Rooms of Shadow and Light

Paris Brothel

August 2003 •English

From the early 19th century 1946 Paris had many brothels that were tolerated and controlled by the state. These were sometimes rough places but more often were housed in richly designed buildings and serviced a clientèle from all walks of life. This documentary looks back at the Paris brothels through photographs, historians as well as memories from some who would frequent them as clients or work there as prostitutes.

Five Sex Rooms und eine Küche

December 2007 •German

The Pink Room

February 2011 •English

After selling herself at fourteen to a brothel inside her home town of Svay Pak, Mien takes an undesired path all over Cambodia for the remainder of her teenage life. At twenty, her path crosses with a group of people fighting to make a difference, bringing her long and onerous journey back to face where it all began. The Pink Room is an intertwined story of the heart-rending, epic battle to end sex slavery, from rescue to prevention, and experiencing first hand, the need to change not just individuals, but the communities they come from. Most documentaries on trafficking only bring awareness to the problem. This film bring awareness to the solutions.

I Might Be Dead by Tomorrow

December 2020 •French

In Montreal, front-line workers work hard to provide appropriate care to the most vulnerable citizens in our society.

Father, Son and Holy War

January 1994 •Hindi

Filmmaker Anand Patwardhan looks to history and psychology as he delves into the possible reasons behind the demolition of the Babri Mosque.

Mustang: The House That Joe Built

July 1977 •English

A documentary about the girls of the Mustang Ranch, a legal brothel in Nevada.

Chicken Ranch

May 1983 •English

Documentary on the "Chicken Ranch," a legal Nevada brothel.

Love Meetings

July 1965 •Italian

Pier Paolo Pasolini sets out to interview Italians about sex, apparently their least favorite thing to talk about in public: he asks children if they know where do babies come from; asks old and young women if they support gender equality; asks both sexes if a woman's virginity still matters, what do they think of homosexuality, if divorce should be legal, or if they support the recent abolition of brothels. He interviews blue-collar workers, intellectuals, college students, rural farmers, the bourgeoisie, and every other kind of people, painting a vivid portrait of a rapidly-industrializing Italy, hanging between modernity and tradition — toward both of which Pasolini shows equal distrust.

Rhymecology: Write Better Rhymes

May 2021 •English

The world of hip-hop lyrics has changed, simple rhyme schemes just don't cut it. Rhymes are put under a microscope, and there is no lyrical leeway for emerging artists. This gripping documentary tells the story of Jeff Walker.

India Cabaret

January 1985 •Hindi

A documentary exploring the "respectable" and "immoral" stereotypes of women in Indian society told from the point of view of 2 strip-tease dancers in a cabaret house in Bombay.

Eyes of the Devil

February 2021 •Polish

Exploring the underground world of trafficking, where children are used for prostitution and organ harvesting. Patryk Vega interviews a mother who intends on selling her unborn child to traffickers.

Yab Yum

February 2021 •Dutch

Documentary about Yab Yum, once the most famous brothel in Amsterdam. It has been closed years ago because it was being used more and more for criminal activities.

Picturesque India or, In and About Calcutta

January 1913 •English

Botanical gardens in Bombay plus the highly decorative Jain Temple in Calcutta.

Surviving Mumbai

November 2009 •English

Survivors of the Mumbai terrorist attacks tell the inside story of the actions and decisions that helped save their lives.

DPJ

December 2017 •French

A direct, uncompromising look into the complex machinery of Quebec’s youth protection services (known as the DPJ). https://lustitia.com/en/productions/dpj/

A Month With the Girls

March 2024 •French

The French female pioneer of immersion journalism, Maryse Choisy, who infiltrated in 1928 the prostitution underworld of Paris. Posing as a chambermaid, a lesbian bar dancer and more, she wrote a very successful and scandalous book about that avant-garde experience, and changed her mind about this world and these women's difficult condition.

Bombay X-Ray

October 2019 •English

A 10-year-old boy and his father support themselves by pulling a cart through Bombay's chaotic traffic. One day when they visit the doctor, they are told that they should change jobs. A visual and sound intensive documentary about a nightmarish traffic situation beyond all control.

Ghar Mein Shehar Hona

Invalid date •English

via print and film, love and music, state propaganda and people's archives, five-year plans and Emergency.

Et glas vand til Johnie

September 1994 •Danish

ABEPSS 70 anos

May 2017 •Portuguese