In this first-look clip from Maya Goded’s “Plaza de la Soledad,” two aging sex workers in Mexico City face the demands of the world’s oldest profession—plucking, primping, and squeezing into skin-tight dresses—while finding love in each other, even if it means not being able to hold hands in the street. The film premieres in competition at Sundance later this month.
READ MORE: “Sundance Programmers Unveil, Discuss 2016 Competition, NEXT Lineups (EXCLUSIVE)”
After more than 20 years of observation, conversation, and friendship among sex workers in La Merced, the city’s most dangerous neighborhood, Goded’s feature-length debut is rooted in intimacy and trust that comes across immediately in the above clip, as one subject explains, “I don’t work for them, Maya, or for the macho world. My ass is my livelihood.” An acclaimed photographer, Goded captures the women’s strong survival instincts, facing sexual abuse and the hardships of poverty by forming a close-knit community of mothers, daughters, friends, and lovers, refusing all the while to sacrifice their dignity.
“Plaza de la Soledad,” produced by Martha Sosa (“Amores Perros”), is the first Mexican documentary to premiere at Sundance in more than a decade. Find the full schedule of Sundance screenings here.
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