Dreamcatcher

Director Kim Longinotto's immensely rewarding documentary follows charity worker Brenda Myers-Powell around Chicago's mean streets, schools and women's prisons as she endeavours to help women and girls at risk escape prostitution and its traps. A former sex worker herself, the ebullient Myers-Powell comes across as a force of nature with her tireless energy, radiant warmth and fabulous array of wigs, listening patiently to her clients' problems and helps them find hope, even in the darkest of circumstances. Some viewers may find the scene where a roomful of high-school girls open up about their horrifying experiences of sexual abuse hard to take, but looking away may feel more shameful. Despite the hard-hitting nature of the material, Longinotto never sensationalises or sentimentalises her subject and so delivers a galvanising portrait of female heroism and endurance that's clear, dignified and marked by a touching empathy.