Whores On Film
Juliana Piccillo
United States, 2019, 85 min.
In English.
Includes violence, nudity and adult language.
AIFF Award Winner:
Special Jury Award for Bridging Cultures
As told by real-world sex workers, the documentary Whores on Film, navigates the history of sex work in cinema and the stereotypes that have engrained themselves in film language. The clichés of the sex worker as unable to receive or give love, lacking in agency, desperate and even unredeemable, are presented with overflowing evidence from some of Hollywood's most respected films. A fascinating insight into how cinema impacts real-world communities and a hopeful argument for the power of cinema to comfort and inspire.
Director's Statement
My work is both deeply personal and explicitly political. Art leads revolutions.
Category: Documentary, Festival Alum, Arizona Film, Feature Doc, Award Winner, Best of Fest.
Themes: Community, Women, Film Industry, LGBTQIA.
More in Documentary
-
Children of the Mountain
Ryan Flynn
United States, 2025, 8 min.The artistic vision behind Children of the Mountain explores the sacred Indigenous tradition of the sweat lodge. With the permission of Ron Six Bears... more ›
-
Hollywood's Mermaid: The Esther Williams Story
Brian Gersten
United States, 2026, 20 min.From swimming champion to Hollywood starlet, Esther Williams was arguably one of the most recognizable actresses of the 1940s, 50s, and 60s yet her story has... more ›
-
Into The Pool
Scott Ballard
United States, 2026, 9 min.In her mid-seventies, synchronized swimmer Julie Vigeland continues to find herself in the pool - a place where aging dissolves into a dance of healing,... more ›