Ritual for the Whores

In a former coffin factory in Hamburg, 15 performers gather to bring their self-chosen “whore personas” to life. Each brings their own props and texts dealing with topics such as colonization, discrimination, and violence against sex workers. The performance is directed by Annie Sprinkle, who acts as the “Ecosexual Whore Madam” on a mound of earth. The film dispenses with commentary and lets the performances speak for themselves. It was shot in the style of direct cinema and is part of a three-part documentary of the conference “Fantasies that matter: Images of Sexwork in Media and Art,” which took place in 2014 at Kampnagel in Hamburg. The conference examined social images of sex work in the context of gender, migration, and poverty. The film offers an intimate insight into the world of sex work and challenges common perceptions.