digital Catapult/Creative XR. It was developed with the support of the Immersive Creators Catalyst established by Women in Immersive Technologies Europe (WITT) and Unity for Humanity. 

Cast

A woman with curly dark hair and a serious expression, wearing a black sleeveless top with ruffle details, standing in front of a retro patterned background with orange and black geometric shapes.
Close-up portrait of a woman with dark hair in a slicked-back hairstyle, wearing a black turtleneck sweater, against a dark background.

Indira Varma

IMDB

press

Charithra Chandran

IMDB

Digital art of a woman with dark curly hair, glowing eyes, and ornate jewelry, surrounded by fiery orange and yellow flames.

THE GUARDIAN

A character from animated film 'Princy' dressed in traditional Indian attire, surrounded by glowing red and pink swirling lines against a dark background. The image has a 'cineforum' logo in the top left corner.

CINEFORUM

A graphic design featuring a large red drop with a white circle in the center, and a silhouette of a human figure with hair and beard hanging upside down at the bottom, with a black textured background. An overlay of the France 24 news logo is in the top left corner.

FRANCE 24

A digital art portrait of a woman with vibrant colors, piercing eyes, and curly hair, surrounded by colorful abstract patterns.

HYPERALLERGIC