December 21, 2024
Thank you James Benning, my long time Cal Arts colleague and fellow filmmaker for naming THE GREAT SADNESS OF ZOHARA (40 minutes/ 1984/ 16mm/ color/ 2K RESTORATION) one of the ten best films of all time.
The film traces the lonely path of a young, alienated Jewish woman on a mystical quest into the Arab world. Featuring TINKA MENKES.
Thank you to producer/filmmaker Bingham Bryant for including DISSOLUTION (2012) in his best new discoveries of 2024 for SCREEN SLATE.
Shot in Jaffa in Hebrew and Arabic, the film is a loose spin off from CRIME AND PUNISHMENT set in contemporary Israel. A New York Times Critics Pick on its release in 2012, the film is more relevant than ever today.
December 13, 2024
Many folks have been asking me what I thought of ANORA and other hi-profile films of the year. I want to start by saying that I love many of Sean Baker’s films, especially TANGERINE, but I find ANORA to be glorifying, celebrating and reinforcing the male gaze and the objectification of women under the guise of entertainment. This is an old story, and not a revolutionary one. For those of us who are sick and tired of main female characters who are strippers, her feisty behavior does nothing to redeem this.
Did you know that the majority of sex workers are MOTHERS who turn to prostitution in desperation as a way to support their children?
Is the actress Mikey very, very good- yes for sure she is, and she is lovable. But really- as a friend of mine from Berlin explained:
I can no longer stand movies in which men portray women and female sexuality. It all leaves me so stunned. The normalization of prostitution, the exploitation of the female body with the camera and in the narratives. And then the display of wealth that is senselessly squandered – oh what funny guys these Russian oligarchs are. People like us, who see the brutal side of prostitution and who know that Russian oligarchs have amassed their super wealth through criminal machinations, are just fun stoppers. What a “step forward” for us women; in “Pretty Woman” the prostitute was still poor and without self-confidence until she was rescued by her millionaire. Today, prostitution is a profession full of glamor and the young prostitutes are cool and self-determined… Excuse my sarcasm but that’s what I think of „Anora” and all this leaves me with a deep sadness. But it’s so good to know that there are others who can see through it. We must not give up and must continue to resist…and we will!
Menkes’s BRAINWASHED continues to screen internationally, most recently in Luxembourg. On December 4, 2024, Menkes joined a panel of experts (Madelaine Delos Wood, Isabelle Schmoetten, Isabel Spigarelli and Andreja Wirtz) following a screening of BRAINWASHED at ESCH Institute of Equality The discussion focused on violence against women and included the sometimes thorny issue of whether Self Objectification is empowering. Menkes pointed to extensive research showing how self objectification especially among girls ages 13-19, has been tied to body dysmorphia, eating disorders, depression, and suicidal ideation.
On November 28, 2024 at the University of the Arts in Zurich, Nina Menkes lead a MasterClass with a group of acting students following a screening of BRAINWASHED. Many issues were explored including John Trudell’s (American Indian Movement) explanation of Power v. Authority. The event was organized by the University in conjunction with Barbara Rohm of Culture Change Hub – the game changing machine.
On December 7, 2024, ACROPOLIS CINEMA presented Menkes’s first 16mm film THE GREAT SADNESS OF ZOHARA (1983-4/2k restoration) in a special screening along with Amy Halpern’s FALLING LESSONS. The screening was also a celebration of a new film book, FILM ELEGY, written/created by Laura Paul.
Menkes lead a discussion on November 23, 2024 about the beautiful documentary film NOCTURNES at Vista House, with film directors Anirban Dutta AND Anupama Srinivasan. Menkes originally met the directors when she taught at the Film and Television Institute of India (FTII), India’s premiere film school, where Anu was a student.
Menkes’s films are streaming widely on KANOPY, DA FILMS, MUBI (in some regions) and BRAINWASHED can be found on Amazon, Apple and at Kino Lorber among multiple other platforms.
