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Features: DVD
A stripper at a club called the Lusty Lady, Julia Query, along with fellow exotic dancers with names like Decadence, Lolita and Octopussy, put in long hours on stage and in the peep booth. But when faced with no sick leave, unfair demotions, safety and privacy concerns, and racial discrimination, Query and her co-workers decide to organize and unionize the exotic dancers of the Lusty Lady. On stage and behind the scenes, Query and co-director Vicky Funari uncover the struggles, the stories and the lives of all the women who toil in the Lusty Lady.
"Eye-opening...goes way behind the green door!" San Francisco Bay Guardian
"Comical, political, enlightening and entertaining all at the same time." Esquire Magazine
"A naughty Norma Rae!" Entertainment Weekly
Editor's Note
In her smart, funny, and poignant first-person documentary LIVE NUDE GIRLS UNITE!, Julia Query, a writer, stand-up comic, and exotic dancer, chronicles the unionization of San Francisco's Lusty Lady club. Query and her cowriter-codirector, Vicky Funari (PAULINA), also a former Lusty Lady dancer, use snapshots from Julia's childhood, bits from her stand-up act, and comic-book style animation to illustrate the lesbian feminist's path from grad school to the peep show. Query's comment that before joining the sex industry, she had "never worked with so many women with college degrees" is underscored by the poised, intelligent dancers interviewed. Decadence and Siobhan explain that though dancing pays well, they are denied sick days, are scheduled based on race and breast size, and are sometimes secretly videotaped by customers. To remedy such abusive working conditions, Query and her coworkers form the Exotic Dancers Union, but the process is a lengthy, stressful one. Query also has the challenge of "coming out" as an exotic dancer to her mother, Dr. Joyce Wallace, a physician renowned for her trailblazing work with prostitutes, when they are scheduled to speak at the same conference. Query's film is a political, informative, and personal inside look at the sex trade and the difficulties of unionization.
| Features | Scene Access | | Bonus Footage | | Photo Gallery | | Original Theatrical Trailer |
| Technical Info
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Release Information
| | Studio: First Run Features |
| Release Date: 8/28/2001 |
| Running Time: 80 minutes |
| Original Release Date: 2000 | | Catalog ID: 909747 | | UPC: 00720229909747 | | Number of Discs: 1 |
Audio & Video
| | Original Language: English | | Available Audio Tracks: English | | Video: Color |
| Cast & Crew
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| | Professional Reviews | New York Times
"...Believe it or not, LIVE NUDE GIRLS UNITE! is a movie that would make any mother proud." 10/20/2000 p.E17Los Angeles Times
"...Lively and provocative..." 03/23/2001 p.6 The New York Times 8 of 10
...[the movie] displays its share of exposed flesh, but at heart it's a movie about work, part of the rich tradition of labor documentaries... Ms. Query is a cheerful, smart on-camera presence on and off the job... her film quietly dismantles stereotypes about women who work in the sex industry and makes its powerful feminist and pro-union argument with unpretentious good humor. - A.O. Scott
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