‘A CINEMATIC WITCH’: AN INTERVIEW WITH NINA MENKES

During the pandemic, I started my PhD program and my hopes of building an accessible, comprehensive archive of Puerto Rican cinema. As a result, I got very into unofficial online archives, such as those growing of women’s cinema on Tumblr. In one of these deep dives in 2020, I found the work of @menkesfilm.

The first film I saw of hers was QUEEN OF DIAMONDS. Those of you who may know me more personally know that I have a deep love for the American southwest, Vegas in particular, as it reminds me so much of my own slice of Americana, growing up in transient Orlando in the 90s. QUEEN OF DIAMONDS seemed made for me. But Menkes’ work went a lot deeper for me beyond this film.

I think it’s a rare feeling to find the work of a true independent filmmaker and think, “These are the films I wish I had been watching from the beginning.” After QUEEN OF DIAMONDS came PHANTOM LOVE and then every single film of Nina’s I could find on physical media or streaming. I wanted to share her work with more people, and luckily, I found a call for papers on representing feminist perspectives in cinema that seemed tailor-made to examine Nina’s work.

This was before BRAINWASHED took over the festival circuit, and I thought Nina was criminally underwritten about and under-interviewed. I didn’t want to analyze her work for her. I wanted her to speak for herself.

It’s been a long time coming but finally, the interview I conducted with Nina 3 years ago (along with a recent follow up) is now live on MAI’s website. It is open access for all to read, and I really hope you do. Nina’s work is foundational to the American (feminist) underground, and I now consider her a mentor and a friend. I hope we can live in a world where we only have many more films to look forward to from the self-proclaimed cinematic witch. 

Read the full article HERE

By May Santiago / Oct. 5th, 2023