April 14, 2024
We are thrilled that BRAINWASHED and MORE MENKESFILMS have taken Japan by a storm, with rave reviews across the board! Thank you MERMAID FILMS, ARBELOS FILMS, and CINEPHIL!!
December 13, 2023
We are thrilled and delighted that Library of Congress National Film Preservation has selected QUEEN OF DIAMONDS (1991) for their National Film Registry. One of 25 films selected this year, QUEEN of DIAMONDS has stood the test of time!!
December 7, 2023
STUNNING INTERVIEW with MENKES by May Santiago, MAI MANIFESTO | 2023
JOURNAL OF FEMINISM AND VISUAL CULTURE
“WE SMASH PATRIARCHY”
https://ninamenkes.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/A-Cinematic-Witch__-An-Interview-with-Nina-Menkes.pdf
September 6, 2023
On the occasion of the release of BRAINWASHED on ARTE-DEGETO IN FRANCE/GERMANY we are thrilled to get a rave review in LE MONDE, September 2, 2023, written by Mouna El Mokhtari
English Translation:
What do The Lady from Shanghai (Orson Welles, 1947), Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood (Tarantino, 2019), Le Contempt (Godard, 1963), Raging Bull (Scorsese, 1980) and Requiem for a Dream (Aronofsky, 2000) have in common? Classics, which have marked the history of the 7th art, sometimes in addition to popular successes. But not only.
By editing nearly 200 extracts from films – from the creation of the 7th art to the present day – fiction director Nina Menkes underlines, in a brilliant cinematic master class, a constantly reproduced representation of women as sexual objects and reveals a systemic sexist structure, the famous ‘male gaze’, including in films with a feminist theme or those which are directed by women.
This scenic enumeration could have been banal, boring or sickening. On the contrary, Nina Menkes, obsessed with this subject for thirty years, delivers a film of great significance: it is intellectually rich and finely produced. Built in a little over two years – in particular thanks to the Internet -, it is structured around her seminar “Sex and Power: the Visual Language of Cinema” and the work of actresses, producers, directors and teachers, including the film theorist Laura Mulvey, who defined the male gaze in 1975.
Subject-object relationship
Nina Menkes makes the striking demonstration that the construction of shots with female characters, through framing, camera movements, lighting, or camera effects such as slow motion, defines a subject-object relationship that systematically places women as the object of gaze, often reduced to sexual functions. “The image of women has nothing to do with them”, synthesizes Laura Mulvey. “She is the product of the male consciousness that has appropriated her. »
The documentary does not content itself with making visible and readable a patriarchal norm perpetuated in a more or less conscious and subliminal way. “We really have the impression that the cinematic visual language that surrounds us corresponds to the basic language of rape culture”, underlines the director, who endeavors to demonstrate the cyclical links between this language and, on the one hand, sexist discrimination in the world of work, and, on the other hand, the omnipresence of sexual violence in our society.
In 2018, only 8% – compared to 9% twenty years earlier – of the 250 most viewed films were directed by women. And 94% of working women in the Hollywood industry – from which 80% of the “entertainment” content released around the world originates – have experienced acts of sexual assault or harassment in their careers.
Conducting a very powerful reflection on the gaze and the representation of genders based on the legacies of Michel Foucault, bell hooks (pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins) and Audre Lorde, Nina Menkes’ documentary is a refreshing experience of the political significance of cinema. At the same time, it is a creative invitation to imagine other codes, representations, characters and productions; it is also just as much a cinematographic work in that it multiplies the levels of reading, questions the viewer’s gaze, formulates relevant leads.
Brainwashed. Le sexisme au cinema, documentary by Nina Menkes (EU, 2022, 105 min). Available on demand on Arte.tv until December 2.
Mouna El Mokhtari
June 24, 2023
We’re thrilled that THE GUARDIAN has named “Brainwashed; Sex-Camera-Power’ as one of the top films of 2023 so far!
Congratulations to the entire team!
