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Modern Whore film image; woman sitting at the foot of a bed

Modern Whore

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“In books, movies, and every syndicated crime drama imaginable, sex workers are typically portrayed as victims or villains,” Andrea Werhun remarks. “It’s high time we told our own damn stories.” Through cheeky, stylized reenactments, colourful animated sequences, and hilarious sendups of her sexual encounters, memoirist Andrea Werhun recounts the joys and pitfalls of her experiences as an escort and stripper in Toronto. Along the way, she debunks misconceptions about the world’s oldest profession, reconceptualizing the archetype of the Modern Whore.

By turns earnest and riotously entertaining, this documentary feature expands on director Nicole Bazuin and performer and co-writer Andrea Werhun’s (recognizable for her charismatic turn in Sook-Yin Lee’s 2024 film Paying for It) book and short film of the same name. Werhun interviews a diverse community of sex workers and dancers, exploring their professions’ risks and rewards. Modern Whore is a revealing film that exposes the silencing effects of shame and stigma, a culture that fetishizes trauma, and the vulnerabilities that underlie a lack of labour protections.

 

Oct 9 & 11: Q&A

 

Presented by

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Media Partner

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Director
Featuring

Andrea Werhun

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2025

Language

English

Film Contact
Links
Content Warning

Sexual violence, gender or sexual discrimination

18+
80 min
Documentary Women Directors
Clique Pictures, Virgin Twins

Book Tickets

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Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Sean Baker, Berry Meyerowitz, Jeff Sackman, James J. Yi, Amir Endalah, John Laing, Mark Gingras, Terry King, Martha Loewen, Alex Kingsmill, Justin Stockman

Producer

Lauren Grant, Nicole Bazuin, Andrea Werhun

Screenwriter

Nicole Bazuin, Andrea Werhun

Cinematography

Nina Djacic

Editor

Nicole Bazuin

Production Design

Chareese Steinhoff

Original Music

Tom Third

Nicole Bazuin headshot

Nicole Bazuin

Nicole Bazuin is an award-winning filmmaker and artist from Toronto. She directed the short films Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie, which premiered at Sundance and was named in TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten list for 2023; Modern Whore (2020), which premiered at SXSW; and the CBC Short Doc Last Night at the Strip Club (2020); as well as digital series for CBC Arts and The Image Centre. Bazuin co-created and photographed the book Modern Whore: A Memoir (2022), and has exhibited her art at the Art Gallery of Ontario, Luminato, and Nuit Blanche. Modern Whore (2025) is her first feature film.

Filmography: Thriving: A Dissociated Reverie (2023)

 

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