Film festival celebrating sex workers, described as Canada’s first, opens in Hamilton

HAMILTON — A film festival celebrating sex workers is set to kick off in Hamilton. Organizers are calling the event the first of its kind in Canada.

The two-day Sex Workers’ Film and Arts Festival features documentaries, panels and performances.

According to festival organizer Jelena Vermilion, the aim of the event, which opens on Thursday evening, is to showcase the resilience and diversity of sex workers.

She says she began working with the festival more than a year ago, inspired by her late friend, American activist Carol Leigh, who founded the original Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival in San Francisco in 1999.

Leigh, a pioneering sex worker advocate, died in November 2022. Vermilion says she began planning a Canadian version of the festival after attending a memorial service in Leigh’s honor.

The festival is organized by two theaters in Hamilton.

“We really want to center the perspectives and experiences of marginalized people, and their humanity, dignity and expertise as sex workers,” Vermilion said.

Vermilion describes herself as “an aspiring filmmaker” and she sees “the power of media as an opportunity to transform prejudice into empathy.”

The lineup includes “Georgie Girl,” a 2001 documentary about Georgina Beyer, who was the world’s first openly transgender mayor and member of parliament in New Zealand. Beyer, who died last year, was a former sex worker and performer who helped decriminalize sex work in the country.

Also on the program is a rough cut of “Manifesting Monica Jones,” a documentary by American filmmaker PJ Starr about sex work activist Monica Jones, who was arrested for “manifesting prostitution” when she was still a student.

The festival premiere is a documentary by Ontario stripper organization Work Safe Twerk Safe, about the experiences of strippers during the pandemic lockdowns.

Vermilion said there will be a panel discussion with local sex workers on both nights.

She said she hopes the festival can grow and eventually become a biennial event.

“We belong here,” Vermilion said. “We’ve always belonged here. We’ve always been here.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published August 1, 2024.

Rianna Lim, The Canadian Press