Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power

"If the camera is predatory, then the culture is predatory." In this eye-opening documentary, celebrated independent filmmaker Nina Menkes explores the sexual politics of cinematic shot design. Using clips from hundreds of movies we all know & love–from Metropolis to Vertigo to Phantom Thread–she convincingly makes the argument that shot design is gendered. Menkes' new film Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power illuminates the patriarchal narrative codes that hide within supposedly "classic" set-ups & camera angles, and demonstrates how women are frequently displayed as objects for the use, support, and pleasure of male subjects. Building on the essential work of Laura Mulvey and other feminist writers, Menkes shows how these not-so-subtle embedded messages affect and intersect with the twin epidemics of sexual abuse and assault, as well as employment discrimination against women, especially within the film industry.