secretprojectrevolution

secretprojectrevolution is a 17-minute black-and-white film, with Madonna's off-camera commentary led throughout, consisting of a narrative recorded exclusively for the project as well as excerpts from her onstage speeches during the MDNA Tour.

It opens with a scene depicting Madonna locked in a prison cell, holding the bars. This is projected against a voice-over consisting of excerpts from her onstage speech at the Olympia in Paris, during the MDNA Tour in July 2012. The speech reflected on the economic situation in the world at that time, explaining that fear is the source of intolerance.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdRaL5ZQ0Rc#t=17m11s |title=Madonna Live At Paris Olympia 2012 Official HD Director's Cut Full Show |publisher=YouTube |access-date=March 22, 2014}} The film then shows a pantomime, with the tour dancers sitting and standing still in a room, while Madonna enters holding a gun, which represents branding, and starts shooting them. This section ends with the words "All you need for a movie is a gun and a girl", a quote from Jean-Luc Godard, displayed across the screen.

The following scene shows Madonna being dragged by police officers to a cell, where she is thrown on the floor. By that point, her narrative starts, explaining the circumstances that prompted her to undertake the project. It continues for several minutes as the footage of Madonna in her cell alternates with scenes depicting a man being tortured by others, and a dancer performing routines. Madonna is then shown restrained on a bed, with a dancer teasing her and simulating torture. The following scene depicts an imprisoned man, who clearly had been a victim of a physical torture, with blood on his face and chest.

In the following segment, dancers start performing routines and adapting expressive poses as downtempo piano music plays and Madonna continues her narrative. An almost nude man dances in front of guards and Madonna's a cappella performance of "My Country, 'Tis of Thee" starts playing, followed by excerpts from her Saint Petersburg speech.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MnEUMA-nPd4 |title=Madonna's Full St. Petersburg Speech |publisher=YouTube |access-date=March 22, 2014}} The footage of Madonna killing the dancers is played backwards as they are brought back to life. Madonna is again shown being dragged by police officers who drop her on the floor and start looking down on her. This is followed by a quote "Freedom is what you do with what's been done to you" by Jean-Paul Sartre.

The film ends with a message: "This film is dedicated to those who have been persecuted, are being persecuted, or may be persecuted. For the color of their skin. Their religious beliefs. Their artistic expression. Their gender. Or their sexual preferences. Anyone whose human rights have been violated."

In late 2012, Madonna and Steven Klein were due to work together on a photo shoot for the promotional campaign of shoes and lingerie she had designed as part of her Truth or Dare collection. However, her products were met with unfavorable reception from the distributing company as being too provocative, what led to cancellation of the whole project. Instead, Madonna decided to use the set for filming the project with Klein and her dancers, using own-designed lingerie. The work began in Buenos Aires, Argentina in mid-December 2012, during Madonna's break between performances in the country. In the course of following weeks, the singer started to write the narration and more footage was produced.

The film was her artistic response to a series of social and political events which took place around the world while she was performing the MDNA Tour in the second half of 2012. These events included, among others, the threat of Israel striking Iran, the imprisonment of Yulia Tymoshenko in Ukraine and Pussy Riot in Russia, gay rights violations, presidential election in the United States and the attempted assassination of Malala Yousafzai.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4U93frWrToI |title=VICE meets Madonna: secretprojectrevolution |publisher=YouTube |access-date=March 15, 2014}} One of the scenes was inspired by the film The Night Porter, while another was inspired by the scene in the film noir Caged in which Eleanor Parker is jailed.{{cite web |url=http://www.madonnarama.com/posts-en/2013/05/29/madonnarama-reveals-more-details-about-steven-kleins-secret-project/ |title=Madonnarama Reveals More Details about Steven Klein's Secret Project |publisher=madonnarama.com |date=March 29, 2013 |access-date=May 29, 2014}} Madonna has described secretprojectrevolution as one of the most important things she has ever done.{{cite web |author=Sal Cinquemani |url=http://www.slantmagazine.com/house/2013/24/radical-chic-madonna-unveils-short-film-secretprojectrevolution |title=Radical Chic: Madonna Unveils Short Film secretprojectrevolution |work=Slant Magazine |date=September 24, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2014}}{{cite web |author=Abbey Goodman |url=https://edition.cnn.com/2013/10/03/showbiz/celebrity-news-gossip/madonna-anderson-cooper-interview/index.html |title=Madonna to Anderson Cooper: Shedding a new ray of light on art and life |publisher=CNN |date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2014}}

