FREE MOVIE NIGHTS AT THE MUSEUM
Friday, March 15, 2024, 7pm
Screening: Lady Los Angeles
By writer/director Antonia Crane
Runtime: 15 min.
A young Latinx trans woman makes her rent in a story with no heroes and no victims. Lady Los Angeles illuminates the perspective and desires of one LA-based sex worker.
Panel discussion w. Antonia Crane, Sydney Rogers aka Miss Barbie-Q and Jenn Elizabeth Moderated by Soma Snakeoil, founder of Sidewalk Project.
INTRO: Lady Los Angeles is a narrative short by writer/director Antonia Crane. It is her first directorial debut. Lady Los Angeles’ world premiere was in Seattle in May 2023 at the TRANSlations film festival: “Trans Through Time.” It was also selected to screen at OUTFEST 2023 in a block about sex workers. The screening was sold out and well attended in Los Angeles at the historic REDCAT theater.
Vision/Intention: We sex workers are too often portrayed as sad accessories in film and TV, gazed at through a lens of pity; demonized or killed. Sex workers and our clients share a complex desire for self-expression—but audiences only get a flattened version of this desire, often dwelling on the shame and stigma from the client’s perspective. Lady Los Angeles illuminates and centers the perspective and desires of one LA-based sex worker, and is loosely based on an actual angel, Camila María Concepción, a dear friend who passed away in 2020. This film reminds the world that sex workers through joy and solidarity save ourselves—and each other every day.
Bio Writer/Director: Antonia Crane: Antonia Crane is the author of the memoir “Spent.” She is an award-winning, widely published writer of essays, stories, and creative nonfiction. Her writing has appeared in The New York Times, CNN.com, Narratively, Cosmopolitan Magazine, The Nation, Buzzfeed, N+1 and lots of other places. Antonia’s screenplay The Lusty (co-written by Silas Howard) tells the true story of the forming of the exotic dancer’s union, which she fought for in the 90’s. She has also worked as writer and consultant with J. Soloway on Afternoon Delight, and the forthcoming projects Mother Trucker and Red Sonja. She is a lifelong advocate for sex workers who are organizing for better working conditions. She is currently a PhD candidate in Creative Nonfiction at USC. She lives in Los Angeles.
& Screening: Stop The Raids: Sex Workers Protest Hydee Feldstein Soto’s Criminalization
Runtime: 5 min. – Q&A
On December 18th, 2023, a significant and powerful protest took place at Los Angeles City Hall. Organized by The Stop The Raids Coalition’s Los Angeles branch and local sex worker groups, this event was a ‘Die-In’ demonstration to call attention to the policies of City Attorney Hydee Feldstein Soto. These policies, under the guise of combating sex trafficking, have been criminalizing and harassing sex workers and their clients, using the outdated Red Light Abatement Act of 1913. This has led to the shutdown of motels where sex workers had been able to work safely indoors.
Soma Snakeoil, the Co-Founder and Executive Director of The Sidewalk Project of Los Angeles, emphasized the need for decriminalization of sex work and the protection of their living and workspaces. This protest also commemorated the International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers, created in 2003 as a memorial for the victims of the Green River Killer. It brought together sex worker groups from across America to demand the decriminalization of their occupation, highlighting endorsements from international organizations like Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, and the World Health Organization.
Antonia Crane, a sex worker, union organizer, and PhD candidate at USC, pointed out the crucial need for decriminalization for the protection and dignity of sex workers. The misguided targeting of ‘sex trafficking’ along the Figueroa corridor by the City Attorney’s office was criticized for being a thinly veiled attempt to stop consensual commercial sex. This enforcement is seen as pushing sex workers into more dangerous areas, increasing violence risks.
The video also underscores the harsh reality that for many, sex work has become a necessary means of survival due to systemic failures in addressing poverty, homelessness, and domestic violence. It critiques the use of public resources for arrests that exacerbate the challenges faced by sex workers, instead of addressing broader societal issues.
For more information and to take action, visit https://stoptheraids.org/LA
FREE Movie Screenings, Free popcorn, Free Coffee & Free Conversation
