“I want to thank the sex worker community. They have shared their stories. They have shared their life experience with me over the years. My deepest respect. Thank you; I share this with you.” So said filmmaker Sean Baker (Tangerine, The Florida Project) onstage at the 2025 Oscars on Sunday, as he collected the best original screenplay award for his film Anora.
While Baker’s portrait of Ani—a Brighton Beach stripper who, struggling to make ends meet, impulsively marries the son of a Russian oligarch—has drawn mixed reviews from critics familiar with strip-club culture and sex work more broadly, the fanfare around Anora shows no signs of slowing down, especially after its five Oscar wins (including one for star Mikey Madison).
Curious to learn more about the community it depicts? Here are seven films, both documentary and narrative, that delve deep into the personal and cultural ramifications of sex work.
The Stroll, directed by Kristen Lovell and Zackary Drucker, 2023
This moving documentary, which premiered at Sundance in 2023, spotlights the stories of Black and Latina trans women who engaged in sex work in New York City’s Meatpacking District during the 1980s and 1990s—among them Amanda Milan, who was attacked and killed by two men in Times Square in 2000. A final shot of G.L.I.T.S. founder Ceyenne Doroshow speaking at the Brooklyn Liberation rally in 2020 underscores how the fight for trans rights and visibility rages on.
Kokomo City, directed by D. Smith, 2023
It’s difficult to watch this groundbreaking documentary about the lives of four Black trans sex workers without mourning Koko Da Doll, one of the film’s stars, whose 2023 murder in Atlanta has been investigated as a hate crime. While Koko’s death was emblematic of the all-too-real danger that Black trans women consistently face, Kokomo City (which was dedicated to her) keeps the focus where it should be: on the life she lived.
Zola, directed by Janicza Bravo, 2021
Not every film can trace its origins back to a viral Twitter thread, but that’s exactly how Zola came to be. Written by Jeremy O. Harris and director Bravo, and starring Taylour Paige as Zola, a Detroit waitress and part-time stripper who joins Riley Keough’s Stefani on a road trip to a strip club in Tampa, the movie crackles with life, imbuing an age-old story (women stripping and engaging in sex work in order to survive and hopefully achieve their dreams) with both humor and humanity.
Hustlers, directed Lorene Scafaria, 2019
If you’ve never seen Jennifer Lopez strip to the Fiona Apple song “Criminal,” you need to watch Hustlers immediately. Immaculate pole routines aside, this film, about the enterprising spirit of a group of New York strippers who come together to fleece their clueless, often boorish Wall Street–bro clients, is innovative, funny, and replete with A+ stripper style.
Lilya 4-ever, directed by Lukas Moodysson, 2002
This film, set in an unnamed former Soviet republic, is most definitely not for the faint of heart, but its story of a teenage girl named Lilya who encounters frequent sexual and physical violence after turning to sex work sadly reflects some of the very real dangers that many in the sex industry face at the margins of a still whore-phobic society.
Working Girls, directed by Lizzie Borden, 1986
If you’ve ever wondered what sex workers talk about in their off-hours, this is the movie for you. Borden’s indie film takes place primarily in a Manhattan brothel, where Molly—a Yale grad doing sex work to support herself and her girlfriend—spends time with her coworkers and dreams of changing her life. Working Girls was partially inspired by some of the women who worked on Borden’s first film, 1983’s Born in Flames.
Jeanne Dielman, 23, Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles, directed by Chantal Akerman, 1975
Nothing much happens in this landmark 1975 Akerman film, and that’s exactly what makes it so revolutionary. The movie follows Jeanne Dielman, the widowed mother of a teenage son who engages in sex work to keep her family afloat. She treats her afternoon meetings with clients no differently than cooking, cleaning, or any of the other mundane activities associated with feminized labor that make up her day. (Note that when I say “nothing much happens,” I am setting aside the film’s explosive ending, but no spoilers; watch it for yourself and see.)
