Our Terms & Conditions | Our Privacy Policy
Above all I didn’t want the film to question sex work as a legitimate choice for a person, but to approach it non-judgementally yet frankly. Never glamorizing but also never questioning the inherent validity and value of sex work.
So much of previous sex worker representation has focused on or implied the presence of trauma – either as a reason behind going into sex work, or as its inevitable consequence – and this is something that I very much wanted to avoid. As if a person has to be somehow damaged to want to engage in sex work, or that a sex worker’s life is bound to result in tragedy. Both of these are prejudiced notions that it was important for the film to move beyond.
While the potential for exploitation in sex work is of course real, this shouldn’t be taken to define the profession as a whole. And what seems in many ways revolutionary about the kind of digitally facilitated sex work of today, as compared to older forms of it, is a foundational idea of entrepreneurship. Working for yourself, on your own terms.
The fact is that there are plenty of happy, empowered sex workers who enjoy their work and are well rewarded for it.
What was also very important for me was to approach the client characters from an equally non-judgemental perspective. Too often past depictions have shown sex worker clients as one-dimensional antagonists or characterised them as somehow pathetic for ‘having to’ pay for sex. It was really important in the film to counter this kind of reductive representation.
Every client has their slightly differing reasons for hiring a sex worker. Sometimes this is convenience, sometimes a desire to explore a different side to one’s sexuality, but often the mere fact of loneliness – an issue accentuated among queer elders – a desire for connection, intimacy, touch – all extremely human needs.
I really wanted to make a film that didn’t problematise the depiction of sex in any way, from either a moral or an aesthetic standpoint. For me a film about sex work had to approach sex frankly, objectively and from a position of sex positivity. From a position of not feeling the need to question the necessity of depicting sex on screen, acknowledging it as a fundamental fact of human life, and thus according its depiction the same dramatic value as the depiction of any other essential human activity.
At its most basic level, Sebastian is a coming of age story of a young man who is exploring himself both through his art and through sex which, in his project of writing a novel about sex work, become intertwined. Thus, the story also highlights the potential of sex and sexual encounters to function as means for self-expression, self-discovery and ultimately an affirmed sense of self-worth.
It was very important for me to ensure the authenticity of the representation of this world through research and many conversations had with people in the world of sex work. I wanted the details to feel accurate, lived-in, authentic.
And much of the most meaningful and rewarding feedback on the film has indeed been from sex workers on having felt seen, on having felt that their experience has been captured sensitively and truthfully.
Sebastian is in UK cinemas now.
Do you have a story to tell or opinions to share about this? Get in touch and tell us more. This Christmas, you can make a lasting change on a vendor’s life. Buy a magazine from your local vendor in the street every week. If you can’t reach them, buy a Big Issue Vendor Support Kit.
Images are for reference only.Images and contents gathered automatic from google or 3rd party sources.All rights on the images and contents are with their legal original owners.
Aggregated From –
Comments are closed.