33 min
Labor and Rights with Tove Pils and Ruby from Red Umbrella Sweden SAQMI Play
-
- Film Interviews
This episode is in english. Scroll down for tips and links.
Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer film makers and film making.
This episode is a discussion about Tove Pils’ documentary Labor between me, Sam Message, and film maker Tove, as well as sex worker Ruby from Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community for sex workers. The conversation took place following a screening of Labor at LGBTQI+ film festival Film Out West, at Hagabion in Gothenburg 2023.
In the film we follow Hannah as she leaves her family behind to go to the city of her dreams, San Francisco, where she hopes to explore her sexuality. At a party she meets the professional dominatrix Chloe and escort Syd.
Throughout the documentary we follow Hannah, Syd and Chloes journeys to gain an intimate insight into their own experiences with sex work. By following these individuals over a period of ten years the film dives deep into the lives of queer sex workers on their own terms. Through this powerful lens the film exposes the profound impact of the intense stigma surrounding sex work, both in San Fransisco and even more so within the often heated debate within the Swedish context.
More about the film Labor and the director Tove Pils:
In Labor, Tove Pils depicts a queer community that challenges the view of sex and work. When one of the film’s main characters, Hanna, travels to San Francisco, she falls in love with the heights, the atmosphere and a vibrant queer scene. At a party she meets Chloe and Cyd who are both sex workers. Hanna, who wants to find a way to stay in San Francisco, is attracted by the large sums of money they bring in. But since Hanna doesn’t dare to work alone, Chloe takes her under her wing and they start selling sex together. While Hanna feels that she has found home in San Francisco, it grates on her that she cannot tell her parents that she is a sex worker. Is there any chance they could understand?
Labor premiered in 2023 at the Gothenburg Film Festival in the Nordic Documentary Competition and has been screened around the world, and won the award for best documentary at Lovers Filmfest in Torino, Italy. In their filmmaking, Tove Pils tries to create structures to investigate what she and the communities they belong to strive for. Desire is a central concept for Tove. Labor deals with sexual, economic and social desires. In all of Tove’s films, there are representations of longing for queer spaces, both external and internal. Sugar Oil Pine Water (2021) is a dreamy hybrid about the desire for queer ritual spaces. PUSH ME (2014) is about finding spaces where you can challenge your own and society’s boundaries and norms and explore sexual desires.
Actors: Hanna, Chloé, Syd
Producer: Melissa Lindgren, Story AB
Labor screened in SAQMIs serie Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings as part of Film Out West LGBTQI+ Filmfestival at Hagabion in Gothenburg December 2th 2023. Participants in the talk was Sam Message (moderator), Tove Pils and Ruby. Live recording by Silas Lilo Jensen. Curator Anna Linder.
Additional information: Labor exhibition 2019, supported by SAQMI.
About the participants in the panel:
Ruby, trans woman, sex worker and activist who is a member of Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community of and for sex workers and their rights and interests. Ruby has several years of experience in sex work in Sweden and has participated in panel talks and discussions at events such as Erotisk Afton, Pride, Småland’s nation, etc. She also helped organize the first Slut Walk in Malmö and spends time on political engagement at the grassroots level to influence and change society.
Sam Message (They/them) is an artist and community organiser based in Gothenburg. In their work they explore how art & culture can be used to weave new connections between people in order to build a more inclusive society and a more sustainable LGBTQ+
This episode is in english. Scroll down for tips and links.
Welcome to SAQMI Play, the podcast that features queer film makers and film making.
This episode is a discussion about Tove Pils’ documentary Labor between me, Sam Message, and film maker Tove, as well as sex worker Ruby from Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community for sex workers. The conversation took place following a screening of Labor at LGBTQI+ film festival Film Out West, at Hagabion in Gothenburg 2023.
In the film we follow Hannah as she leaves her family behind to go to the city of her dreams, San Francisco, where she hopes to explore her sexuality. At a party she meets the professional dominatrix Chloe and escort Syd.
Throughout the documentary we follow Hannah, Syd and Chloes journeys to gain an intimate insight into their own experiences with sex work. By following these individuals over a period of ten years the film dives deep into the lives of queer sex workers on their own terms. Through this powerful lens the film exposes the profound impact of the intense stigma surrounding sex work, both in San Fransisco and even more so within the often heated debate within the Swedish context.
More about the film Labor and the director Tove Pils:
In Labor, Tove Pils depicts a queer community that challenges the view of sex and work. When one of the film’s main characters, Hanna, travels to San Francisco, she falls in love with the heights, the atmosphere and a vibrant queer scene. At a party she meets Chloe and Cyd who are both sex workers. Hanna, who wants to find a way to stay in San Francisco, is attracted by the large sums of money they bring in. But since Hanna doesn’t dare to work alone, Chloe takes her under her wing and they start selling sex together. While Hanna feels that she has found home in San Francisco, it grates on her that she cannot tell her parents that she is a sex worker. Is there any chance they could understand?
Labor premiered in 2023 at the Gothenburg Film Festival in the Nordic Documentary Competition and has been screened around the world, and won the award for best documentary at Lovers Filmfest in Torino, Italy. In their filmmaking, Tove Pils tries to create structures to investigate what she and the communities they belong to strive for. Desire is a central concept for Tove. Labor deals with sexual, economic and social desires. In all of Tove’s films, there are representations of longing for queer spaces, both external and internal. Sugar Oil Pine Water (2021) is a dreamy hybrid about the desire for queer ritual spaces. PUSH ME (2014) is about finding spaces where you can challenge your own and society’s boundaries and norms and explore sexual desires.
Actors: Hanna, Chloé, Syd
Producer: Melissa Lindgren, Story AB
Labor screened in SAQMIs serie Nightfall - Queer Talks & Screenings as part of Film Out West LGBTQI+ Filmfestival at Hagabion in Gothenburg December 2th 2023. Participants in the talk was Sam Message (moderator), Tove Pils and Ruby. Live recording by Silas Lilo Jensen. Curator Anna Linder.
Additional information: Labor exhibition 2019, supported by SAQMI.
About the participants in the panel:
Ruby, trans woman, sex worker and activist who is a member of Red Umbrella Sweden, an organization and community of and for sex workers and their rights and interests. Ruby has several years of experience in sex work in Sweden and has participated in panel talks and discussions at events such as Erotisk Afton, Pride, Småland’s nation, etc. She also helped organize the first Slut Walk in Malmö and spends time on political engagement at the grassroots level to influence and change society.
Sam Message (They/them) is an artist and community organiser based in Gothenburg. In their work they explore how art & culture can be used to weave new connections between people in order to build a more inclusive society and a more sustainable LGBTQ+
33 min