Australian film Black & White & Sex has been voted in the top three favourite films in its opening weekend at the International Film Festival of Rotterdam.
Producer John Winter (Rabbit-Proof Fence, Doing Time for Patsy Cline), in his directorial debut – a film-within-a-film about a sex worker who is determined to set the record straight about sex – secured an outstanding response from audience members for his provocative film which speaks honestly and openly about sex and sexuality.
The UPC Audience Award, which is voted by the public, saw Martin Scorsese's Hugo at number one and Les géants (translated as The Giants) at number two.
Written and directed by Winter and produced by Melissa Beauford, the Titan View-distributed film had a positive response last year when it screened at the Sydney Film Festival. In a forthright discussion between a documentary filmmaker (Matthew Holmes) and a sex worker, Angie, the different facets of the film’s main character are exposed by actresses Katherine Hicks, Anya Beyersdorf, Valerie Bader, Roxane Wilson, Michelle Vergara Moore, Dina Panozzo, Saskia Burmeister and Maia Thomas.
''We have lots of sexual imagery and sex sells but [there] still tends to be nervousness about having a frank and honest conversation about sex,'' Winter recently told the SMH.
The filmmakers are still in Rotterdam and enjoying their success, a Titan View spokesperson said.
The film will open in local cinemas on March 22.