Riddles of the Sphinx, made by Laura Mulvey and Peter Wollen in 1977, portrays the experience of motherhood through the prism of psychoanalysis, using experimental film techniques and staging to address the difficulties of affective labour, seen through the narrative of a mother caring for her young daughter. The narrative of Anna is combined with other voices and images from outside the film's narrative world, which question and disrupt pre-supposed meanings and symbols of the woman within and without the screen; from the mythical enigma of the Sphinx to the appearances of the artist Mary Kelly and Mulvey herself.
The screening will be followed by conversation between Professor Griselda Pollock and Professor Laura Mulvey.