Magdalena Viraga

About the film
Over the past three decades, "cinematic sorceress" Nina Menkes has created a radical, visually arresting body of work that defies the conventions of American independent cinema. Her breakthrough came with Magdalena Viraga (1986), which she described as "a hallucinogenic journey through the boundless vortex of unadulterated Female space."

Set in the grimy bars and motels of 1980s Los Angeles, Magdalena Viraga is an anti-patriarchal, anti-capitalist provocation: hypnotic, disorienting, and deeply political. Tinka Menkes — the director’s sister and long-time collaborator — plays a sex worker teetering on the edge of collapse, embodying quiet fury and profound sorrow. The film sits somewhere between experimental low-budget documentary and allegorical dystopia, and hits like a left hook — pulsing with feminist rage against a brutal and senseless system.

About Aya Suzuki
Japanese percussionist and marimba player Aya Suzuki has been making music since childhood. Her serene, minimalist compositions – using metal bars, glass bowls, vibraphone and voice – reveal a refined sense of texture and float somewhere between ethereal sound art, contemporary classical and poetic improvisation. She studied with marimba legend Keiko Abe and has been based in Brussels for several years. In 2024, she released Winged Seeds on the KRAAK label. She has performed solo at festivals such as Concertgebouw Brugge, STUK, Handelsbeurs and Muziekcentrum Kortrijk.

This project is the first part of a broader soundtrack series on the work of Nina Menkes, a collaboration between VIERNULVIER and the Los Angeles-based production company Arbelos.