Ava enters the Brooklyn loft for the first time. It’s empty. Freshly painted but old. Sun streams through the large windows, onto the hardwood floor, worn with marks from previous inhabitants. Ava sits down. This is now home. Her home. This is where she’ll meet a boy and fall in love. This is where wine will be spilt at the party. This is where they’ll scream at each other, and decide it’s all over. The apartment will become a witness to Ava’s personal history - her joy and sadness, hopes and disappointments - the kind of universal space we all find ourselves evolving into adulthood.

Dakota Fanning’s directorial debut, Hello Apartment, is the 15th commission from Miu Miu Women’s Tales, the acclaimed short-film series by women who critically celebrate femininity in the 21st century.

Actress Dakota Fanning entered the public consciousness with her award winning performance in I Am Sam, when she was just six-years-old. Since then, she appeared in War of the Worlds; the generation defining Twilight series; and transitioned seamlessly into adult roles, such as in American Pastoral. 2018 sees Dakota star in period drama mystery TV series The Alienist.

Hello Apartment is written by Liz Hannah (co-writer of Steven Spielberg’s Academy Award nominated The Post). Liz describes the short’s idea as, “reliving your past while going through what’s happening in your life now, in one space.” Dakota says the story, “was inspired by my first home, where I still live. It is a shrine to experiences.” Asked if she envisages ever leaving her current place, she replies, “I’ve a hard time letting go. What happens to all those memories?” On her first experience as a director, Dakota admits, “I needed to scare myself a little.” She adds that, “Miu Miu feels like a family to me. It’s been a real joy to incorporate all the different looks.

This episode of new Women’s Tales is a tender portrait of a young woman, skipping sensually over days, months and years. It reminds us that we write ourselves into our surroundings. The scars are our stories. Decades later, a much older Ava returns to the same space, the same sun streaming though the large windows, and the memories flood back. “Hello apartment.”