Whitney Monaghan

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Portrait of a Lady on Fire

Described as "a manifesto about the female gaze," Portrait of a Lady on Fire challenges cinema to resist patriarchal ways of looking, seeing, and feeling.

Moonlight

Told in three transcendent and achingly beautiful acts, Moonlight interrogates what it means to be a black gay man growing up in poverty in contemporary America. Throughout the film, Jenkins’ moving vision of queer sexuality is compounded by extraordinary performances from the three actors portraying Chiron.

Pink Flamingos

One of the most hilarious and disgusting films of all time, Pink Flamingos always elicits a visceral response. I love it for its love of trash culture, the incredible Dreamlanders, and its affection towards Hollywood of the 1950s. However, it resonates particularly well in today's media landscape where reality television and viral social media trends see people competing for notoriety in much the same way as the film's gloriously filthy protagonists.

Further remarks

To me, these films represent the profound power of cinema to impact the way you think, feel, and experience the world around you. I will never forget seeing these films for the first time and I will always relish the opportunity to see them on the big screen and share them with an audience.