Hot Docs, The Canadian International Documentary Festival, runs April 28-May 8. In our new series, we talk to the directors of the films you won’t want to miss. 

In Who Cares, Award-winning master of vérité cinema Rosie Dransfeld enters the gritty and dangerous world of Edmonton’s sex workers to craft a powerful film about women caught in a heartbreaking cycle of addiction, violence and prostitution. We chatted with Dransfeld last week.

SDTC: Why were you personally drawn to this subject?

RD: How can you not care, knowing that on a daily basis hundreds of women and children are abused, sexually exploited, raped and sometimes even murdered?

What did you learn about yourself over the course of making this film?

How fortunate I am to live in a middle-class world with its white privileges and first-world problems.

What surprised you most about these women?

Their resilience, and that they still have hope and plans for the future, and how much they love their children and dogs, certainly not men.

What do you want people to take away from this film?

People like to justify prostitution by saying that after all, it is the oldest profession in the world. It is not a profession. It is sexual exploitation with devastating impact.

Who Cares screens on Friday April 29th at the TIFF Bell Lightbox.