Jacira Melo

Made in the "Boca do Lixo" district in São Paulo, this work explores the world of women prostitutes in downtown São Paulo. The author allows the narrative to be led by the interviewees themselves, removing the reporter's voice and intervening as little as possible in the editing of the testimonies. At a time when AIDS was primarily associated with gay men, most of the prostitutes say they don't believe they can be infected and refuse to use condoms. One of them shares that she used to be a madam and a drug dealer, but now lives like an ordinary worker, working from 10 to 7 and raising her children. Another recalls her time as a domestic worker, earning in one month what she now makes in a single day as a prostitute. The soundtrack features songs by Milton Nascimento and Mutantes.

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Filmmakers Cida Aidar and Inês Castilho met as part of the feminist collective that edited the newspaper Nós Mulheres between 1976 and 1979. Filmed during 1981 in the Boca do Lixo region of São Paulo, infamous for its porn cinemas and brothels, the documentary fiction 'Mulheres da Boca' reveals the lives of sex workers on their own terms, as they are captured between seduction, play, and violence, against the backdrop of the corruption and abuse exercised by those who ran the Boca de Lixo.

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