Buying Sex is a truly masterfully crafted documentary by award winning husband and wife team Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason. Buying Sex poses the highly controversial and timely question: “Is prostitution the ‘oldest profession’ or the ‘oldest oppression’.” The film seeks answers through the use of an exceptional series of compassionate and intelligent interviews framed in a phenomenally well put together examination of issues surrounding the topic.

Buying Sex – Trailer from Agency 71 on Vimeo.

Buying Sex has its World Premiere in Toronto at Hotdocs13 and it is a must see. This documentary is eye opening even to individuals well versed in the controversial law-reform surrounding prostitution. Centered around the Ontario Superior Court of Justice and the Government of Canada law reform decisions and appeals, Buying Sex presents passionate and intelligent arguments from both camps: the individuals who consider prostitution to be categorized as an act of violence against women, championing its abolition and the people who are in favour of legalization to increase the rights and safety of sex-workers.

In depth interviews with current sex workers, former sex workers, ‘Johns’ (sex buyers), members of government, lawyers, professors, film makers and even economists paint a detailed and comprehensive picture of the highly polarizing debate on the legalization/decriminalization of prostitution.

While exploring this debate Teresa MacInnes and Kent Nason take us to two countries paving the way in their approach to the issue: New Zealand where prostitution has been decriminalized and Sweden where the purchase of sex is criminalized as opposed to the selling.

Superbly executed, I now feel compelled to thoroughly explore MacInnes and Nason’s complete filmography.

Astrid Handling