'Love hotel' scene of sex workers' film
fest
Hong Kong's newest film festival doesn't feature Jackie Chan or Jet
Li kicking down doors and punching villains. This one is all about
prostitutes.
The inaugural three-day Hong Kong Sex Workers' Film Festival that
kicks off Friday is an underfunded but comprehensive look at the
lives of prostitutes across Asia -- told by the sex workers
themselves.
The festival, hosted by the Hong Kong sex worker support group Zi
Teng, aims to offer an alternative to the stylized and
stereotypical portrayals of prostitutes in mainstream cinema,
curator Yau Ching said.
The nine-movie program includes contributions from Canada, the
United States, Taiwan, India and Hong Kong. The films are not only
about sex workers but are either made entirely by them or in
conjunction with a director.
Yau, who teaches cultural studies at Hong Kong's Lingnan
University, said that mainstream filmmakers tend to take a "wh ore
or Madonna" approach to depicting prostitutes, painting them as
either victim or predator.
She said she hopes to break such stereotypes by presenting a series
of documentaries that address the day-to-day realities of
prostitution from the perspective of sex workers.
"Very few films talk about their job specifically or their
relationship with society as a sex worker," she said.
Letting the subjects tell their own stories offers a unique
viewpoint, Yau said.
"They [prostitutes] try to support a family, just like other
mothers, so their self-perception, the level of self-respect is
different," she said.
Among the offerings is "The Story of the Taipei Prostitutes," about
a campaign to fight a ban on prostitution in Taiwan's capital.
Another short film outlines the "sex worker's manifesto" drafted at
the first National Conference of Sex Workers in Kolkata, India, in
1997.
Two films revolve around pioneer sex worker activist Carol Leigh,
who is credited with coining the term "sex worker" and who founded
the San Francisco Sex Worker Film and Video Festival.
One obvious gap is the lack of films from mainland China, where
unlike in Hong Kong sex work is illegal. Curator Yau said she knows
of underground films about sex workers in China but didn't have the
resources to bring them to Hong Kong.
Yau, who volunteered her services to Zi Teng, said the festival was
organized on a shoestring budget. Filmmakers donated their movies,
and a friend offered cheap printing services for publicity
materials.
The films will be shown at Zi Teng's small office space that
accommodates about 50 people, located in a run-down pink building
that also houses an hourly motel, or "love hotel."
Another obstacle has been what organizers allege is government
harassment.
Zi Teng staff member Elaine Lam said the Food and Environmental
Hygiene Department called the group Monday ordering them to obtain
a license for the film festival, saying the public event turns its
offices into an entertainment venue.
Lam suspects bias, characterizing the film festival as a
small-scale event that doesn't justify a strict interpretation of
the law. Organizers have sidestepped the legal problem by asking
ticket buyers to join Zi Teng, hence making the film festival a
private, members-only activity.
"A lot of groups organize film showings. Officials haven't tried to
enforce the law on them," she said.
The Food and Environmental Hygiene Department said all movie
showings open to the public require a license.
"It is an offense to conduct cinematography display activities
without a license," a department statement said.
Sex work is not illegal in Hong Kong, but it is against the law to
solicit for business, or live off the earnings of prostitution of
others.