Word on the street is that one is supposed to publish all coverage of a festival within week of that festival’s end. Well, I say rules are made to be broken! And with that in mind let talk The Canal Street Madam, a doc focused on the definitely infamous, possibly famous Jeanette Maier whose livelihood was upended after the brothel she ran was raided by the feds in 2001. Jeanette is a fascinating character, out spoken, charismatic, and funny, and he attempts to reunite her family and recreate her life make for compelling cinema. It’s great material that a lesser filmmaker could easily rely on to make a fun, yet mediocre film. But director Cameron Yates (and his producing team) took their character and created a film that is one part human drama, one part political analysis, and – most importantly – one part human rights. Before I saw this film, I had never really given one thought to sex workers rights. Now, I …
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