On December 14, 2012, a picture taken on the set of the project surfaced online, sparking rumors that Madonna was allegedly working on her next music video, which many fans thought would be "Gang Bang". On December 19, Steven Klein first referred to the film as "#secretproject" on Twitter, what would serve as its official name. Later that month, he contacted the likes of Rihanna, Lady Gaga, Cher, Dita Von Teese, and Naomi Campbell on Twitter, inviting them to participate in the project.{{cite web |author=Bradley Stern |url=http://www.muumuse.com/2013/03/madonna-lady-gaga-rihanna-and-steven-kleins-secretproject-whats-going-on.html/ |title=Madonna, Lady Gaga, Rihanna and Steven Klein's #SecretProject: What's Going On? |publisher=MuuMuse |date=March 8, 2013 |access-date=April 3, 2014}} A picture saying "From Madonna to Rihanna 2 of 3" would emerge at the beginning of 2013, followed by a photograph of Naomi Campbell and Kate Moss, with a caption associating them with the project.{{cite news |title=Secret Project (Cher, Lady Gaga, Madonna and Rihanna) |publisher=ukmix.org}} More pictures from the set surfaced online, and Madonna started to post stills from the film and related pictures on Instagram in March 2013, attributed with a hashtag #secretproject, later modified to #secretprojectrevolution.{{cite web |url=http://instagram.com/madonna |title=madonna on Instagram |publisher=instagram.com |access-date=April 2, 2014}}

On March 20, Klein published first trailer of the film.{{cite web |url=http://kleinstudio.us/post/45860241808 |title=STEVEN KLEIN STUDIO |publisher=kleinstudio.us |date=March 20, 2013 |access-date=April 3, 2014}} In July, rumors started circulating that the project is actually a launch of the new clothing line, designed by Madonna's then-partner Brahim Zaibat.{{cite web |author=Trent |url=http://www.pinkisthenewblog.com/2013-07-15/madonnas-secret-project-is-actually-the-launch-of-a-new-clothing-line-by-her-boyfriend |title=Madonna's 'Secret Project' Is Actually The Launch Of A New Clothing Line By Her Boyfriend |publisher=pinkisthenewblog.com |date=July 15, 2013 |access-date=April 3, 2014}}

Initially announced for a May 12, 2013 release,{{citation needed|date=February 2015}} the film was eventually premiered on September 23, in a series of eighteen outdoor screenings across five cities in four countries: New York, Los Angeles, Toronto, Berlin and London. The following day, secretprojectrevolution was released in the same form in Chicago, San Francisco, Rome, Paris and Tel Aviv, the latter added last minute as the final location.{{cite news |author=Filip Majkowski |url=http://www.ultramadonna.com/en/news/224/secretprojectrevolution_world_premiere |title="secretprojectrevolution" world premiere |publisher=UltraMadonna.com |date=September 26, 2013 |access-date=March 17, 2014}} All locations had been revealed shortly before events via Madonna's social media profiles. On September 24, the full film was uploaded onto YouTube{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXfXrl4K2D4 |title=secretprojectrevolution |publisher=YouTube |access-date=March 15, 2014}} and released via a new BitTorrent-based feature called Bundle, consisting of unlocked trailers and stills, plus three videos and a written message from Madonna, all locked but unlockable by submitting a valid email address.{{cite news |author=Haley Blum |url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/people/2013/09/17/madonna-short-film-art-for-freedom/2826337/ |title=Madonna short film to launch Art For Freedom project |newspaper=USA Today |date=September 17, 2013 |access-date=September 20, 2013}} BitTorrent claims that BitTorrent Bundle is still an alpha-stage project. It is a proprietary format for distributing locked content along with a virtual storefront that presents consumers with ways that the artist has chosen to enable content unlocking, which can vary.{{cite press release |author=Matt Mason |url=http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/09/17/the-revolution-will-be-distributed-madonnas-art-for-freedom-project-to-launch-on-bittorrent/ |title=The Revolution Will be Distributed: Madonna's Art For Freedom Project to Launch on BitTorrent |publisher=blog.bittorrent.com |date=September 19, 2013 |access-date=September 20, 2013}}

