Press release: 20 May 2011

London’s first ever Sex Worker Film Festival will take place Saturday 12 June 2011 at the Rio Cinema from 1:15-5:30pm in East London, featuring short films and documentaries by and about sex workers and their fight for their human and labour rights.

Organised by the Sex Worker Open University – a collective of sex workers and allies – the first ever Sex Worker Film Festival to be held in London, brings together ethically produced, original and provocative documentaries and films from the UK and beyond, exploring the diversity and contradictions of the sex industry. There will also be a panel discussion with some of the filmmakers and an after party.

Luca Darkholme, current finalist for Pioneer of the Year at the Erotic Awards 2011 for co-founding of the Sex Worker Open University project, comments: “Through presenting London’s first ever Sex Worker Film Festival, our collective wants to show living, fighting, whole sex workers; representations that abandon flat, one dimensional characters and stereotypes. The choice of films focus on the diverse realities of sex workers – often very different from the classic “victim” image. Themes include self determination, migration, identity, intimacy and the international struggle for sex workers’ rights.”

Programme includes:
69 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SEX WORK (Canada 2006) – Fun sexy piece about being a sex worker;
Documentary feature HANDS OFF (UK 2011) about the fight between the strip club industry in Hackney, UK, and the council’s attempts to close and make these clubs illegal;
THE STREET IN RED (UK 2011) which looks at the rights of sex workers to public space and the anti-sex work laws purporting to make streets safer;
NI COUPABLES, NI VICTIMES (Not Guilty, Not Victims) (EUROPE 2006) in which sex workers and activist speak of the challenges and the struggles of being a sex worker in Europe today;
EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO ( AUSTRALIA / CANADA  2010) which provides a response to the total lack of accessible online resources for people looking for advice on how to be a good date, lover, or partner to a sex worker;
Documentary about London’s first ever SEX WORKER OPEN UNIVERSITY (UK 2009) at which over two hundred sex workers and allies took part in workshops, discussions and actions;
NORMAL (UK 2010) in which four characters explain how they came to see their involvement in the sex industry as normal and how their notion of normality evolved with their life experiences;
TRANSFICTION (Brazil 2007) which focuses on identity and discrimination in the daily lives of transgendered Brazilians living in São Paulo;
WORKING GIRL BLUES (USA 2009) – a sassy look at work: considering the pluses and minuses of many types of jobs.

All funds raised from the film festival will go towards creating the next edition of the Sex Worker Open University 12-16 October 2011 in London, which is currently inviting submissions. Building on the first Open University project in April 2009 which brought together more than 200 sex workers, sex workers’ rights activists, allies and visitors from the UK and abroad for workshops, discussions, actions and art exhibits over five days, the collective will once again create a space for debate, workshops, films, to socialise, learn new skills and empower themselves whilst exploring the richness, diversity and contradictions of the sex industry.

Key event details:
Event title:  London’s First Ever Sex Worker Film Festival 2011
Organisers:  Sex Worker Open University
Date: Sunday 12 June
Time: 1.15pm – 5.30pm (Running time first half: 86min; followed by 30 minute discussion with sex workers and film makers then 15 minute interval; running time second half: 91min)
Venue: Rio Cinema, 107 Kingsland High Street, London E8 2PB
Tickets: £9 /£7 concessions
More info:  
Sex Worker Open University website – http://www.sexworkeropenuniversity.com
Rio Cinema website – http://www.riocinema.ndirect.co.uk/ (will be updated shortly with programme and advance tickets can be bought via the site)
Sex Worker Open University Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/sexworkeropenuniversity
Email – swoul09@yahoo.co.uk

For media enquiries, interviews and further information, please email ronan.mcnern@gmail.com or call 07745 651634.

