QUEEN OF DIAMONDS (1991/Menkes) named one of the ten greatest films about Las Vegas ever made, alongside  THE LADY GAMBLES (1949/Michael Gordon), CASINO (1995/Scorsese), SHOWGIRLS (1995/Paul Verhoeven) and BEHIND THE CANDELABRA (2013 Soderbergh).

  READ THE FULL LIST HERE!

Queen of Diamonds (1991)

I was honored to add my name to this important letter.

The original list of signatories included Mark Ruffalo, Guy Pearce, Ralph Fiennes, Melissa Barrera, Yorgos Lanthimos, Javier Bardem, Hannah Einbinder, Nina Menkes, Pedro Almodóvar, David Cronenberg, Alfonso Cuarón, Mike Leigh, Alex Gibney, Viggo Mortensen, Cynthia Nixon and Tessa Ross.

Guillermo del Toro, Juliette Binoche, Joaquin Phoenix and others also added their names after the first publication.

Read the Variety article.

See the full letter below:

Fatma Hassona was 25 years old.

She was a Palestinian freelance photojournalist. She was targeted by the Israeli army on 16 April 2025, the day after it was announced that Sepideh Farsi’s film “Put Your Soul on Your Hand and Walk,” in which she was the star, had been selected in the ACID section of the Cannes Film Festival.

Ten of her relatives, including her pregnant sister, were killed by the same Israeli strike.

Since the terrible massacres of 7 October 2023, no foreign journalist has been authorised to enter the Gaza Strip. The Israeli army is targeting civilians. More than 200 journalists have been deliberately killed. Writers, film-makers and artists are being brutally murdered.

We are ashamed of such passivity.

Why is it that cinema, a breeding ground for socially committed works, seems to be so indifferent to the horror of reality and the oppression suffered by our sisters and brothers?

As artists and cultural players, we cannot remain silent while genocide is taking place in Gaza and this unspeakable news is hitting our communities hard.

What is the point of our professions if not to draw lessons from history, to make films that are committed, if we are not present to protect oppressed voices?

Why this silence?

The far right, fascism, colonialism, anti-trans and anti-LGBTQIA+, sexist, racist, islamophobic and antisemitic movements are waging their battle on the battlefield of ideas, attacking publishing, cinema and universities, and that’s why we have a duty to fight.

Let’s refuse to let our art be an accomplice to the worst.

Let us rise up.

Let us name reality.

Let us collectively dare to look at it with the precision of our sensitive hearts, so that it can no longer be silenced and covered up.

Let us reject the propaganda that constantly colonizes our imaginations and makes us lose our sense of humanity.

For Fatma, for all those who die in indifference.

Cinema has a duty to carry their messages, to reflect our societies.

Let’s act before it’s too late.

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.

Now streaming –

FOR MORE INFO and LINKS

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?

Furthermore, making a  (supposedly) funny, cozy “love story” with a Russian oligarch, particularly at this point in history, is nothing short of painful. 

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.