Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur.
Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through a loose re-telling of the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set against the backdrop of the Old City of Jerusalem in contemporary times.
Entitled simply Minotaur, the film revolves around a Christian Palestinian working with tourists in the Old City, who embodies both Theseus and the Minotaur, which manifests itself as a Hebrew-speaking beast that attacks visitors in the crypt of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He has a mother called Pasiphae and falls for the beautiful foreign waitress Ariadne.
“First and foremost it’s an emotional story about the process of confronting the self and not living in denial which I think is a big issue around here… but it’s also a political story about here the country...
Nina Menkes is developing a new film examining the Israel-Palestinian conflict through a loose re-telling of the Greek legend of Theseus and the Minotaur set against the backdrop of the Old City of Jerusalem in contemporary times.
Entitled simply Minotaur, the film revolves around a Christian Palestinian working with tourists in the Old City, who embodies both Theseus and the Minotaur, which manifests itself as a Hebrew-speaking beast that attacks visitors in the crypt of the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. He has a mother called Pasiphae and falls for the beautiful foreign waitress Ariadne.
“First and foremost it’s an emotional story about the process of confronting the self and not living in denial which I think is a big issue around here… but it’s also a political story about here the country...
- 7/17/2014
- ScreenDaily
Any roundup of the day's news has to begin with Wes Anderson's Moonrise Kingdom. Following yesterday's release of the poster, France's Premiere broke the news that the tale set in the summer of 1965 and featuring Edward Norton, Bruce Willis, Bill Murray, Frances McDormand, Tilda Swinton and Jason Schwartzman would open this year's Cannes Film Festival on May 16. The Festival's quickly followed up with its official announcement. Artistic Director Thierry Frémaux: "Wes Anderson is one of the rising powers of American cinema, to which he brings a highly personal touch, particularly in Moonrise Kingdom, which once again is a testimony to the creative freedom in which he continues to evolve. Sensitive and independent, this admirer of Fellini and Renoir is also in his own right a brilliant and inventive filmmaker."
A couple of related items: At Open Culture, Colin Marshall argues that, with his two ads for the Hyundai Azera (which,...
A couple of related items: At Open Culture, Colin Marshall argues that, with his two ads for the Hyundai Azera (which,...
- 3/9/2012
- MUBI
Phantom Love
"For three decades filmmaker Nina Menkes has made poetic, evocative films that have placed her in the forefront of American experimentalists," writes Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times. "She's a visionary who trusts in the power of image, movement and composition to communicate narrative, meaning and emotion." The retrospective Nina Menkes: Cinema as Sorcery opens at UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater tomorrow with Dissolution, her "most accessible but also most accomplished work."
The La Weekly's Karina Longworth: "In Queen of Diamonds (1991) — my pick for the must-see rediscovery of the program — Menkes's sister and frequent collaborator Tinka Menkes plays Firdaus, a bored, beautiful blackjack dealer at an off-Strip Vegas casino…. Sixteen years later, when Menkes returned to the theme of a statuesque, obsessively manicured brunette sleepwalking through a casino job in the La Koreatown-set Phantom Love, she'd take a tonal and visual U-turn. Phantom's hazy black-and-white cinematography and...
"For three decades filmmaker Nina Menkes has made poetic, evocative films that have placed her in the forefront of American experimentalists," writes Kevin Thomas in the Los Angeles Times. "She's a visionary who trusts in the power of image, movement and composition to communicate narrative, meaning and emotion." The retrospective Nina Menkes: Cinema as Sorcery opens at UCLA's Billy Wilder Theater tomorrow with Dissolution, her "most accessible but also most accomplished work."
The La Weekly's Karina Longworth: "In Queen of Diamonds (1991) — my pick for the must-see rediscovery of the program — Menkes's sister and frequent collaborator Tinka Menkes plays Firdaus, a bored, beautiful blackjack dealer at an off-Strip Vegas casino…. Sixteen years later, when Menkes returned to the theme of a statuesque, obsessively manicured brunette sleepwalking through a casino job in the La Koreatown-set Phantom Love, she'd take a tonal and visual U-turn. Phantom's hazy black-and-white cinematography and...
- 2/21/2012
- MUBI
Today, Creative Capital announced its 2012 grant recipients. The grantees will receive up to $50,000 in direct funding and advisory services valued at more than $40,000. New projects from Cam Archer ("Shit Year"), Jake Yuzna ("Open"), Nina Menkes ("Dissolution") Matt Porterfield ("Putty Hill"), Yance Ford (Pov), Mark Elijah Rosenberg (Rooftop Films), and archivist Rick Prelinger are all amongst this year's grantees. The complete list of film and video grant recipients are: Cam Archer, Robert Bahar & Almudena Carracedo, Amy Belk and Matt Porterfield, Brad Butler, Lucien Castaing-Taylor and Véréna Paravel, Eric Dyer, Daniel Eisenberg, Yance Ford, Brian L. Frye and Penny Lane, Sonali Gulati, Kenneth Jacobs, Nina Menkes, Akosua Adoma Owusu, Brian Pera, Rick Prelinger, Michael Robinson, Mark Elijah Rosenberg, Norbert Shieh, Stacey Steers, Deborah Stratman, Jesse Sugarmann, Christopher...
