Sex Workers' Film Festival — a 1st in Canada — aims to inspire empathy, says Hamilton organizer
CBC
What's being touted as the first film festival in Canada showcasing movies and documentaries exclusively about sex workers is set to kick off in Hamilton.
The goal is to shift the public's perspective about sex work, says film festival organizer and activist Jelena Vermilion.
"When sex workers aren't being displayed as murder victims or as criminals or victims on the screen, it really allows people to engage with their humanity at a deeper level," said Vermilion, who runs the outreach group Sex Workers' Action Program (SWAP) Hamilton.
American activist Carol Leigh, also known as the Scarlot Harlot, began the first sex workers' film festival in the United States in San Francisco in 1999. Leigh died in 2022 and Vermilion said she felt inspired to set up a similar festival in Canada.
"We hope that people's hearts and minds will be changed — and for the better," she said.
Kathleen Cherrington, a critical sex work studies researcher at York University, said these types of film festivals take place in many other countries, but this will be the first on Canadian soil that she knows of.
"These types of events are crucial for amplifying the voices and stories of sex workers, fostering understanding and empathy in the community and challenging harmful stereotypes," Cherrington said.
She will be attending, and encourages "everybody" to try to make it out.
Sex workers are some of the most marginalized people in society and face "tremendous amounts of violence and stigma," said Cherrington.
Hamilton's inaugural Sex Workers' Film and Arts Festival will take place at local movie theatres The Westdale Thursday evening and Playhouse Cinema Friday evening. There will also be live performances and art exhibits.
Sex workers will have free admission. Members of the public can purchase tickets.
New York-based filmmaker PJ Starr's documentary Manifesting Monica Jones, the rough-cut version, is among the films being screened. Starr will also be at the festival and cap it off with a question-and-answer session.
Starr said the film festival is important because it creates a safe space for sex workers and their allies and imagines a much different future.
"I know Jelena is a visionary, so I am excited to see what she will bring," said Starr. "It's very aspirational."
Timothy Smith was acting in self-defence when he punched Landon Waddell, and shouldn't be found guilty of manslaughter, his lawyer says.
Thoroughbred horse racing at Vancouver’s Hastings Racecourse is ending after more than a century, with the operator announcing Friday it will no longer run a racing season at the historic facility.
A memorial to remember lives lost to gender-based violence was held in Charlottetown Friday, ahead of the National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women, which is marked annually on Dec. 6.
A Calgary dentist who defrauded five insurance companies over a decade should spend up to three years in prison, the prosecution argued Friday.
B.C. Conservation Officer Service says it has called off its search for a bear responsible for an attack on a group of school children in Bella Coola, B.C. on Nov. 20.
The union president called it a rally for solidarity as Iqaluit Housing Authority employees gathered Friday while negotiations are ongoing between the Nunavut Employees Union and the employer.
The federal government is stoking Quebec separatism by walking back its climate commitments — including in its recent deal with Alberta — Liberal MP and former cabinet minister Steven Guilbeault says.
Four more Alberta MLAs are facing recall petitions organized by their constituents, including the first NDP representative to be caught in the province's ongoing wave of recall efforts.
Frank Gehry, the Canadian-born renegade architect behind some of the world's most recognizable buildings, has died at 96.
Hundreds of P.E.I. parents can't find child-care spaces, especially for infants. The provincial government says expanding those spots remains a top priority — and it recognizes the concern.
An Alberta judge says a referendum proposal on Alberta separating from Canada goes against Charter and and Treaty rights, in a decision given less than 24 hours after the provincial government introduced legislation that would have ended the court proceeding.
The architect of Alberta's politician recall legislation says it was never meant to be used as a political weapon, but as an "ultimate tool of accountability" if a politician engages in illegal or unethical behaviour.
The Government of Saskatchewan has introduced its long-promised involuntary treatment legislation on the final day of the fall sitting.