'St Pancras Sunrise': The award-winning short film shining a light on sex work and police brutality

“15 women, some with children, have locked themselves in Holy Cross Church of Kings Cross. They won’t leave until they get guarantees about future police conduct,” announces a live broadcast on Thames News.

This powerful image of defiance and resilience, taken from real archive news footage, opens St Pancras Sunrise, a short film that packs a punch in just under 10 minutes.

Written and directed by Irish filmmaker Maeve Murphy, the film transports viewers to King’s Cross, London, in 1982, where a young Irish musician, Blathnaid, befriends a street sex worker named Nadina. But looming over them is the presence of a cop, Jake, whose actions will have fatal, horrific consequences.

The short, which has so far won eight international film awards, including Best Short at the London International Screenwriters Film Festival, is inspired by the tragic 1981 murder of Patsy Malone, a sex worker killed by a police officer. The murder sparked a protest by the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), who wore black masks and occupied the Church of the Holy Cross for 12 days in the heart of King’s Cross.

The issues that fuelled that protest are alarmingly as urgent today as they were more than 40 years ago. Just this week marked the 4th anniversary of the murder of 33-year-old Sarah Everard, who was kidnapped, rapped and murdered by a Met Police officer.

"It’s extraordinary that we’re still having this conversation. Even now, a police officer can fail a vetting process and still not be sacked. When we’re talking about crimes as serious as sexual assault and murder, that level of neglect is unbelievable," states Murphy.

Sex workers "need protection and the police should be the people protecting them" says Murphy. "Yet in places, particularly in England, we've seen law enforcement not only failing that duty, but have been on the front line of perpetuating the harm to the point where a lot of sex workers are frightened as much of the police as any potential client".

To mark International Women's Day, Euronews Culture sat down with Maeve Murphy to dive deeper into the real-life events that inspired St Pancras Sunrise, the message she aims to convey through the film, and her plans to transform the short into a full-feature film.

Euronews Culture: Can you give us a brief synopsis of what your short St Pancras Sunrise is about?

Maeve Murphy: The film is seen through the eyes of a young Irish woman who's arriving in King's Cross in 1982 with hopes and dreams of being a musician. She becomes friends with a woman named Nadina, this force of life, who lives in the same flats as her. The story also involves a rogue policeman who keeps harassing both women. He repeatedly asks Nadina for business and she's sort of telling him to fuck off and we don't understand why. By the end, we realise that he is a policeman and the punishment that is given to her for refusing him is fatal.

What inspired you to make it?

First of all, I lived in the Hillview Estate in King's Cross in the early 90s, and the area was still heavily associated with the red-light district. Many artists were living there, attracted by cheap accommodation. The buildings had originally been squats, but over time, they turned into housing co-ops. It was rough, affordable living, but right in central London. Having lived there, I knew that world well, and I really wanted to write a human story rooted in friendship.

In my research for the film, I discovered that Patsy Malone also lived in those same flats at the Hillview Estate, which really shocked me. She lived there about a decade earlier, and it was in 1981 when she was killed by a police officer. I think that the context of the women’s protests at Holy Cross Church was strongly influenced by this event, so the two are connected.

Since a lot of the work I do as a filmmaker is based on real events or fact-driven, I put two things together: the world I knew well and created fictional characters inspired by people I may have met, alongside the real historical events of the time. I also spoke to the English Collective of Prostitutes, including a particular woman who had actually been in the church during that period.

How much creative license did you take with the real-life events?

I think the most successful film I’ve ever made, in terms of features, was Silent Grace. It’s about the women in Armagh Prison during the Dirty Protests, fighting for political status, and some of them even went on hunger strikes. These women were written out of history. In the same way Ken Loach does, you take real events, but when creating drama, it has to be shaped in a way that an audience can connect with. It needs complete authenticity, but it also has to work as a piece of cinema.

When it comes to sex workers, there’s an added complexity. A lot of their lives involve anonymity. Some people are happy to publicly stand by their work, while others aren’t. So, how do you choose one person to represent that experience and not another? It’s a tricky situation. The ECP is behind the film - they’ve watched the film and provided the captions at the end. It’s authentic. The historical events are accurate, the humanity is accurate, and it’s also cinematically truthful.

The film opens to what feels like actual archive footage. Is this the case?

Yes, very well spotted. That is real news footage, I believe from Thames News, covering the Holy Cross occupation. You see a reporter reporting on it, and there are also clips of documentary archive footage showing them inside the church.

What do you think is a common misconception that society has about the sex worker community?

I think there’s a real push at the moment to try and humanise sex workers in culture and cultural terms. For so long, the perception of them has been overwhelmingly negative - shaming, moral judgment, and taboo, or incredibly racy. But these are just ordinary women making a choice - though for some, it's more of a choice than others. When it comes to street work, there is a survival issue going on.

I think the most powerful thing filmmakers can do is create strong, powerful human characters that are unforgettable. And I think with the character of Nadina, for example, she has this incredible life force. You see her ice skating in the film, full of energy. She's not somebody that you think is gonna get suddenly mowed down. But that is also the reality of street sex work. They are still vulnerable. They do need protection and the police should be the people protecting them. Yet in places, particularly in England, we've seen law enforcement not only failing that duty, but have been on the front line of perpetuating the harm to the point where a lot of sex workers are frightened as much of the police as any potential client.