- 1/12/2012
- Indiewire
Our friend and contributor Mike Plante has just launched a podcast series at his Cinemad site. Below listen to conversations with directors Nina Menkes and Aza Jacobs. Here’s how he intros them:
Called “Brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in film today”
by The Los Angeles Times, Nina Menkes’s radical and pioneering work synthesizes inner dream-worlds with harsh, outer realities. Her seven films are a body of work Sight and Sound has called “Controversial, intense and visually stunning.” We talk about her films, the notion of the avant-garde tag, her teenage witch school, violence in cinema, freaky animals and her new film, Dissolution.
Cinemad: Nina Menkes by Cinemad
Cinemad podcast #2: Azazel Jacobs’ award-winning film Momma’S Man premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, and quickly became one of the most lauded films of the year, winding up on many “best of” lists. Released in numerous international territories,...
Called “Brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in film today”
by The Los Angeles Times, Nina Menkes’s radical and pioneering work synthesizes inner dream-worlds with harsh, outer realities. Her seven films are a body of work Sight and Sound has called “Controversial, intense and visually stunning.” We talk about her films, the notion of the avant-garde tag, her teenage witch school, violence in cinema, freaky animals and her new film, Dissolution.
Cinemad: Nina Menkes by Cinemad
Cinemad podcast #2: Azazel Jacobs’ award-winning film Momma’S Man premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2008, and quickly became one of the most lauded films of the year, winding up on many “best of” lists. Released in numerous international territories,...
- 7/22/2011
- by Scott Macaulay
- Filmmaker Magazine - Blog
Moving Pictures asked Yaniv Rokah to sit down with writer-director Nina Menkes ahead of this weekend’s Downtown Independent screenings of “Dissolution” and “Phantom Love.” Rokah, an L.A.-based actor, has interviewed Paul Haggis and written reviews for Moving Pictures and is in talks to co-produce Menkes’ next film, “Heatstroke.” He caught up with the auteur for coffee as she prepares to move to Cairo.
By Yaniv Rokah
(June 2011)
Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes’ work has been compared with some of the all-time greats, including Antonioni, Cassavetes and Lynch. The Los Angeles Times called her “one of the most provocative artists in film today.”
Predominately exploring the feminine psyche through films such as “Massaker” (Fipresci Prize recipient at the Berlin International Film Festival), “Queen of Diamonds” (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival), “The Bloody Child” (a Sundance Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival selection...
By Yaniv Rokah
(June 2011)
Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes’ work has been compared with some of the all-time greats, including Antonioni, Cassavetes and Lynch. The Los Angeles Times called her “one of the most provocative artists in film today.”
Predominately exploring the feminine psyche through films such as “Massaker” (Fipresci Prize recipient at the Berlin International Film Festival), “Queen of Diamonds” (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival), “The Bloody Child” (a Sundance Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival selection...
- 6/3/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Magazine
Moving Pictures asked Yaniv Rokah to sit down with writer-director Nina Menkes ahead of this weekend’s Downtown Independent screenings of “Dissolution” and “Phantom Love.” Rokah, an L.A.-based actor, has interviewed Paul Haggis and written reviews for Moving Pictures and is in talks to co-produce Menkes’ next film, “Heatstroke.” He caught up with the auteur for coffee as she prepares to move to Cairo.
By Yaniv Rokah
(June 2011)
Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes’ work has been compared with some of the all-time greats, including Antonioni, Cassavetes and Lynch. The Los Angeles Times called her “one of the most provocative artists in film today.”
Predominately exploring the feminine psyche through films such as “Massaker” (Fipresci Prize recipient at the Berlin International Film Festival), “Queen of Diamonds” (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival), “The Bloody Child” (a Sundance Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival selection...
By Yaniv Rokah
(June 2011)
Experimental filmmaker Nina Menkes’ work has been compared with some of the all-time greats, including Antonioni, Cassavetes and Lynch. The Los Angeles Times called her “one of the most provocative artists in film today.”
Predominately exploring the feminine psyche through films such as “Massaker” (Fipresci Prize recipient at the Berlin International Film Festival), “Queen of Diamonds” (nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the Sundance Film Festival), “The Bloody Child” (a Sundance Film Festival and Locarno International Film Festival selection...
- 6/3/2011
- by admin
- Moving Pictures Network
I'll leave the commentary on poster design to the far more knowledgeable Adrian Curry, but in rounding up notes on events happening around the Us (outside of New York, which'll have its own roundup in a bit), a handful of posters caught my eye, starting with this one for Other Cinema's Fujiyama in Red, a live program aimed at raising funds for Japanese Tsunami Relief and named "after the 1990 Kurosawa movie that foresaw the catastrophe." Tomorrow night in San Francisco; scroll down for details.
Brian Darr: "It's hard to imagine a better time for a San Francisco movie lover to partake in the by-now almost subversive act of watching a great classic film in a cinema, than when our city's architectural pride and joy, the Castro Theatre, devotes its screen to a 70mm film series, as it will for eight days starting this Saturday night, when it plays West Side Story,...
Brian Darr: "It's hard to imagine a better time for a San Francisco movie lover to partake in the by-now almost subversive act of watching a great classic film in a cinema, than when our city's architectural pride and joy, the Castro Theatre, devotes its screen to a 70mm film series, as it will for eight days starting this Saturday night, when it plays West Side Story,...
- 6/3/2011
- MUBI
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