CENTER FOR SEX AND CULTURE

Wednesday, August 18th, 2010, 7:30pm
$5-15 sliding scale
At CSC, 1519 Mission near 11th

SEX WORKERS: YOUR VOICE COUNTS
Shares the stories of four women in San Francisco who are redefining and reclaiming sex work with dignity, awareness and education. This 14 minute documentary tells the story of current and former sex workers who have overcome violence, stigma, and stereotypes. In sharing their stories, Abby, Bella, Carol and Cinnamon seek to pave the way and invite others to let their voices count as sex workers, as sexual professionals, and experts contributing to society in a way that is far more profound than society as a whole realizes.

AND
An intriguing exploration of the Asian massage parlor industry in Providence, RI, where a 25 year-old loophole has made the exchange of sex for money legal - as long as it happens behind closed doors. As the documentary follows a recent Korean immigrant, "Heather", working to operate her spa, the city's mayor fights to change the law that allows her business a legal existence.
The film includes interviews with Korean women who work in spas, clients who frequent the spas, politicians from 1980 and today, police, local news footage, radio call-in shows and "voiced" reviews from internet escort review boards.

Rhode Island
The only state where prostitution is legal. It had been over 25 years since five prostitutes sued the state of Rhode Island for selective prosecution, and prostitution laws were removed from the books when documentarians Tara Hurley and Nick Marcoux turned their cameras on the under belly of "The Renaissance City" Providence, RI. Watch the drama unfold in asian massage parlors as Mayor David Ciccilline of the City of Providence pushes to close the prostitution "loophole". Follow Heather, a Korean immigrant, over two years as she manages the massage parlor. Learn about the women who work in the spas. Hear from the police who arrest them. Watch the fight for and against the legislation.

The film includes subtitled interviews with Korean women who work in the spas, clients who frequent the spas, Police, Politicians from1980 and today, local news footage, local radio call in shows, and "voiced" reviews from internet escort review boards. Experimenting with both narrative and documentary, this film creates a new style of cinema verite.

See http://bitchinfilmreviews.com/happy-endings/ for more about the movie and Tara Hurley, the filmmaker.