London Sex Worker Film Festival’s full programme description
69 THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SEX WORK (Canada 2006) Dir. Isabel Hosti,  5m51s, DVD – Fun and sexy piece about a queer Canadian’s favourite things about being a sex worker
HANDS OFF (UK 2011) Dir. Winstan Whitter, 22m, DVD – Documentary feature about the fight between the strip club industry in Hackney, UK, and the council’s attempts to close and make these clubs illegal. With words from the venue owners, the local parish reverend and the dancers themselves, all express their worries and concerns about the looming council threat
THE STREET IN RED (UK 2011) Dirs. Clare Havell and Atieh Attarzadeh, 5m, Digital – What are the forces behind violence against Street Sex Workers? The Street in Red addresses rights of sex workers to public space, moral landscapes, and the hypocrisy of anti-sex work laws purporting to make streets safer
NI COUPABLES, NI VICTIMES (Not Guilty, Not Victims) (EUROPE 2006) Dir. ICRSE and sexyshock, 37m54s, DVD – Polyphonic conversation gathering the words of some of the protagonists at the European Conference on Sex Work, Human Rights, Labour and Migration, Brussels (2005). They speak of the complexity and nuances of the sex industry and their lives: the challenges and the struggles of being a sex worker in Europe today, the repressive policies affecting their lives and the strategies of resistance enabling them to do their work, build their desires and plan their futures
EVERY HO I KNOW SAYS SO ( AUSTRALIA / CANADA  2010) Dir. Beef Jerky and Lusty Day, 9m24s, DVD – Response to the total lack of accessible online resources for people looking for advice on how to be a good date or lover or partner to a sex worker. We want to support our lovers to continue unlearning the internalized stigma against sex workers, especially in intimate relationships. We think that sex workers themselves have valuable advice and direction to give to people who get into intimate relationships with us. This is the direct message we want to give to our lovers: “We hope that this video is useful to you in your journey to becoming a sex worker-positive and supportive lover and person in the community!!! By continuing to work on your attitudes about our work and educating yourself, you are showing us that you care. We love you!”
SEX WORKER OPEN UNIVERSITY (UK 2009) Dir. Ellie Gurney, 10m44s, Digital – Sex workers are routinely portrayed in the media as victims. At London’s first ever Sex Worker Open University in 2009, over two hundred sex workers and allies from the UK and abroad took part in workshops, discussions and actions. This film presents an alternative and empowered image of the sex worker.
30 minute discussion with film makers and sex workers; followed by a 15 minutes interval
NORMAL (UK 2010) Dir. Nick Mai, 30m, DVD – NORMAL is made of the combined interviews with four young migrants, who are impersonated by actors. The similarities and differences between the characters’ life trajectories are explored by focusing on their contradictory aspirations to lead a NORMAL life. The film is also a reflection on the inherently fictional nature of any narration of the self, particularly when this happens in relation to experiences which are stigmatized as non-NORMAL. The four characters explain how they came to see their involvement in the sex industry as NORMAL and how their notion of normality evolved with their life experiences. At the same time, their life trajectories do not conform to the victim/villain stereotypical opposition which dominates current debates about sex trafficking.
TRANSFICTION (Brazil 2007) Dir. Johannes Sjoberg, 57m, DVD with Fabia Mirassos and Savana Meirelles – Transfiction explores ‘ethnofiction’ – an experimental ethnographic documentary film style in which the participants collaborate with the filmmaker to act out their own and others’ life experiences in improvisations. The film focuses on identity and discrimination in the daily lives of transgendered Brazilians living in São Paulo. Fabia Mirassos projects her life through the role of Meg, a transsexual hairdresser confronting intolerance and re-living memories of abuse. Savana ‘Bibi’ Meirelles plays Zilda who makes her living as one of the many transgendered sex workers in São Paulo, as she struggles to find her way out of prostitution
WORKING GIRL BLUES (USA 2009) Dir. Damien Luxe, 4m, DVD – A sassy look at work: considering the pluses and minuses of many types of jobs + a blues song. Damien Luxe is a multi-media performer and artist who has worked in DIY/indie print, web, theater and audio production for over 10 years.
About the London Sex Worker Open University
Our aim is to empower through workshops, debates, actions and art projects as well as fighting against criminalisation. We want to give a voice to sex workers, whose lives are too often stereotyped and voices too often silenced. We want to challenge media sensationalism, which, hand in hand with the UK government, often represents sex workers as victims or criminals. A society that recognises, accepts, respects and values sex workers is a fairer and more mature society.

The first Sex Worker Open University event, which took place in London in April 2009, was a great success bringing together more than 200 sex workers, sex workers’ rights activists, allies and visitors from the UK and abroad took part in workshops, discussions, actions and art exhibits over five days.