A film that’s every bit as audacious as its title, director Nicole Bazuin’s bold and very engaging documentary puts a spotlight on the experiences and insights of its subject. Andrea Werhun was a struggling university student and aspiring writer in Toronto when she began working as an escort and exotic dancer and what she learned on the job may surprise you. Combining a brash and colourful visual sensibility with disarming frankness and humour, Bazuin and Werhun aim to upend assumptions and prejudices about sex work and sex workers and counter the toxic stereotypes with a more accurate and empowered array of representations.

Director: Nicole Bazuin

Cast: Andrea Werhun, Patrick Groe

Language: English

Runtime: 80 minutes

Content warning: coarse language, drug use, mature themes, nudity, sexual content, themes of sexual violence

Nicole Bazuin, director

Nicole Bazuin is a Toronto artist and filmmaker with a passion for pushing boundaries, creating indelible images, and empowering women and youth.
In collaboration with writer and former escort Andrea Werhun, Nicole co-created and photographed the acclaimed book Modern Whore: A Memoir (Strange Light, Penguin Random House Canada). The New York Times calls her images “provocative” and Chester Brown (Paying for It) praises Modern Whore as ‘‘Everything you could want a book to be — it’s moving, entertaining, funny, and smart.’’

Nicole wrote and directed the award-winning short film adaptation, titled Modern Whore (World Premiere, SXSW 2020) starring Andrea Werhun. She teamed up with Andrea again for the CBC Short Doc Last Night at the Strip Club (Hot Docs), which won a Canadian Society of Cinematographers Award.
Nicole is the co-creator/director of the comedy art show This Art Works! (CBC), and the climate change doc series Climate Talks With Kids (Bell TV).
Nicole’s media artworks have been exhibited by the Art Gallery of Ontario, and commissioned by festivals such as Nuit Blanche and Luminato. She is co-founder of Madeleine Co., an all-female interdisciplinary art collective reimagining social issues through experiential storytelling and multimedia art.

AWARDS INCLUDE: “Best Documentary” Sydney Underground Film Festival (Modern Whore), “Best Documentary Short” El Paso Film Festival (Modern Whore), WIFT BravoFACT live pitch competition winner, the HSBC Filmmaker’s Award, the Universal Studios Scholarship, the Ouat! Media Distribution Award, the ArtReach Grant in support of youth arts initiatives, the Ashoka Photowings Insights Grant, and the Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Andrea Werhun, actor

Andrea Werhun is a Canadian writer and actress from Toronto, Ontario. She is most noted for her 2018 book Modern Whore, a memoir of her time as a sex worker prior to establishing herself as a creative professional. She studied at University of Toronto, majoring in English and minoring in religious studies.

Werhun worked as an escort and as an erotic dancer. After leaving that line of work she wrote and published Modern Whore, but remained active as an outreach worker helping to educate active sex workers on issues such as safer sex and protecting themselves from violent clients.