Where do pornstars come from?

My house is situated directly beside the red light district in Amsterdam and I’ve spent plenty of Saturday nights in one of the local bars. The red light district is a spectacle but sometimes it’s just sad. All those women selling their bodies in front of hordes of tourists and I’ve always wondered; Why?

Why would you work there? What has happened to you in your life making you think this was the answer? The same questions apply to pornstars. Why would you let yourself be handled, filmed, shown to the world for a few measly bucks? Those are the questions the documentary Hot Girls Wanted tried to answer. For their film the American docu-makers Jill Bauer and Ronna Gradus followed young girls starting off as amateur porn actresses in Miami. The girls live with a 23-year old talent hunter and say yes to almost every job.

There are ailing situations where 18/19 year old girls have to have sex will much older dirty men, pretend they’re being raped or give blowjobs until they throw up. Not pretty. The film promises an unprejudiced view on the porn industry to show us how this half hidden world actually works. Taking everything into account it’s a confronting film with a laugh and a tear and definitely fascinating. Not suitable for watching with your parents and besides you can see the trailer here. It’s toned down a little but it’s still not a good idea to watch this on the office floor with everyone listening in.