Lizzie Borden’s frank and often funny look at a day-in-the-life of sex workers in a Manhattan brothel as they discuss their lives and work between clients.
The film follows Molly, a photographer, through her day working as a sex worker out of a fashionable Mid-Manhattan apartment. Explicit, without being violent, voyeuristic or moralistic it trains its focus on the relationships between the women working together. Borden presents a side of prostitution where women are shown not as victims but to be in control on a number of levels, physical and economic. A provocative and scathingly funny work from the director of Born in Flames (1983).
Contemporary Films released Working Girls in the UK as a co-release with Electric Pictures in March 1987.
Filmmaker and writer Lizzie Thynne will introduce the film and its themes.
“Made with warmth, humour and commitment, it’s an abrasive comment on prostitution amongst New York bourgeoisie whose discreet charm is only skin deep.”
Time Out
“Working Girls as a feminist statement clearly wants to have it both ways: its skill lies in convincing you that it deserves it.”
Alexander Walker, Evening Standard
“The performances are excellent.”
Derek Malcolm, The Guardian
“Witty and sharply perceptive.”
Vogue
“Very funny and hugely satisfying.”
Women’s Review
“One of the most remarkable, objective accounts of prostitutes in New York.”
Tom Hutchinson, Hampstead and Highgate Express
WORKING GIRLS / Lizzie Borden / USA / 1986 / 91 mins
Lizzie Thynne is a film-maker and writer. She produces films for galleries, the web and television. Her work has been widely shown in in international festivals, major exhibitions, and on Channel Four.
She often explores inventive and challenging ways of representing the past that underline its importance and fascination for the present. Her methods include drama, dance and the creative use of archive. She works with many talented collaborators and also shoots and edits her own films.
Her feature documentaries Independent Miss Craigie, On the Border and Playing a Part: The Story of Claude Cahun explore the often neglected role of women in history and the history of the media. Her recent work has been supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council, the Leverhulme Trust and Brighton Festival.