Jelena Vermilion poses for a photo as she sells merchandise to support sex workers at the Toronto Erotic Arts and Crafts Fair, in a February 2023 handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-, *MANDATORY CREDIT*
HAMILTON – A film festival celebrating sex workers is set to open in Hamilton, with organizers describing the event as the first of its kind in Canada.
The two-day Sex Workers’ Film and Arts Festival features documentaries, panels and performances.
Festival organizer Jelena Vermilion says the goal of the event opening Thursday evening is to demonstrate the resilience and diversity of sex workers.
She says she began working on the festival more than a year ago, taking inspiration from her late friend, American activist Carol Leigh, who launched the original Sex Worker Film and Arts Festival in San Francisco in 1999.
Leigh, a trailblazing advocate for sex workers, died in November 2022 and Vermilion says she began planning a Canadian version of the festival after attending a memorial honouring Leigh.
The festival is being hosted by two Hamilton theatres.
“We really want to centre the perspectives and experiences of marginalized people, and centre their humanity and their dignity and their 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 in the lineup is a rough cut of “Manifesting Monica Jones,” a documentary by American filmmaker PJ Starr about sex worker activist Monica Jones, who was arrested for “manifesting prostitution” while she was a college student.
Premiering at the festival is a documentary by the stripper-led Ontario organization, Work Safe Twerk Safe, on the experience of strippers during the pandemic lockdowns.
Vermilion said both nights will feature a panel discussion of local sex workers.
She said she hopes the festival can grow and eventually become a biannual event.
“We belong here,” Vermilion said. “We always have belonged here. We’ve always been here.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 1, 2024.
