The Director & Cast Talk 'Empire Waist' - A Curriculum on Body Positivity

Empire Waist is a heartfelt and humorous debut feature by Claire Ayoub, based on her personal essay “Notes to My Twelve-Year-Old Self.” The film stars Mia Kaplan as Lenore Miller, a high schooler who has always faced teasing and jeers because of her size. Lenore, a clothes-loving teenager, is about to revolutionize the fashion world with her own line of inclusive designs. 

The story follows Lenore as she forms an unexpected friendship with Kayla (Jemima Yevu), a confident and extroverted fellow plus-size teen. Through this friendship, Lenore starts embracing her true self, despite the pressures from her diet-obsessed mother (Missi Pyle, Galaxy Quest) and the bullying from the popular kids at school. Lenore, along with her new group of friends who are each facing their own struggles, enters a fashion design contest. 

Lenore and Kayla’s friendship is everything you want to see with young kids. Lenore is shy and reserved, wanting to hide her body as she was made to feel ashamed about her size. Kayla is the complete opposite - loud in her fashion choices and loud with her voice when standing up to school bullies and boys that want to hide their feelings for her.

I sat down with director Claire Ayoub along with Mia Kaplan and Jemima Yevu to discuss why the film is important to girls and women everywhere.

Check out our interview below on the Reel Chatter Podcast on YouTube: