United States 2022, 105 min, English, Hebrew subtitles

Director Nina Menkes presents a fascinating cinematic essay that examines the ways Hollywood’s all-time favorite films use the visual language of film to cement women as objects of desire, always at men’s disposal, and shows how deeply these ideas have become ingrained in our consciousness. Using more than 175 clips from canonical Hollywood favorites—from Gone with the Wind and Rear Window to Blade Runner—Menkes exposes the shot design conventions that prefer showing women’s body parts over the whole person and glorify sexual assault. Aided by other female filmmakers and actresses, Menkes shows exactly how the cinematic apparatus has helped normalize this mistreatment of women in real life, and suggests new, alternative paths toward more equitable and respectful filmmaking.

Previous Festivals: Sundance, Berlinale

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Screening Schedule:
  • Sun 29.05 | 12:15 | Cinematheque 3
  • Thu 02.06 | 21:30 | Cinematheque 2 | Filmmaker Present
  • Sat 04.06 | 12:45 | Cinematheque 3 | Filmmaker Present
  • Watch Online | The film will be available From May 26th until June 5th

Considered a cinematic feminist pioneer and one of America’s foremost independent filmmakers, Menkes has shown widely in major international film festivals including the Berlinale, Cannes (ACID), Rotterdam, Locarno, Toronto, La Cinematheque Francaise, the British Film Institute, Whitney Museum of American Art, MOMA in New York and the Los Angeles Country Museum of Art. BRAINWASHED: Sex-Camera-Power is her fourth feature to premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. Previous Sundance premieres include QUEEN OF DIAMONDS (1991), THE BLOODY CHILD (1996) and PHANTOM LOVE (2008). She also showed a new media project in the Frontier section, THE CRAZY BLOODY FEMALE CENTER in 2000.
Menkes synthesizes inner dream-worlds with harsh, outer realities. She has been called “Brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in film today” by The Los Angeles Times and her body of work was described as “Controversial, intense and visually stunning” by Sight and Sound.

Production: Nina Menkes
Editing: Cecily Rhett
Cinematography: Shana Hagan, ASC
Music: Sharon Farber, Tim Disney

Source: Cinephil

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