Subscribe to watch - 14-day free trial, then £4.99 a month

Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power
You may never look at film the same way again after watching this illuminating journey, which deconstructs the male gaze in cinema.
Director: Nina Menkes
Overview
‘The first step of freedom is consciousness.’ So says director Nina Menkes, introducing her compelling new 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 thesis, ‘Visual Pleasure and Narrative Cinema’, Menkes digs deep, drawing on excerpts from over 175 films to prove her point. Featuring interviews with filmmakers, including Julie Dash and Joey Soloway, as well as actors and film professionals, this is a clear, brilliantly argued and urgent plunge into cinema’s history that is guaranteed to spark countless conversations.
“Brainwashed is a documentary for any woman in film who ever wanted, just even for a moment, to throw a grenade at the canon” Fionnuala Halligan, Screen International.
Related

De Humani Corporis Fabrica De Humani Corporis Fabrica
Documentary 2022 118 mins Director: Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Verena Paravel
The psychedelic physicality of this mortal coil – journey into the systems that comprise the human body in this fascinating sensory experience.

Loving Highsmith Loving Highsmith
Documentary 2022 87 mins Director: Eva Vitija
A beautifully textured study revealing the rich and troubled private life of the writer behind Carol.

Name Me Lawand Name Me Lawand
Documentary 2022 90 mins Director: Edward Lovelace
Edward Lovelace explores the power of communication and community with this rapturous portrait of a young deaf Kurdish boy.

Rebel Dread Rebel Dread
Biopic 2021 83 mins Director: William E. Badgley
This is the story of the iconic Don Letts, the coolest cultural polymath – narrated by the man himself.

I Am Weekender I Am Weekender
Documentary 2023 72 mins Director: Wiz and Chloé Raunet
Groundbreaking 1992 music film Weekender, coupled with Chloé Raunet’s documentary about the making of the film and its enduring impact, offering a unique insight into the heart of acid house.

Dance Craze Dance Craze
Documentary 1981 89 mins Director: Joe Massot
Legendary concert film that brilliantly captures the cultural phenomenon that was the 2 Tone movement, and showcases the very best of the British Ska revival.

Holiday Holiday
Thriller 2018 88 mins Director: Isabella Eklöf
A lavish trip to the Turkish Riviera goes horribly awry in this disturbing tale of power, exploitation and complicity from the writer of Border.

The Lover The Lover
Drama 1992 115 mins Director: Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud's powerful, intimate, and sensual adaptation of the best-selling novel by Marguerite Duras.

The Quiet Girl The Quiet Girl
Drama 2021 91 mins Director: Colm Bairéad
A neglected girl lives a joyful summer in Colm Bairéad's Academy Award-nominated debut that combines outstanding beauty and heart-wrenching performances.

Sick of Myself Sick of Myself
Comedy 2022 97 mins Director: Kristoffer Borgli
She just did what! Attention-seeking Signe will do anything to keep the focus on herself, in this wildly demented comedy.

EO EO
Drama 2022 86 mins Director: Jerzy Skolimowski
The joint winner of the Cannes Jury Prize and Academy Award-nominated, EO is a strangely wonderful tale where the dark and light of humanity is laid bare.

The Eight Mountains The Eight Mountains
Drama 2022 147 mins Director: Felix Van Groeningen and Charlotte Vandermeersch
An epic journey of friendship and self-discovery set against a magnificent and breath-taking Italian landscape, winner of the 2022 Cannes Jury Prize.

Crash Crash
Drama 1996 100 mins Director: David Cronenberg
Technology and sexuality meet in head-on collision in David Cronenberg’s controversial adaptation of writer J.G. Ballard’s hugely transgressive 1973 novel, starring James Spader and Holly Hunter.

Dissolution Dissolution
Drama 2010 89 mins Director: Nina Menkes
Dostoyevsky is relocated to contemporary Tel Aviv in a riveting portrait of alienated masculinity.

Magdalena Viraga Magdalena Viraga
Drama 1987 91 mins Director: Nina Menkes
Nina Menkes’ extraordinary debut feature is an intoxicating blend of poetry, witchcraft and feminist critique.

Phantom Love Phantom Love
Drama 2007 87 mins Director: Nina Menkes
A bewitching dark fairy tale about a woman struggling to escape her overbearing family.

Gregory's Girl Gregory's Girl
Comedy 1981 92 mins Director: Bill Forsyth
The ultimate depiction of coming-of-age awkwardness, Bill Forsyth’s comedy about a teen who falls for the new female footballer on the school team.

Bluebeard's Castle Bluebeard's Castle
Performance 1963 62 mins Director: Michael Powell
Discover a ‘lost’ masterpiece from acclaimed director Michael Powell (The Red Shoes and Peeping Tom), with this stunning adaptation of Béla Bartok’s expressionist opera.

Cries and Whispers Cries and Whispers
Drama 1972 91 mins Director: Ingmar Bergman
A dying woman (Harriet Andersson) is attended to in her rural mansion by her sisters, in Ingmar Bergman's vivid examination of the human soul.

Les Enfants du paradis Les Enfants du paradis
Drama 1945 190 mins Director: Marcel Carné
Marcel Carné's masterpiece of French cinema portrays the theatrical milieu of Paris' 'Boulevard du Crime'.

A Touch of Zen A Touch of Zen
Action and Adventure 1971 179 mins Director: King Hu
King Hu's epic swordplay saga combines ghost story, martial arts mastery and Buddhist mythology to stunning, hypnotic effect.

Plan 75 Plan 75
Drama 2022 113 mins Director: Chie Hayakawa
Faced with a rapidly ageing population, a government in near-future Japan rolls out an unsettling agenda.