Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

In deze onthullende documentaire ontleedt filmmaker Nina Menkes de manier waarop vrouwelijke en mannelijke personages in film verschillend in beeld worden gebracht. Aan de hand van fragmenten uit meer dan honderd films, waaronder oude en nieuwe klassiekers als Metropolis, Vertigo en Lost in Translation, laat Menkes zien hoe vrouwen met (on)bewust gekozen camerahoeken, shotcompositie en belichting, systematisch worden weergegeven als passief lustobject. Deze documentaire gaat in op de schadelijke invloed van deze genormaliseerde beeldtaal op ons denken, afgezet tegen een cultuur van seksueel geweld en seksediscriminatie in de filmindustrie.

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power bouwt verder op het essentiële werk van feministische filmtheoretici zoals Laura Mulvey en Menkes eigen lezing ‘Sex and Power: The Visual Language of Oppression’ en bevat interviews met onder andere Julie Dash, Joey Soloway, Catherine Hardwicke, Eliza Hittman en Rosanna Arquette. Het resultaat is een krachtig betoog dat de manier waarop je naar films kijkt fundamenteel zal veranderen.

De filmvertoning wordt ingeleid door IFA artistiek leider Henriëtte Poelman.

This insightful documentary investigates how systematically different our film language portrays male and female characters on screen, and reveals the all-too real impact of this persistent approach on both the film industry and our society.

In this insightful documentary, filmmaker Nina Menkes dissects the ways in which male and female characters are portrayed on screen, using clips from more than one hundred movies, including both new and old classics such as Metropolis, Vertigo and Lost in Translation. Menkes demonstrates how our film language, with techniques such as camera angles, shot composition and lighting, is an instrument of the heterosexual male gaze and is (sub)consciously used to systematically depict women as passive objects of lust. Menkes argues that this persistent approach of representation is far from harmless. By connecting the dots between gender discrimination on the work floor and sexual and other forms of violence against women, she reveals the all-too real impact of that ubiquitous portrayal.

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power is based on Nina Menkes' own lecture ‘Sex and Power: The Visual Language of Oppression’, and incorporates interviews with feminist cinema theorists Laura Mulvey and Joey Soloway, as well as filmmakers such as Julie Dash, Catherine Hardwicke, Eliza Hittman, and Rosanna Arquette. The result is a compelling plea that will fundamentally change the way you watch movies.

The screening will include an introduction by IFA’s own artistic director Henriëtte Poelman.