“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 Secret in Their Eyes
This month's Talking Pictures screening is a multi-layered, poignant thriller interweaving the personal lives of a prosecution investigator (Ricardo Darin) and a judge, with a manhunt spanning twenty-five years. Stay for cookies, coffee and a chat after!
American Doctor
One of the most powerful documentaries of the year, this puts us smack in the open wound that is Gaza, filtered through the eyes of three American surgeons (of Palestinian, Jewish and Zoroastrian backgrounds) compelled to do their utmost to alleviate harm.
