Singer-songwriter Amanda Palmer has released a new song, along with an accompanying music video for “Mr. Weinstein Will See You Now,” a film that discusses sexual abuse of women by men in power. This six-minute film was first screened during a special screening in Los Angeles, California on October 4th, while the official release was made today.
Renowned choreographer and Grammy nominee Noémie Lafrance, who has worked with the likes of Feist, David Byrne and Brian Eno, directed the music video. The film opens up with a long tracking shot for the first half, showing various women dressed in a white dress shirt, singing along to the songs chorus.
Once the next shot opens up women are shown in different circumstances on the ground, crying or on a bed, with each hosting a look of horror on their face. Eventually all of the women run out of the room naked, down the stairs, before the next shot shows all the women standing up together confidently singing with the lyrics once again.
“We didn’t lip sync – we sang our fucking guts out. The energy in the room was palpable and radiant – strong enough to move fear and shatter the emotional entrenchment, the forced compartmentalization and the shame. This wasn’t just a video production – this was change happening at the most fundamental level,” Alex Woodhouse, a cast-member elaborated.
“For an entire day, a congregation of women worked together to create a collective battle-cry response to this moment in time,”Palmer explained regarding the video in a press release. “Working on this project fundamentally changed me inside. The act of running, sweating, laughing and filming with this group of powerful, determined, and shamelessly naked women was a stark reminder of what we are capable of doing when we join forces, roll up our sleeves, take off our masks, and create.”
The film is a reference to media mogul Harvey Weinstein, who has been accused of sexual assault and rape by multiple women in the entertainment industry. These allegations. which were exposed by the New York Times, opened up the #MeToo movement, encouraging many across the nation to open up their own experiences with sexual misconduct. Palmer referenced this on a Twitter post where she shared a small trailer of the video.
Brett Kavanaugh’s pending senate confirmation for a position on the US Supreme Court also encouraged the artist to release this song and accompanying video. The nominee has been accused by multiple women of sexual misconduct, which has been a source of controversy. Earlier this month Palmer was at an event to protest Kavanaugh’s confirmation.
“I wasn’t going to, but then Kavanaugh happened. and I’m getting enough done in the studio, and…fuck it,” Palmer wrote in a press-release for the screening event. “I want to be together with everybody in my community to experience this moment. without exaggerating, this is the most powerful video I have made in my entire career and i wish it weren’t getting more relevant by the second, but it is. so let’s get together, use this opportunity to talk and rage and commune, and LET’S DO THIS.”
Palmer, who is originally from New York City, has been in Los Angeles in preparation for her upcoming studio album. According to her statements it will be released next spring.
Photo credit: Raymond Flotat
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