As part of the activities that Centro Sefarad-Israel is organising for International Women’s Day, this afternoon at 6 p.m. the latest documentary by Nina Menkes, Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power, will be screened at its headquarters. Admission is free, subject to confirmation at this link.
Based on Nina Menkes’ acclaimed lecture Sex and Power: The Visual Language of Film, this documentary is a fascinating study of the framing of female bodies in film through the ages, and how this distorted vision leads to abuse and discrimination against women.
Nina Menkes is considered a pioneer of feminist cinema and one of the most important independent filmmakers in the United States. Menkes has screened widely at major international film festivals, including multiple premieres at Sundance, Berlinale, Cannes (ACID), Rotterdam, Locarno, Toronto, La Cinematheque Francaise, British Film Institute, Whitney Museum of American Art, MOMA New York, MOCA and LACMA Los Angeles.
Nina Menkes synthesises dreamlike interior worlds with harsh exterior realities. Los Angeles Times called her “brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in cinema today” and Sight and Sound described her work as “controversial, intense and visually stunning”. Menkes has referred to herself as a witch, and Dennis Lim, writing in The New York Times, called her a “cinematic sorceress”.
