“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
Media Partner
Community Partner
Andrea Werhun
Canada
2025
English
Sexual violence, gender or sexual discrimination
Book Tickets
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
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)
Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre
The Lion King
With its beautifully drawn East African setting, its humour, pathos, and engaging characters, as well as its stirring songs, The Lion King stands as the pinnacle of traditional Disney family entertainment.
Image: © Disney, 1994
Casino
Revisiting the wise guy milieu for the third (but not the final) time, Scorsese tells the story of Ace Rothstein and Nicky Santoro (Robert De Niro and Joe Pesci), two New York hoodlums who become major players in the history of Las Vegas.
Mary Oliver: Saved by the Beauty of the World
Sasha Waters' documentary takes us through the life of America's best-selling late twentieth century poet, a private woman who shared her innermost thoughts and made them indispensable.
Vivaldi and Me
Venice, 1716. Composer Antonio Vivaldi teaches at an orphanage for abandoned girls, and establishes a deep rapport with violinist Cecelia — but their collaboration is threatened by her impending arranged marriage.