During a screening in New York's Gagosian Gallery, Madonna made a personal appearance at the event, preceding the projection with a speech and following it with a live performance of Elliott Smith's "Between the Bars", accompanied by her son Rocco Ritchie as a dancer.{{cite web |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMor0HwKLFY |title=Madonna Full Speech Before "secretprojectrevolution" @ Gagosian 9.24.13 |publisher=YouTube |access-date=May 29, 2014}}{{cite web |author=Andrew Lasane |url=http://www.complex.com/art-design/2013/09/madonna-debuts-secretprojectrevolution-film-project |title=Madonna Releases "secretprojectrevolution" Film Project (Video) |magazine=Complex |publisher=complex.com |date=September 25, 2013 |access-date=March 24, 2014}} Meanwhile, a 40-minute interview was uploaded onto YouTube, conducted in London by Vice's Eddy Moretti, in which Madonna explains the circumstances that prompted her to realize the whole project.

Despite Madonna's limited personal appearances to promote the project as well as its non-commercial nature, secretprojectrevolution was met with a respectable amount of media coverage and public interest, although the reviews it received were mixed.{{cite web |author=Bradley Stern |url=http://www.muumuse.com/2013/09/madonna-secretprojectrevolution-video-art-for-freedom.html/ |title=Causing A Contortion: Madonna's Beautiful, Bewildering #secretprojectrevolution |publisher=MuuMuse |date=October 4, 2013 |access-date=April 3, 2014}} An estimated ten thousand people watched the film across all screenings.{{cite web |author=Matt Zaremba |url=http://www.madonnanewera.net/en/something-to-remember/510-secretprojectrevolution.html |title=#secretproject |publisher=madonnanewera.net |date=May 26, 2014 |access-date=May 29, 2014}} In less than three weeks, the Bundle has been downloaded over 1.2m times{{cite magazine |author=Todd Spangler |url=https://variety.com/2013/digital/news/madonnas-free-movie-tops-1-2-mil-downloads-via-bittorrent-1200734281/ |title=Madonna's Free Movie Tops 1.2 Mil Downloads via BitTorrent |magazine=Variety|date=October 17, 2013 |access-date=March 17, 2014}} and as of October 2013, tens of works were being submitted every day on the Art for Freedom website.{{cite news |url=http://www.ultramadonna.com/pl/wiadomosci/1674/12_mln_pobran_secretprojectrevolution |title=1,2 mln pobrań "secretprojectrevolution" |publisher=UltraMadonna.com |access-date=March 17, 2014 |language=Polish}}

