EMPOWER: Perspectives of Sex Workers

Red Maria

Meet Andrew Lindy: a man with a camera and sex on his mind. Andrew is a New Yorker who travels the world to capture beauty for various freelance jobs. Andrew chases beauty but he longs for a connection. On an assignment for ELLE magazine, Andrew travels to Cuba and brings his camera and appetite for women with him. This is a look at the lack of sexual taboo in Cuba, as well as the financial difficulties that lead to prostitution in some Cubans, for the purpose of survival.

There is nothing left of the American dream on the Nine--a solemn destination, a resting place for those who have relinquished the dream. Modesto is a city that lies in California's Central Valley, a region devastated during America's Great Depression. Modesto's notorious South Ninth Street ("the Nine") is a no man's land where the rules of polite society do not apply. The people living along the Nine form a ravaged micro community whose Darwinian existence is a day to day hustle, and survival is by any means necessary.

Through post-porn, performance and wrestling, Puck tries to figure out her place in the world.

Em is an escort girl and a heroin addict. From New York to Los Angeles via Pittsburgh, Em’s daily life is revealed.

Call it acting or prostitution; the phone sex phenomenon reflects the darker side of the telemarketing industry. From the absurd to the disturbing. Mind Fuck is a brave foray into the strange and fascinating psychological world of phone sex in which the real operators, normally stuck on the receiving end of the line, finally get to freely speak their mind.

Radical feminist Andrea Dworkin's expose on the pornography industry.

1961 documentary about the history and seedy reality of the sex industry in London's Soho.

This is the tale of a young woman, growing up in the age of the internet and turning the search for oneself into a public spectacle, allowing kids from all over the world to live their life through hers. Through her fragmented personalities you see the emergence of a new generation, in which the concept of a fixed identity has grown old.

Marta and Karina are sex workers also studying to become lawyers. Filmed over ten years, this documentary captures their unlikely journey from prostitution to the defense of women's rights.

A group of prostitutes in Rio de Janeiro who fight to obtain rights and reduce stigma, create a clothing label that quickly invades Brazilian fashion shows. Poster photo by Daniela Pinheiro.

Enter the universe of three mujra dancers in Pakistan as they dodge state censorship and violence to vie for stardom.

A feature length documentary about the intense connections made between strangers over the telephone, and explores these anonymous conversations people are often too hesitant to have with the people closest to them. From crisis centers to psychics and sex workers, this documentary eavesdrops on the inner-workings of hotlines and puts faces to the voice on the other end of the line.

Fadma, 75, tells her life story including being recruited as a sex worker for the French army aged 20, and her views on love, parenthood, and destiny.

A strippers' convention and a major contest. The movie focuses on a few strippers, each with her own strong motive to win.

21st century legal prostitution through the frank stories of Amsterdam red-light district sex workers at a time when tighter regulation threatens their livelihood.

British filmmaker Beeban Kidron ventures onto the mean streets of the South Bronx and other New York locales to examine the lives of those involved in the city's thriving sex industry.

Examines the voyeuristic and profit-making world of the online platform OnlyFans. Follows the lives of five OnlyFans content creators juxtaposed against an array of commentators that includes comedians, writers, and therapists/experts in the field.

Documentary about the Lyon sex workers who occupied the church of St. Nizier on June 3, 1975.

Documentary - HD. Hidden cameras capture prostitutes working the streets of the neon-soaked gambling mecca of Atlantic City.