Nightmares

Patriarchal ideology is a rot at the root of society: a set of deeply entrenched power dynamics and a poison imbibed by successive generations that advocate antiquated conceptions of masculinity and femininity. From a 1980s-set sweatshop exploitation of an all-female workforce to the contemporary horrors of hazing in the name of male bonding, a cam girl’s staged enactment of male fantasies and a dystopian future of food scarcity and androcentric privilege, these visceral films seek to unsettle and get a rise out of you. All of them condemn the harrowing nature of abuse, indoctrination and objectification within a toxic system but also––crucially––stake out sites of resistance. With resourcefulness, bouts of possession and more than a few drops of menstrual blood, they stir up a potent countercurrent in hopes of giving the collective consciousness the jolt it needs to wake up from this nightmare. (tk)

© The Taster (Sophia Bierend)