And this week was the fourth anniversary of Sarah Everard’s death. Patsy Malone died in 1981. It’s extraordinary that we’re still having this conversation. Even now, a police officer can fail a vetting process and still not be sacked. When we’re talking about crimes as serious as sexual assault and murder, that level of neglect is unbelievable. Every woman’s life should be safe, and the people responsible for their safety need to be trustworthy. The fact that some of these officers still have access to firearms is even more alarming.

I think what filmmakers can do is tell human stories that make people connect with a character, feel their loss, and share in the shock and sadness when something happens to them.

You mentioned Ken Loach earlier - have you taken inspiration from his work? If so, in what ways?

There’s a direct connection between myself and Ken Loach. I mean, in that I worked in his office, and my first short film, Amazing Grace, was kind of born out of that environment. Silent Grace and Beyond the Fire were both scripts that were developed in and around that production company. Rebecca O’Brien, his producer, saw the short and was really encouraging about it. She even suggested that to really capture the look of old King’s Cross, I should just go down there, walk the streets, and find those old buildings that are still standing. So that’s exactly what I did. That’s how we found those flats - people still live in them, interestingly enough - which are actually old hospital flats around Wickland Street.

I spoke with Rebecca about the short and about the whole ethos of approaching it with integrity - working with activists or local people in the area. And beyond that, I know the area like the back of my hand, having lived there for two and a half years. So there’s a personal connection as well. But at the same time, there’s also the professional responsibility as a filmmaker - to respect the craft and do your best to shape a story out of it.

Considering the ongoing issues of police violence, as well as violence against women and sex workers, do you believe the entire system needs a complete overhaul? Or are there specific changes that could be made right now to address these concerns?

Well, there are two things. First, the police need to have the power to sack officers who fail vetting or take serious disciplinary action against them. The fact that they can’t is just awful, right? That needs to change immediately. There’s no reason for delays - it should be fast-tracked. That would show real commitment and care.

And the second thing - well, look at what the women in Holy Cross Church did back in 1982. It gives a little bit of hope and shows that the fight is worth it. They actually managed to get local police monitoring in place. It broke down after a couple of years, but the fact that they achieved it at all proves that change is possible.

So, something like that - when it comes to the arrest of women - I’d say maybe a police officer shouldn’t be out there alone. Maybe there should always be a female officer present. Just an idea. I’m kind of riffing here, but that seems like a reasonable step.

Another thing that absolutely needs to change is this strange law about cautions for sex workers. If a sex worker is cautioned, they’re immediately criminalised, and it stays on their record for 100 years. That means if they try to get a job decades later, even after moving on completely, it still comes up. And because sex work is still taboo in society, it can seriously impact their employment. Meanwhile, for most people, cautions disappear from their record in a year or two. So why are sex workers being treated so differently? It doesn’t make sense. I know the English Collective of Prostitutes is really pushing to change that right now.

Recently, Sean Baker's Anora won Best Picture at the Oscars, and Mikey Madison, the lead actress, gave a shout-out to sex workers in her acceptance speech. What was your reaction to seeing this?

I think it’s great. I’ve seen the film and I really enjoyed it. It’s a completely different story from St Pancras Sunrise because we’re right in the middle of that conflict between the police and sex workers, or police violence and sex workers. It’s a very different narrative.

But I thought it was a really lovely film, and I was so glad to see it win. It was clearly well-researched, and I really appreciate the way it honours the community of sex workers. I also thought what she said was really lovely. So I thought it was fantastic.

Do you see this as an example of cinema starting to take these stories seriously, or do you feel there’s still more to be done in terms of representing sex workers?

Yeah, I definitely think so. And I think Sean Baker is a great filmmaker. I’ve seen Tangerine, and it’s also a powerful film about sex work. It really emotionally impacted me - I absolutely loved it. I think what’s happening now is natural, and there are so many more stories to tell from different perspectives. Not just the sexual fantasy of a sex worker, but the full complexity of their experiences. I think it’s a good thing. Cinema is opening up in terms of the stories it’s telling. It’s never easy, but those voices are starting to be heard.

I think what’s good is that people are ready to hear these stories. People are open to the idea that sex workers are just like anyone else. And also, that the police can be incredibly violent and brutal, especially towards women. That’s an issue that absolutely needs to be addressed.

What has the reception been like for St Pancras Sunrise so far? You've won some awards, which is amazing.

It’s been great! And the international response has been fantastic. Our first award was actually in LA on 9 September last year, and then it just snowballed - eight awards in about two weeks. It was unbelievable. That’s something that’s never happened to me in my life. Now, we’ve just heard it won an award at the beginning of the year at the London International Screenwriters Film Festival for Best Short. It’s also going to the Fastnet Film Festival in West Cork, which is great, especially since it’s been indirectly funded by Screen Ireland.

It’s wonderful to have it shown in Ireland, especially after it screened in Belfast and Iskia. It’s also available on the Irish Film & TV UK app, so people in Europe can watch it there. I think that really opens it up to a wider European audience.

I was honestly shocked, because it didn’t go through the usual channels. It’s a truly independent film - it wasn’t financed through any board or funding body. I used the director’s retainer from Screen Ireland to pay for it.

What's next for the project?

I’m definitely hoping to expand this into a feature, which would explore Blathnaid and Nadina’s friendship and further explore Jake, the unraveling cop. It would also extend into the church and the protest. There’s definitely room for a longer story. Screen Ireland and Northern Ireland Screen are involved so we hope to get this into production towards the end of this year or next year.

St Pancras Sunrise is currently available to watch on the Irish Film Television UK app (IFTUK).