“˜Whores’ Glory’ casts prostitution in truthful light

A silhouetted figure surveys a cluster of women in the same way a shopper peers through a window display. The women are clad in dark dresses and pins with numbers for identification.

“Whores’ Glory,” a documentary by Michael Glawogger about prostitution and human trafficking, exposes their story from the other side of the glass.

With the goal of helping students and the larger UCLA community become intimately familiar with the issues of our day, Melnitz Movies and the UCLA Center for the Study of Women will present a screening of Michael Glawogger’s film tonight.

The film begins with Thailand, where the prostitution industry is depicted very much like a populist attraction, said Samuel Prime, the director of Melnitz Movies.

It is a very much accepted aspect of the culture, though the film does make the case that the scenarios many of these women are in are actually far from tolerable, Prime said.

The documentary then moves to Bangladesh, where the circumstances surrounding human trafficking are much worse, and viewers begin to see the real ramifications of this occupation. Finally, “Whores’ Glory” focuses in on Tijuana, Mexico, where the atrocities of prostitution and human trafficking are highlighted.

Through the film’s presentation of three case studies in Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico, “Whores’ Glory” allows viewers to see through the eyes of the women who are directly involved in and affected by prostitution and human trafficking.

“There are a lot of scholars or affiliated faculty with CSW that do work specifically on trafficking, so there’s a concentration of expertise at UCLA,” said Kathleen McHugh, director for CSW and professor of Cinema and Media Studies in the Department of Film, Television and Digital Media.

“CSW serves the entire campus, so many units will often contact us if they are doing programming that has to do with women’s issues or sexuality in some way.”

According to Prime, “Whores’ Glory” explores the issues of prostitution and human trafficking of Thailand, Bangladesh and Mexico in a respectful and honest light. With no voice-over narration and an absence of the filmmakers throughout the documentary, all of the prostitutes are allowed to speak for themselves regarding their situations.

“The fact that the film allows those who are directly involved and those who really are the focus of the film to speak for themselves entirely and not have some voiceless judgment ““ they call it the Voice of God narration ““ really speaks honestly and from the heart,” Prime said.

“It comes across more genuine than any other possible method of depicting the subject matter.”

Many documentaries take a distinct anthropological approach to their subjects, with either the filmmakers or designated experts commenting on on-screen actions. But in most cases, they are not explicitly involved with what is happening on screen.

That Glawogger’s film manages to delve into these emotional tales from the intimate perspective of the women with very little intervention is part of what makes the film so powerful and affecting, according to Prime.

“You’re meeting the people on-screen, learning their life stories, hearing what life is like on a daily basis. … You walk away being stunned and horrified. This film just sits with you for weeks and months afterwards,” he said.

“Whores’ Glory” concentrates on the exploitation and mistreatment of women in a very insightful way, said Kate Brokaw, director of theatrical marketing for the film’s distributor, Kino Lorber.

“The horrifying trafficking of women is one of the most important human rights issues of our time,” Brokaw said.