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The Conversation
The Conversation
Ummni Khan, Associate Professor, Department of Law and Legal Studies, Carleton University

In ‘Paying For It,’ ex-lovers reimagine friendship, family and the meaning of sex work

Emily Lê and Daniel Beirne star in the film that sees director and multidisciplinary artist Sook-Lin Yee adapt the graphic memoir of her ex-lover, Chester Brown, for the screen. (Wilding Pictures & Hawkeye Pictures)

The film Paying For It, Sook-Yin Lee’s live-action adaptation of cartoonist Chester Brown’s 2011 graphic memoir, reveals unexpected overlaps between paid sexual encounters and romantic relationships.

Lee, a boundary-shattering artist working across film, music, acting and broadcast, has never shied away from taboo. With Paying For It, she takes on sex work, romance and the messy labour of chosen family by adapting her ex-lover’s memoir for the screen.

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