'Queen of Diamonds' (1991) and 'The Great Sadness of Zohara' (1983)

Sunday, February 19, 2012
7:00 pm - 9:15 pm, UCLA Hammer Museum - Billy Wilder Theater

Nina Menkes: Cinema as Sorcery

See below for additional information.

Admission

Advance tickets: $10 online. In-person sales one hour before showtime: $9 general public; free to UCLA students with valid ID; $8 other students/seniors.

Contact

Film and Television Archive
(310) 825-8787
archive@ucla.edu

Website

http://www.cinema.ucla.edu/events/2012-02-19/queen-diam...

Additional Information

Called "brilliant, one of the most provocative artists in film today" by the Los Angeles Times, independent filmmaker Nina Menkes has secured a distinct position within the international avant-garde. The Archive is pleased to welcome Menkes—a graduate of the UCLA School of Theater, Film and Television—as she appears in person for this survey of her work.

'Queen of Diamonds' (1991): Menkes’ study of disaffected blackjack dealer Firdaus (Tinka Menkes) perfectly conveys the explosive claustrophobia of Las Vegas, where arid daytime landscapes contrast with its deceptively arid (if riotously mediated) interiors, emblematizing a mindscape in which real-world incursions such as the death of a friend are but momentary interruptions of a relentless daily grind. Queen of Diamonds stands as one of Menkes’ most visually and psychologically arresting works.

'The Great Sadness of Zohara' (1983): Shot in Israel and North Africa, the film follows a Jewish woman who leaves Jerusalem to sojourn in Arab lands. Changes to her body, and poetic suggestions of the incompatibility of two worlds, speak of the profundity of her journey, and her return.

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