Sex Worker Festival CyberScreening 2019

On our 20th Anniversary, the San Francisco Bay Area Sex Worker Festival proudly presents the following films in our inaugural CyberScreening. Register here for a free entry to view this collection.

The movies featured in this CyberScreening range from crucial cultural representations, to important videos that will inform sex worker rights projects around the world, to fun and bold student work, to experimental representations by sex worker artists, to brilliant sex worker self confessional and more.

(Sex) Work Study - Amelia Roskin-Frazee

(13:30-2018, US)
(Sex) Work Study explores how work study financial aid requirements on an Ivy League campus impact student experiences with sex work. Amelia Roskin-Frazee is a B.A. candidate at Columbia University in Women's, Gender, and Sexuality Studies. Amelia is the Founder & President of The Make It Safe Project, an organization that donates books about sexual orientation and gender identity to schools, youth homeless shelters, and juvenile detention centers. First time maker and student project!

My name was January- Elina Gress/Lenee Son/Alex Sangha/Ash Brar

(25:45-2018, Canada)
When a trans sister, January Marie Lapuz, is brutally murdered in
her own home, a community reacts and her friends and other trans women of colour come to share and voice their issues, concerns, and challenges. January was seen as a bright light in the lives of many. This is the story of January, a friend, a daughter, a person. This film will not only bring justice to January, but to all the women who have lost their lives. January had a beautiful soul, and now part of her soul rests in each and every one of us.

Love, Work and Polyphobia- Mariko Passion

(26:11- 2015, US)
Is Monogamy SOOO Heteronormative? Is polyamory the relationship ORIENTATION of choice? Can you work in the sex and love industry and actually be loyal and true to ONE PARTNER? Do partners like that EXIST? Can you “date outside of your species “(meaning date someone polyamorous if you are more monoamorous?) Featuring Theresa Reed “Darklady” and Francesca Gentille.

This Is How New Legislation Puts Sex Workers in Danger-Ashley Velez

The Root featuring Ceyenne Doroshow/Akynos/Mona Marie
(8:43-2018, US)
An important discussion amongst Black sex worker artist/activists Ceyenne Doroshow/Akynos/Mona Marie on the occaision of JezeRoot’s Women’s History Month. This slick, brilliant and emotional interview-style video describes the impact of FOSTA SESTA. This video is essential watching for students, activists and the general public.
See online: https://www.theroot.com/watch-this-is-how-new-legislation-puts-sex-workers-in-1824209063

Note from the Director: "For this video, it was crucial for us to hear from Black women specifically. We wanted to prioritize their voices when discussing the challenges they face as sex workers in a country that constantly criminalizes being Black every day, and how that identity is even further criminalized as a sex worker. Since these challenges also look different for cisgender and transgender women, having those perspectives in this piece was also critical, along with having representation from sex workers across the spectrum of professions. I'm so thankful for the women who so fearlessly shared their stories and who also challenged one another throughout the discussion. As a storyteller, we need to continue to do the work and make sure that conversations like these are not taboo, but a part of our media fabric so that we do not continue to perpetuate marginalization."

Decolonizing Marisa - Vanessa Scully

(28:18 2019 UK)
Set in a caravan park on a coastal village in Australia, a domestic drama unfolds, between an old man and his young, recently acquired Filipino bride. Centered around a TV dinner, performed in real time, the film escalates through layers of time, space and form, using an obsolete television as a time travelling device. Intersecting fiction with research, staged performance is combined with found footage, to create a dual narrative shown concurrently on a single channel. ‘Decolonizing Marisa’ seeks to question the institutional knowledge of the Philippines, as depicted by the colonial administration. This film is based upon my mother passage to ‘a better life in the west’. (Note - the foreign language spoken by the Mail Order Bride intentionally remains untranslated from Tagalog to English for artistic purposes)

Tina and Sendy- Mirta Puhlovski/Hani Domazet

(17:11-2018, Croatia)
A journey through one day and one night. One porn audition, two girls and the big force that will put that female friendship on test. A unique perspective in this professional indie drama.

Object - Sydney Southam

(6:00 -2017, Canada)
This video essay is a response to the artist's experience working as a stripper. What began as a beautiful and exciting adventure quickly turned dark as the artist was criticized and ultimately fired for not having an augmented body. This piece explores what happens to ones relationship to our own bodies when one performs professionally for the male gaze.

The Chemo Darkroom - Harvey Rabbit

(16:57 2018, Berlin)
Sex, pain, the unknown. 'The Chemo Darkroom' is ritual film about recovering the sexual self after chemotherapy. A woman embarks on a voyeuristic journey in a gay darkroom, attempting to free herself of the memory of cancer treatment and remember who she was before.

The Finest Romeo - Rhonda McCelland

(6:47-2018, US)
An inspired student project by a first time filmmaker, this short is an exploration of the controversial world of the male exotic dancer. Anthony Rodriguez, a 26 year old sexy smart personable young man, of Puerto Rican decent; sheds light on the myths, the stigmas, the business of stripping as a profession. Anthony discusses his work, and does make an effort to distinguish his work from prostitution. Come dive into the life of “ The Finest Romeo".

To Survive; To Live - Juno Mac/Audrey Moore/SWARM/Ada Justa illustration & Woven Ink

(7:27-2018, UK)
On the opccaision of December 17th - International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers (#IDEVASW), SWARM (Sex Worker Advocacy & Resistance Movement) is pleased to launch our new film, a short animated documentary about the lives of British sex workers. Produced by SWARM in collaboration with Ada Jusic, and Woven Ink, ‘To Survive; To Live’ weaves together candid interviews from five people selling sex in austerity Britain. Setting aside the polarising rhetoric that often surrounds discussions of sex work, the film gives an intimate insight into the hopes, fears and needs of a group whose voices are routinely silenced. Supported by Open Society. View online at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcycwnqmBbk

Confetti - Lauren Levitt/Hypnoperv

(2:14 2015, US)
Video art, a girl gets tarred and feathered with confetti and glue. Lauren is an LA based performance artist and filmmaker. She has previously worked as a faux queen and a burlesque performer, and her work explores gender and sexuality in contemporary culture. Hypnoperv is a New York based photographer and video artist, and her work explores BDSM, spirituality, and medicine.