Turning a Corner (press promo)

Turning a Corner tells the stories of people involved in the sex trade and their efforts to raise public awareness of systemic injustice and promote needed reforms. Created in a media activism workshop with over a dozen members of Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART), this groundbreaking film recounts their survival and triumph over homelessness, violence and discrimination, and gives rare insights into Chicago's sex trade industry. The new version includes interview updates with many of the participants from the original film. Through Beyondmedia's Women and Prison program, incarcerated women and girls, former prisoners and their families use media arts to voice their stories, promoting public dialogue, healing and community organizing. Since 1997, Beyondmedia has collaborated extensively with women and girls in prison and after their incarceration to create interdisciplinary, multimedia educational forums on women and prison.

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00:13Copy video clip URL Members of the Prostitution Alternatives Round Table (PART) riff on different names and euphemisms about prostitution. Images of popular movie depictions of prostitution splice in between.

00:42Copy video clip URL Various scenes from the documentary depict the members of  (PART) discussing the sex trade, their time as sex workers, the social conditions surrounding prostitution, the disparities of criminalizing sex work, and advocating for change at the state, local, and street levels.

02:12Copy video clip URL “Lucretia’s Story.” Lucretia Clay tells how she got introduced to the sex trade at fourteen years old, how she was sold to a pimp, where she was trafficked in Chicago, the pain she still holds, and the peace she’s found after 26 years as a prostitute.

06:37Copy video clip URL “Brandy’s Story.” PART member Brandy Baldwin tells the story of her time in the sex trade.

07:50Copy video clip URL “Brenda’s Story.” Brenda Myers Powell outlines her introduction into the sex trade. Having began working in strip clubs and bars, Brenda says how women get “passed down until you’re passed out” into the streets. She encounters a friend and fellow sex worker still working on the streets. As they talk, a Chicago police officer in a squad car stops in front of them to inquire about what’s being filmed. Brenda also tells the story of a harrowing experience with a rich white client. She talks about how she coped with such difficult situations and the persistent “spiritual low” she endured. She then talks about what she’s been able to achieve since leaving prostitution and her current advocacy work with women.