“We’re filming on the way"

Filmmaking as a cinéfille on the road in L. A. Tea Time

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.34024/s7m06n78

Keywords:

road movie, cinéfille, Miranda July, Chantal Akerman

Abstract

Driving from their natal Quebec into the warm western landscape of U.S.A. roads, Sophie Bédard Marcotte and her cinematographer, Isabelle Stachtchenko, make their way towards Los Angeles with the goal of meeting film director Miranda July and ask for her advice on how to make a living doing movies. The motels, rednecks, Route 66, cowboys, music and conversations with strangers feature as if providing a checklist for compliance with the road movie’s conventional semantics while, at the same time, the film offers non-adherence to the genre codes, especially for women filmmakers on the road. Referring to Corrigan’s “genre hysteria”, Boczkowska’s proposal of experimental road movies and Lauretis’ “space-off”, by analyzing the documentary L. A. Tea Time (2019), by Marcotte, the aim of this essay is to explore the potential of the film, as an experimental road movie, at the intersection of genre, gender, and space, showcasing filmmaking by a cinéfille.

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Author Biography

  • Patrícia Brásia, Centro de Estudos Comparatistas da Faculdade de Lestras, Univerrsidade de Lisboa

    Patrícia Brásia is a FCT research fellow (2025.00799.BD). PhD candidate in Comparative Studies, with a special focus in film studies, is currently developing a research project that analyzes the impact on contemporary artistic practices, mainly through the cinematographic projects by Miranda July, of building, resourcing and working within the archive. With a bachelor’s degree in Cinema (University of Beira Interior), and a master degree in Television, Cinema and Transmedia Writing (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), as well as a master degree in Literary, Cultural and Interart Studies (Faculty of Arts and Humanities of the University of Porto), in her research, using a comparative approach, she applied Jack Halberstam’s reconceptualization of wildness to the analysis of artistic proposals. Having worked as a screenwriter, director and producer, at this time, she is part of FLUL’s Centre for Comparative Studies as a researcher in training.

References

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De Lauretis, T. (1987). Technologies of Gender: Essays on Theory, Film, and Fiction. Indiana University Press

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July, M. & Baumgardner, J. (2014). Here’s How Miranda July Dressed in the ‘90s. Vulture. https://www.vulture.com/2014/12/heres-how-miranda-july-dressed-in-the-90s.html

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Marcotte, S. B. (2019). L.A. Tea Time. La Distributrice de Films. 82 minutes

Mitchell, E. (2023). Chantal Akerman and the Cinéfille. Camera Obscura, 38 (1), 31–53. https://doi.org/10.1215/02705346-10278572

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Scott, R. (1991). Thelma & Louise. Pathé Entertainment. 130 minutes

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Published

2026-10-15

Data Availability Statement

The primary sources and research materials used in this study are available through their respective identifiers in the list of references.

Issue

Vol. 8 No. 1 (2026): More Women in Images

Section

Thematic Dossier

License

Copyright (c) 2026 Patrícia Brásia

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How to Cite

Brásia, P. (2026). “We’re filming on the way": Filmmaking as a cinéfille on the road in L. A. Tea Time. Imagem: Revista De História Da Arte, 8(1), e22832. https://doi.org/10.34024/s7m06n78
Received 2026-08-27
Accepted 2026-09-17
Published 2026-10-15