Screening
USA | 2022 | 107 mins | doc | dir. Nina Menkes, with Laura Mulvey, Rosanna Arquette, Julie Dash | in English | cert. 18
‘The first step of freedom is consciousness.’ So says director Nina Menkes, introducing her compelling documentary about the systemic use of gendered techniques in filmmaking and how these subconsciously impact the representation of women in society. Building upon her influential talk Sex and Power: The Visual Language of Cinema and making use of feminist film theorist Laura Mulvey’s landmark essay Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema, Menkes draws on excerpts from over 175 films to prove her point. You will never look at film the same way again after watching this brilliantly argued film that takes you on a journey through the history of cinema.