
By Stephanie Ornelas
If the camera is predatory, then the culture is predatory as well.
This is one message director Nina Menkes wanted to send in her documentary Brainwashed: Sex-Camera-Power.
The film is based on Menkes' impactful presentation called Sex & Power, The Visual Language of Cinema, which she initially delivered exclusively to her students. Her talk centers on how shot design is gendered and examines how women actors are consistently filmed differently. Taking a close look at the male gaze, the film dives into the obsession with oversexualizing women in cinema.
Menkes may not have known how much attention her presentation would get and the change it would inspire, especially following the Me Too movement. Regardless, Menkes was encouraged to make a documentary about it, and that's exactly what she did.
The film pulls together 175 film clips from cult classics and some of the most beloved works in Hollywood to show the immense power of cinema and how its visual language has been used to disempower and oversexualize women. And it does so in a chilling way, revealing a serious issue of misogyny that has played out right before our eyes for so many years. There's something about seeing all the clips together that resonates with the audience.
You watch one movie and the girl is being sexualized and you might think, Oh what else is new?,' and you kind of block it out, or maybe you try to watch another part of the movie, says Menkes. But watching [the clips] all together, she explains, is a completely different experience.
In 2011, it dawned on co-producer Maria Giese that 80% of entertainment media content that's distributed around the world comes from the U.S. and that women directors were directing almost none of it.
Who creates the media, the story, and the images that are distributed around the world, is a matter of geopolitical concern, says Giese, who worked to increase employment for women through the Directors Guild. That connected her to Menkes.
That was when we realized that we weren't going to get anywhere until we brought people in from the outside, like the ACLU and the EEOC, to get a federal investigation going, Giese explains. I think this really helped set the foundation for Me Too.
The documentary touches on pressing issues like pay inequality, sexual abuse, and toxic masculinity, as well as how female anger is often used as a spectacle in cinema.
Joey Soloway, activist and interviewee in the documentary, points out that the film takes the audience on a journey to a dark place, and that it does so using some of the most beloved films in history, which proves that a project like this is long overdue.
But what's even more empowering is what Soloway brings up in the post-screening Q&A.
To be at Sundance and to know that Harvey Weinstein is behind bars and we're having this conversation - we're making history, whether we're on the mountain or not, Soloway says. We're all victims of this male privilege that's been propagating in filmmaking.
While Menkes is no stranger to the Sundance Film Festival, she said this is a film unlike any she's ever made, and making the project was a transformative process for her.
The film is completely different from all my other films, and I myself went through a process of liberation, she says in the post-screening Q&A.
I knew all these things that I was talking about, but by diving into the project and really examining these clips, it's like I didn't even know I was in this prison.
North America Stories
01/07/2026
Broadcast Management Group (BMG) has announced the appointment of Kathy Samuels ...
01/07/2026
Shade has announced Custom Objects and Automations, a platform expansion releasing June 29, 2026, that adds database and workflow automation capabilities direct...
01/07/2026
FOR-A America has announced the addition of Jaz Wray and Fernando Cruz to its U.S. sales team. Both report to Ernie Leon, Senior VP and Head of Sales and Strate...
01/07/2026
NBC Sports will air all 15 MLB games nationally on Sunday, July 5, across NBC, P...
01/07/2026
Clear-Com has announced a wireless communications upgrade for Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, deploying FreeSpeak II and FreeSpeak Icon systems across both prod...
01/07/2026
England's performance team will use Sony's STATSports APEX GPS tracking system to monitor player physical data in real time during FIFA World Cup 2026 m...
01/07/2026
Adder Technology has announced the appointment of Neil Hillier as Chief Executive Officer, effective July 1, 2026. Hillier succeeds Adrian Dickens, who transiti...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. has announced a strategic transaction creating two separate companies. The Production and Playout business will continue as Bitcentral, now own...
01/07/2026
DAZN has announced results from DAZN48, its creator initiative for the FIFA World Cup 2026. Launched in April 2026, the program received thousands of applicatio...
01/07/2026
Sarah Rose, VP, global services, Daktronics (NASDAQ: DAKT), will be inducted into the Information Display and Entertainment Association (IDEA) Hall of Fame at t...
01/07/2026
Gravity Media and the World Economic Forum's production team provided broadc...
01/07/2026
Insight Productions has announced the launch of Insight Storm, a 53-foot mobile broadcast unit built for esports production. The truck is built around a Ross Vi...
01/07/2026
ESPN has announced several content initiatives marking America's 250th anniversary, as part of The Walt Disney Company's Disney Celebrates America pro...
01/07/2026
Eleven production kits, REMI workflows, and cloud distribution bring 40 World Cu...
01/07/2026
The conference also discussed the opportunities offered an industry that is endu...
01/07/2026
The Mountain West Conference has announced the launch of MW , a direct-to-consumer streaming platform powered by Kiswe. The platform will carry live Mountain We...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Manfrotto Introduces UNCOVER, the new premium camera bag collection for modern h...
01/07/2026
Blackmagic Design Powers Houston Tamil Sangam Literacy Competition
Brie Clayton July 1, 2026
0 Comments
Volunteers use ATEM Mini Pro, Blackmagic Desig...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
PlayBox Technology has published State of Broadcast Infrastructure 2026, an in-depth industry research report examining the technologies, operational challenges...
01/07/2026
LONDON, UK, 1 JULY Jigsaw24 has appointed Alan Henry as Head of Sales for Media and Entertainment, reinforcing its continued investment in helping broadcaster...
01/07/2026
Content Vault, the patent-pending secure content distribution platform protecting high-value media from disclosures, theft and unauthorised access, today announ...
01/07/2026
Bitcentral, Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software and digital media solutions for news, sports and entertainment broadcasters, as well as streaming pla...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
01/07/2026
Chyron Launches the All-New Chyron Academy: A Reimagined, Hands-On Learning Expe...
01/07/2026
Amplium Captures Kawasaki Brave Thunders Game with Blackmagic URSA Cine Immersiv...
01/07/2026
Boris FX Optics Expands Plugin Support to Apple Photos, Capture One, and Affinit...
30/06/2026
As Brazil's only way for fans to see all 104 matches, YouTube channel proves the power of digital...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
MainStreaming, the award-winning and innovative Edge Video Delivery Network, today announced that it has been selected by ITV to support the delivery of ITVX, I...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
When Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! needed to upgrade their wireless communications system, they turned to Clear-Com FreeSpeak wireless for their iconic televi...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
30/06/2026
Other World Computing Launches New Atlas Core Line with 256GB CFExpress 4.0 Type...
30/06/2026
DaVinci Resolve Studio Used for Taketoshi Sado's Perfume Cold Sleep -25 year...
30/06/2026
Life sciences has entered an era of computational scale, and for more than a dec...