Browse films

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

  • My Grandmother is a Skydiver

    My Grandmother is a Skydiver

    Polina Piddubna
    Germany, 2025, 13 min.

    In 1960s Tajikistan, a skydiver gets a call from her granddaughter in 2022 Ukraine, sparking an intergenerational journey through trauma, memory and identity... more ›

  • The Nest

    The Nest

    Derek Brown
    United States, 2025, 17 min.

    Inside Bronx International High School, a sanctuary for New York's most vulnerable youth, an immigrant community bands together to create a better future... more ›

  • Voyage of the Handala

    Voyage of the Handala

    Jim Koenigsaecker
    United States, 2025, 29 min.

    Voyage of the Handala is an independent documentary film about an international group of peace activists and aid workers sailing from Europe to Gaza to raise... more ›