Minotaur

Called “Brilliant! One of the most provocative filmmakers of our time” by the Los Angeles Times, and “A cinematic sorceress of the self”, by the New York Times, Nina Menkes synthesizes inner, dream worlds, with outer, brutal realities to create unique feature films that have mesmerized audiences for over 20 years. http://ninamenkes.com

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“My new film is inspired by the mythological minotaur, who lived in the center of a dark maze, and exerted a horrendous destructive force on the surrounding world, killing and devouring innocent young men and women ceaselessly. My version is set in contemporary Israel—featuring an Arab Theseus living within the old city of Jerusalem, and using the resonant, blood-drenched narrow streets as a living, breathing labyrinth. As in the original myth, it is Ariadne (here, a red-haired foreigner), with her love and golden thread, who leads the hero safely out of the maze, after he manages to overcome the minotaur.

MINOTAUR works symbolically on multiple levels. First, clearly, it is about the political conflict: set in Jerusalem, where the stone streets have seen thousands of years of violence, a blood-thirsty monster kills and devours young men and women, spreading terror through the land. Secondly, and no less important, the film takes a psychological approach—by creating a Minotaur who is not obviously associated with any one particular side in the conflict, the film speaks directly about the poisonous rage and violence which sits inside each one of us—a poison which must be confronted, struggled with, and finally transformed on an individual basis within the soul.

Stylistically, the film combines dream-like, surreal hallucinations of the minotaur myth, with a brutal, quasi-documentary shooting style to create a totally unique exploration of psychic crisis in modern-day Israel.

The importance of the conflict in the Middle East can hardly be exaggerated. I want to use my cinematic visions in the service of peace: in my own small way, I hope to make a difference”. –Nina Menkes

Please write me directly with any questions you might have: nina@ninamenkes.com

Produced by Tony Copti, Maria Giese, Karina Pyudik

MINOTAUR is SUPPORTED by GENEROUS GRANTS FROM CECARTSLINK, the CREATIVE CAPITAL FOUNDATION, and CALIFORNIA INSTITUTE of the ARTS.

SOME RECENT PRESS:

Sunday New York Times feature story:

"Menkes is a Cinematic Sorceress of the Self"

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/02/19/movies/retrospectives-of-the-filmmaker-nina-menkes.html?_r=2

New York Times Movie Review DISSOLUTION; Critic's Pick:

"Exquisite and Remarkable":

http://movies.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/movies/dissolution-a-film-set-in-israel-by-nina-menkes.html

Village Voice feature story:

"A fluid continuum of dreams and nightmares":