Working Girls & Lumapit Sa Akin, Paraiso

Thu 16.11.
16:30

Cinema

Arsenal 1

Working Girls

Working Girls: The film was inspired by the experiences of sex workers, who Borden got to know when she was shooting her cult feminist film Born in Flames. Told from the perspective of Molly, it portrays a day in the life of a young woman who is a photographer and also a part-time worker in a private bordello in Manhattan. The view is rich in detail and almost sober-minded, devoid of sensationalism and the monotone portrayals of prostitution. Another aspect is the continuous positioning of individuals (the women come from very different social backgrounds) in a business where questions about the boundaries between the private and the professional are very present. (Gaby Babić)

Lumapit Sa Akin, Paraiso

On Sundays, Central in Hong Kong city becomes a pivotal space for LUMAPIT SA AKIN, PARAISO and three female care-giving protagonists, away from the homes of their employers where they live and work full-time. On weekdays, the square belongs to hustle and bustle of finance and banking sector. But on Sundays, from early morning to night, Filipino domestic workers occupy the space and convert it into a communal place to relax over food, drinks, beauty courses, prayers and dance practices. Thus, the high temple of capital, temporarily loses its rigid norms of space. Only when the women gather in large numbers is the signal strong enough to summon Paraiso, a ghost played by a drone who will transmit their vlogs, photos, and messages home. The style of LUMAPIT SA AKIN, PARAISO is sci-fi as it strategies the present from the point of view of the future. Yet the poignant tales of economic migration, gender-based work division, urban melancholy, public access in both urban and digital forms, and longing for an (almost) imaginary homeland are treated with certain humorous absurdity and speculative imagination.
(Hint: http://www.cometomeparadise.com) (Madhusree Dutta)