After conquering the hearts of the Cannes Film Festival jury and winning the 2024 Palme d’Or, Sean Baker’s loving character study Anora (2024) finally lands in cinemas. Throughout this hilarious and moving rollercoaster of a film, the eponymous sex worker literally fights tooth and nail to counter reductive assumptions about her needs, desires, and dreams. An ardent cinephile, Baker knew just where to look for inspiration in crafting his raucous, determined protagonist. In Federico Fellini’s Nights of Cabiria (1957), Giuletta Masina combines strength and fragility in a miraculous heroine who upends expectations at every turn. A frank and unvarnished look at a livelihood often misunderstood, Fellini’s masterpiece also allows for fantasy and childlike wonder within tough circumstances—as does Baker in his screwball-inspired, bittersweet comedy. His film’s slyly comic portrayal of the daily life of a sex worker has a humorous counterpart in Lizzie Borden’s Working Girls (1986). Revolving around the comings and goings of a Manhattan brothel, its intimate depiction of the employees’ routines gives this feminist touchstone a documentary-like directness and power. Eschewing antiquated views and harmful clichés of a stigmatized profession, the invigorating films in this collection embrace an alternative, radically compassionate perspective.

After conquering the hearts of the Cannes Film Festival jury and winning the 2024 Palme d&#8217;Or, Sean Baker&#8217;s loving character study Anora (2024) finally lands in cinemas. Throughout this hilarious and moving rollercoaster of a film, the eponymous sex worker literally fights tooth and nail to counter reductive assumptions about her needs, desires, and dreams. An ardent cinephile, Baker knew just where to look for inspiration in crafting his raucous, determined protagonist. In Federico Fellini&#8217;s Nights of Cabiria (1957), Giuletta Masina combines strength and fragility in a miraculous heroine who upends expectations at every turn. A frank and unvarnished look at a livelihood often misunderstood, Fellini&#8217;s masterpiece also allows for fantasy and childlike wonder within tough circumstances&#8212;as does Baker in his screwball-inspired, bittersweet comedy. His film&#8217;s slyly comic portrayal of the daily life of a sex worker has a humorous counterpart in Lizzie Borden&#8217;s Working Girls (1986). Revolving around the comings and goings of a Manhattan brothel, its intimate depiction of the employees&#8217; routines gives this feminist touchstone a documentary-like directness and power. Eschewing antiquated views and harmful clichés of a stigmatized profession, the invigorating films in this collection embrace an alternative, radically compassionate perspective.

Working Girls: Lives of Sex Workers

WORKING GIRLS: LIVES OF SEX WORKERS

As Sean Baker’s bittersweet comedy Anora lands in theaters, we’re revisiting invigorating films that shed light on the reality of sex work. Eschewing antiquated views and harmful clichés of a stigmatized profession, these gems embrace an alternative, radically compassionate perspective.

As Sean Baker&#8217;s bittersweet comedy Anora lands in theaters, we&#8217;re revisiting invigorating films that shed light on the reality of sex work. Eschewing antiquated views and harmful clichés of a stigmatized profession, these gems embrace an alternative, radically compassionate perspective.