The Twelve Thousand

Flowers of Shanghai

1998 · ★ 6.9

At the end of the 19th century, Shanghai is divided into several foreign concessions. In the British concession, a number of luxurious “flower houses” are reserved for the male elite of the city. Since Chinese dignitaries are not allowed to frequent brothels, these establishments are the only ones that these men can visit. They form a self-contained world, with its own rites, traditions and even its own language. The men don’t only visit the houses to frequent the courtesans but also to dine, smoke opium, play mahjong and relax. The women working there are known as the “flowers of Shanghai”.

The Woman in the Rumor

1954 · ★ 7.3

After living a traumatic experience in Tokyo, Yukiko returns to Kyoto, where Hatsuko, her mother, runs a brothel, which upsets Yukiko very much.

Der Weg, der zur Verdammnis führt, 2. Teil - Hyänen der Lust

1919 · ★ 9

After spending an evening with questionable company, two young women are trafficked to brothels abroad.

This Sporting House

1969 · ★ 9

Three lovely girls are abducted and forced to work in a Manhattan brothel.

Love Strange Love

1982 · ★ 5.8

A man remembers forty-eight crucial hours in his life when, as a child, he visited his mother, the favorite woman of an important politician, in a bordello owned by him, right before some important political changes in 1937 Brazil. In those hours, he discovers his own sexuality.

Black Venus

2010 · ★ 6.5

The true story of Saartje Baartman, a black South African worker who moves to London with her master in the early 19th century. Although she dreams of being an artist, once in Europe she is exploited as a sideshow attraction due to her large buttocks and genitalia.

Bhuthan: The World’s Happiest Man

2025

Bhutan: The World’s Happiest Man tells the story of Mr. Bishnu, an aging Bhutanese-American in Ohio, who dreams of returning to his homeland. After his unexpected death, his family faces a conflict over his final resting place, torn between past memories and present realities. This emotional drama explores themes of love, loss, and the search for belonging.

We, the Dead

2017

A young Chinese Malaysian woman becomes involved in the sordid world of human trafficking as she tries to make a better life for herself with a dream of moving to Taiwan.

Diary of a Lost Girl

1929 · ★ 7.3

Thymian Henning, an innocent young girl, is raped by the clerk of her father's pharmacy. She becomes pregnant, is rejected by her family, and must fend for herself in a harsh, cruel world.

Queen Kelly

1929 · ★ 6.5

A convent girl is abducted and seduced by a prince before being sent off to a brothel in East Africa.

Titrit

Plot TBA; described as 'a harrowing, humanistic Moroccan-set drama exploring the realities of human trafficking through the eyes of those ensnared in its web'.

General Della Rovere

1959 · ★ 7.5

In WWII-Italy, the Gestapo blackmails a con man to impersonate a dead partisan commander in order to extract information from his fellow inmates.