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Mar 05, 2025 Web Exclusive By Austin Trunick

Throughout 1983, filmmakers Janis Cole and Holly Dale documented the lives of a handful of sex workers in Vancover’s so-called “prostitution capital,” which was centered on the city’s Davie Street. Two months were spent just trying to earn their subjects’ trust; but once that was gained, they opened up for the cameras and gave the directors unflinching glimpses into their lives and trade — while on the job, and off.

Cole and Dale spent most of their nights parked in a van, their cameras trained on a street corner where a revolving group of their subjects solicited dates through the windows of passing vehicles. They were never told when the cameras were or were not rolling; as long hours passed without any new business, lively conversations would fill these lulls. Some of the best moments are these candid chats, picked up via a wireless microphone.

The documentary also follows them through their breaks, usually taken at an all-night diner or sometimes a bar. Over drinks – quite a few – they catch up with each other, kvetch about slow business, or compare notes on certain clients. It’s not that different from any office break room, except with far more references to hand jobs. (It’s necessary to note that the cameras never follow the subjects along with any of their clients: the language is very graphic, but what’s actually shown on screen is surprisingly not.) The documentary emphasizes the work side of sex work: this is their job, and there’s nothing glamorous about it.

These scenes of their day-to-day work life are broken up with interviews, largely cut together by theme, which is where we get to know the subjects. They come from varying backgrounds, but they usually share a few commonalities: many came from abusive homes, were teenage runaways, or were rejected by their families because of their sexuality or identity. Many have been the victims of violence, or have had to battle with drug issues. Some turned to sex work for financial liberation; others saw no other way to support themselves. (One is a single mother who began working nights to support her child.) While tempers flare among them and arguments aren’t uncommon, they have each others’ backs. Several spend their daytime hours campaigning to make prostitution safer — and to keep minors off the streets, so that they don’t follow the same paths they did.

Hookers on Davie (1984) is a captivating portrait of a vanished community and the people who inhabited it. Shortly after the film was released, a lobbyist group managed to push the sex workers into more industrial regions of the city; while Davie Village remains a vibrant LGBTQ+ neighborhood, only a small memorial marker is left to remember the sex workers who used to define the area. This documentary is the sole legacy for many of its subjects, compelling for both their wit and their heartbreaking candor.

An easily overlooked but not-to-be-missed feature on this disc is an eight-minute afterword for the film. Directors Cole and Dale talk about the fates of several of the subjects in the documentary, which addresses one of the first things a lot of viewers will wonder after watching the film: what happened to these people? Some were lost track of before the film was released, another changed life paths and is thriving today, while others—too many others—saw sad endings to their stories. It’s depressing, but it’s just the sort of coda the documentary all but cries out for more than 40 years later.

Those wanting to know even more will find it all over Canadian International Pictures’ restored release of the film. A commentary from the co-directors goes into greater detail about how the film was made, getting into the nitty-gritty regarding the logistics and techniques, sharing stories about things that happened while they weren’t filming, and providing more context for some of the stories we hear in the film. There is also 34 minutes of additional footage, shot on video before the rest of the documentary, where the subjects chat in a dimly-lit apartment. (Some is silent, and some is too dark to see well – but in any case, it’s more time with these characters.) Included as well are several social media clips from Mardi Pieronek, who looks back on the era and their friendship with subject Tiggy. There is also a press gallery, several vintage news features on the film, and a pair of the directing duo’s early shorts — along with a thick booklet full of essays from various critics and historians.

The film is included on both UHD and Blu-ray; both are newly restored, and the former is coded for HDR. Given the nature of the film—it’s a low-budget documentary, shot on film and mostly at night—this is likely as good as it will ever look. The audio is as clean as can be and, importantly, the subtitles are excellent, and quite helpful for picking up pieces of conversations recorded on the street or in busy night spots. All in all, this is a stunning preservation effort that’s absolutely worth supporting.

(vinegarsyndrome.com/collections/canadian-international-pictures/products/hookers-on-davie)