Painting by John Singer Sargent
Embedded Files
Madame X
Short Film
When renowned portraitist John Singer Sargent sparks controversy with his Portrait of Madame X at the Paris Salon of 1884, the subject of the painting must come to terms with her ruined reputation and figure out how to move on with her life.
Madame X was filmed in October of 2026!
Crew
Writers: Roxy Arecco & Mario del Cubo
Director: Roxy Arecco
Director of Photography: Coby Wise
Gaffer: Luke Marino
Sound Mixer: Matthew King
1st Assistant Director: Caroline Bennett
1st Assistant Camera: Dylan Lipitz
2nd Assistant Camera: Kamaryn Pecoraro
Script Supervisor: Christin Balan
Boom Operator: Casandra Lleras
Key Grip: Ehtashuan Nazar
Fight Director: Ida Mihok
Costumers: Joy Grad & Roxy Arecco
PAs: Violet Prete & Gabby Grinbergs
Set/Props: Mario del Cubo
Stills from Madame X
BTS from set
Inwood Filmmaker Fund Grant
Madame X was awarded a $5,000 grant by the Inwood Filmmaker Fund.
Synopsis
Paris, 1883. American painter John Singer Sargent arrives at the home of the infamous beauty Amélie Gautreau to paint her portrait. The session begins as a farce of social performance: Amélie’s domineering mother Marie micromanages every angle, every shade of powder, every illusion of propriety. When Marie is finally expelled from the room, a charged, witty conversation unfolds between painter and muse about autonomy, ambition, and the violence hidden inside “being seen.”
One fallen dress strap —captured in paint— becomes an act of quiet rebellion of the two.
A year later, at the Paris Salon, the unveiling of Portrait of Madame X triggers outrage. Amélie’s reputation implodes. John, stunned by the ferocity of the backlash, is accused of ruining her life for the sake of art. The same society that lusts after male eroticism recoils when a woman appears too alive, too sexual, too self-possessed.
As Amélie flees public judgment and John is pressured to alter his work, the film jumps forward through time. The scandal fades. The painting endures. In the present day, at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, Amélie’s image hangs proudly, reclaimed not as disgrace but as icon.
Madame X is a playful meditation on gendered scrutiny, artistic responsibility, and the slow, stubborn justice of history.
Pitch Deck
Madame X Deck.pdfCharacters
John Singer Sargent played by Mario del Cubo
Age: 30s
Arc: Confident → Cowardly → Haunted
Brilliant, ambitious, deeply conflicted. A man torn between artistic truth and societal approval. His politeness masks quiet rage.
Needs: To be recognized as a serious, daring artist.
Conflict: Unable to comprehend that art has consequences and the subjects of his paintings will have to live with them.
Amélie Gautreau played by Roxy Arecco
Age: 20s
Arc: Commanding → Exposed → Wounded but lucid
Sharp, volatile, painfully aware of the cost of visibility. Simultaneously complicit in and victim of her own myth.
Needs: To control how she is seen, and by extension how she is treated.
Conflict: In a patriarchal society, control over her image is never fully hers. Systems, not just individuals, are her real enemy.
Marie played by Robyn Ferracane
Age: 50s
Arc: Nitpicking → Brutally honest → Strategically protective
A master of social survival. Her cruelty is strategic, learned, and terrifyingly practical.
Needs: For Amelie to survive and thrive within the existing rules.
Conflict: The rules are rigged beyond her control, no matter how hard she plays them.
Dr. Pozzi played by Will Burns
Age: Mid-30s
Arc: Charming → Supportive → Exposed as privileged
Charismatic, adored, yet somewhat clumsy and immune to scandal. A living embodiment of the gender imbalance Amélie cannot escape.
Needs: To convince Amelie that things will be fine.
Conflict: As a man, his experience of being looked at is fundamentally different than Amelie's.
Thank you so much to our donors!
Michael Marinaccio
Jason Gershgorn
Robyn Ferracane
Davis Summers
Lia Fietz
Lizzy Booth
Sam Rider
Ana Gabriela Ceron
Dixie Carroll
Susane Lee
Serafin Biti
Debra Borchardt
Cindy Walter
Ann-Kathrin Popp
Clare Carey
Sarah Hughes
Caroline Nowak
Sofia Ceron
Hannah Elliott
Anastasia Koronioti-Davis
Sarah Brownstein
Francisco & Eva del Cubo
Nico Marino
Jason Xiao
Mary Lane Townsend
John & Laura Moss
John Kennedy
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