Juliana Piccillo is an award-winning filmmaker, writer and sex worker rights activist. She is the producer of “I was a Teenage Prostitute” and “The Celluloid Bordello,” and was a story consultant for Sean Baker on "Red Rocket,” a Palme d’or-nominated film. As a visiting scholar at the University of Arizona for ten years, she taught film, video and television production.
In this episode, we talk about:
- Juliana’s recent documentary, “Celluloid Bordello” about depictions of sex work in film (3:12)
- The old motion picture rating system, which only allowed sex work, homosexuality, and mixed race relationships if those depicted were shown being punished (4:14)
- Nicole’s BA thesis, “Le Fille Publique: Depictions of Sex Work in 19th-Ccentury French literature” (12:32)
- How the patriarchy puts men into a box (16:57)
- Juliana’s experience as a sex worker: in her teens vs. returning in her 40’s and 50’s (30:12)
- How Juliana created an uproar by hosting a sex worker film festival while teaching at the University of Arizona and ended up on O’Reily and CNN (33:52)
- Born into Brothels: A horrible white savior complex documentary (that somehow won an Academy Award) about a sex worker community in Calcutta, India (40:54)
- How stereotypical depictions of trafficking victims satisfies the revenge-rescue fantasy in awful men. (43:34)
- What growing our own food and sex work have in common (56:48)
- Juliana-approved sex work movies (throughout- see show notes for list)
Show notes:
IG: @whoresonfilm
I was a Teenage Prostitute and The Celluloid Bordello are available on Prime, Apple TV and PinkLabel.tv.
Sex work movies that Juliana loves: Sweet Charity, Gypsy, Pretty Baby, Lizzie Borden’s Working Girls, Tangerine, Angel, Red Rocket
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