British singer-songwriter and activist Kate Nash announced working on her own "secret project" in August 2013, inviting fans to collaborate.{{cite web |url=http://www.myignorantyouth.com/are-you-makin-cool-shit/ |title=are you makin cool shit? |author=Kate Nash |publisher=myignorantyouth.com |date=August 22, 2013 |access-date=April 2, 2014}} She would later adapt Madonna's approach for her UK Street Teams project in October 2013, organizing group meet ups on previously announced locations.{{cite web |url=http://katenash.tumblr.com/post/63075518565/uk-street-teams-kngirlgang |title=UK STREET TEAMS #KNGIRLGANG |website=Tumblr |publisher=katenash.tumblr.com |access-date=March 18, 2014}} The music video for Lady Gaga's duet with R. Kelly "Do What U Want" was reported to be released on BitTorrent in December 2013, in collaboration with Vice.{{cite press release |author=Matt Mason |url=http://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/11/26/lady-gaga-x-bittorrent-bundle-to-premiere-next-week/ |title=Lady Gaga X BitTorrent Bundle to Premiere Next Week |publisher=blog.bittorrent.com |date=November 26, 2013 |access-date=May 29, 2014}} Although secretprojectrevolution never officially premiered in Poland, the Official Madonna Fanclub in Poland organized a screening of the film in Cracow in December 2013.{{cite news |url=http://www.ultramadonna.com/pl/wiadomosci/1702/pokaz_secret_project_revolution_w_krakowie |title=Pokaz 'Secret Project Revolution' w Krakowie |publisher=UltraMadonna.com |access-date=March 18, 2014 |language=Polish}}

Simultaneously with the release of the film, the Art for Freedom program was initiated, allowing artists to upload their own works expressing their personal definition of freedom and revolution on the artforfreedom.com website. A one-year-long grants program was launched in October, in support of individuals and organizations working to advance social justice. Every month, Madonna and a guest curator choose a winning submission and award $10,000 to a nonprofit organization or project of the winning artist's choice. The first guest curator was Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers.{{cite news |url=http://www.madonna.com/news/title/madonna-announces-art-for-freedom-grants-program |title=Madonna Announces Art For Freedom Grants Program |publisher=madonna.com |date=October 2, 2013 |access-date=March 18, 2014}}

On October 8, 2013, Madonna hosted first ever live art curation on Twitter, followed by another curation on Tumblr on November 13, 2013. Meanwhile, screenings of secretprojectrevolution took place in Jericho and Rio de Janeiro, on October 11 and 20, respectively. In November, an Art for Freedom-themed design overlay pack was released through a graphic design application Studio.{{cite news |author=Giampiero Fiorelli |url=http://www.drownedmadonna.com/index/item/799-madonna-releasing-a-design-overlay-pack-through-the-studio-app.html |title=Madonna releasing a Design Overlay Pack through the Studio App |publisher=DrownedMadonna.com |date=November 14, 2013 |access-date=March 18, 2014}} In early January 2014, Katy Perry became a guest curator of Art for Freedom,{{cite news |url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/5862354/katy-perry-to-guest-curate-madonnas-art-for-freedom-project |title=Katy Perry to Guest Curate Madonna's Art for Freedom Project |magazine=Billboard |date=January 7, 2014 |access-date=January 7, 2014}} followed by Miley Cyrus in early April.{{cite magazine|magazine=Billboard|url=http://www.billboard.com/articles/news/6032622/madonna-names-miley-cyrus-a-guest-curator-for-art-for-freedom|title=Madonna Names Miley Cyrus a Guest Curator for Art for Freedom|last=Rutherford|first=Kevin|date=April 2, 2014|access-date=April 3, 2014}} A live art curation took place on BuzzFeed on April 15, 2014.

{{reflist}}

• [https://blog.bittorrent.com/2013/09/24/secretprojectrevolution-download-the-bittorrent-bundle/ Download the film]
• [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uXfXrl4K2D4 secretprojectrevolution] on YouTube
• [http://www.hollywood.com/news/celebrities/56954040/madonna-art-for-freedom How Madonna is Changing the World with Art For Freedom]

{{Madonna}}

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Category:2013 films

Category:2013 short films

Category:American short films

Category:American black-and-white films

Category:Films about freedom of expression

Category:Films directed by Madonna

Category:2010s English-language films

Category:English-language short films