We were previously also named TOP FILM of 2022 in numerous publications including:
SIGHT AND SOUND
IMDB
ROGEREBERT.COM
DESISTFILM
NPR
PINNLAND EMPIRE
SCREEN SLATE
SENSES OF CINEMA
ALLIANCE OF WOMEN FILM JOURNALISTS
and more!
for more information about “brainwashed” pls see:
June 5, 2023
It’s been a whirlwind few months and we havent updated our news feed due to being tooooooo busy rushing around the world and screening the movie!! One of our most amazing recent success stories was the theatrical opening in the UK, in 49 theaters, distributed by none less than the BFI!!!!!!!!!!! We had a stunning press reaction with major coverage not only in film circles but also on new shows including Channel 4 and the BBC. Here are links to some of that fabulous coverage below:
PRESS OUT OF LONDON
Channel 4 News (Broadcast interview trail, Broadcast and Online) – 14.05.23
Cathy Newman sits down with filmmaker Nina Menkes for an interview pegged to the BFI release of BRAINWASHED: SEX-POWER-CAMERA. They discuss the way that women are depicted in film and how this translates into society at large, the #metoo movement and female filmmakers.
BBC Radio 4, Woman’s Hour (broadcast and Broadcast interview trail) – 15.05.23
A live interview with filmmaker Nina Menkes, pegged to the BFI release of BRAINWASHED: SEX-POWER-CAMERA. They discuss the film’s re-evalutation of classic cinema and its themes. The interview also ends with a mention of the BFI Southbank retrospective, Cinematic Sorceress: The Films of Nina Menkes.
The Irish Times (print) – 13.05.23
A two-page interview with filmmaker Nina Menkes, also teased on the front page.
Girls on Film (Podcast) – 12.05.23
Girls on Film Brainwashed special episode – Interview with Anna Smith and filmmaker Nina Menkes.
GUARDIAN Interview with Nina Menkes by ANNA SMITH 21.4.2023
Fade To Black (Podcast) – 14.05.23
Interview with Clarisse Loughrey and Nina Menkes.
Jewish Renaissance (podcast) – 16.05.23
Interview with Julia Wagner and Nina Menkes
https://www.jewishrenaissance.org.uk/jr-outloud/nina-menkes
Kermode and Mayo’s Take (podcast) – 12.05.23 (Most Important Film Podcast in the UK).
Mark Kermode reviews Brainwashed in their subscriber exclusive review content
NINA MENKES Sight and Sound Interview feature May 2023
https://www.bfi.org.uk/sight-and-sound/interviews/nina-menkes-interview
BBC WORLD NEWS
LIVE BBC World News (TV) Nina’s comments on the Trump civil case verdict and wider context of sexual harassment in the film and entertainment industry,
The Guardian (print) – 12/5/ 2023
Peter Bradshaw gives BRAINWASHED 4*, writing it is “a bracing blast of critical rigour, taking a clear look at the unexamined assumptions behind what we see on the screen.”
The Jewish Chronicle (online) – 12/05/2023
4* review.
Culture Whisper (online) – 12/05/2023
4* review.
The Upcoming (online) – 12/05/2023
Interview with Nina Menkes.
Radiant Circus (online) – 12/05/2023
Mention of BRAINWASHED in a London events round-up.
Prospect Magazine (print) – 10/05/2023
In-depth interview feature with Nina Menkes, pegged to the release of BRAINWASHED and BFI Southbank season. The feature also ran online.
Prospect Podcast – 10/05/2023
Interview with Nina Menkes, discussing the making of BRAINWASHED and her extensive career.
The Arts Desk (online) – 10/05/2023
4* review of BRAINWASHED.
Filmuforia (online) – 05/05/2023
4* review of BRAINWASHED.
Sight and Sound (online) – 10/05/2023
Interview with Nina Menkes – online edition from latest print issue
BFI.org.uk (Online) 11/05/2023
Feature by Rachel Pronger (Invisible Women) on 10 films that challenge the male gaze: Includes two films by MENKES.
Morning Star (online) – 11/05/2023
Positive review of BRAINWASHED, which is selected as Morning Star’s film of the week.