Abstract
Fiction films and documentaries increasingly bring the themes of sex work migration and human trafficking to the big screen. The films often focus on women who have experienced a range of abusive conditions within the sex industry, experiences which in the films typically are all labelled ‘trafficking’ and narrated through the capture of innocents and their rescue. Images of ‘sex slaves’ have thus entered the film scene as iconic figures of pain and suffering, and ‘traffickers’ have emerged as icons of human evil. Building upon the substantial scholarly critique of such films and representations, this article discusses the possibilities of making films about migrant sex workers (some of whom may be trafficked) that do not fall into misleading and sensationalised representations. I draw upon two films about women migrant sex workers that I have worked on as an anthropologist and filmmaker—Trafficking (2010) and Becky’s Journey (2014). The point of departure is that there are a range of other aspects that can influence the filmmaking process rather than merely a one-dimensional perspective on sex work and trafficking. While analysing the making of these two films I look at the reasons—both theoretical and practical—for certain production decisions and the ways in which films in the context of multiple challenges are often the result of the art of the possible.
Highlights
Fiction films and documentaries increasingly bring sex work migration and human trafficking to the big screen
The fiction film Lilja 4-ever,[4] the Academy Award winning documentary Born into Brothels: Calcutta’s red light kids,[5] the fiction film Taken (2008),[6] and recently, the documentary The Price of Sex: An investigation of sex trafficking,[7] among numerous others have come to shape the image of sex work, human trafficking and sex work migration
I secondly argue that we have to explore how sex work migration and human trafficking are represented on film and how the films are produced, because the process of making films affects how human trafficking and sex work related migration are shown to audiences
Summary
Fiction films and documentaries increasingly bring sex work migration and human trafficking to the big screen. Wendy Hesford 12 illuminated how certain representations of suffering and victimhood construct only certain bodies and populations as victims, and how these are incorporated into human rights discourses geared toward humanitarian interventions Despite these poignant critiques from scholars analysing human trafficking, sex work migration and victimhood on film, there is a discrepancy between rightfully criticising films on the one hand, and understanding or exploring the filmmaking process on the other. I primarily find kinship with critical trafficking studies and transnational feminist theory Having these theoretical foundations as my point of departure I have become increasingly interested in the collaboration between anthropology and film and the potential of research-based films to produce counter-narratives to dominant stereotypes or representations within a range of themes, countering dominant images of women migrants and sex workers. I secondly argue that we have to explore how sex work migration and human trafficking are represented on film and how the films are produced, because the process of making films affects how human trafficking and sex work related migration are shown to audiences
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