Ethiopian scriptwriter and film director Hermon Hailay says she grew up close to prostitutes.
"I know them as young, beautiful women, mothers, sisters and friends," she tells me at a popular cinema in the middle of Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa.
"I always wanted to tell their story, because I know it well. As a kid, I did not see the shame in what they do."
At just 28, Ms Hermon has already written and directed three feature films, all tackling social issues like poverty and the perils of rural to urban migration.
She was getting ready to travel to Burkina Faso for Africa's biggest film festival Fespaco, where her latest film, Price of Love, has been nominated for the top prize.
It follows the life of a young taxi driver who in the course of his job falls in love with a prostitute.He is then forced to confront his past, having been raised by his mother, who also earned her living from prostitution.
This is not uncommon in Ethiopia where prostitution is widespread, but is at times spoken of in low tones.
Despite the country's impressive and fast-growing economy, a large part of the population still lives on less than a dollar a day.
Every evening, heavily made up "business ladies", as they are called, line up on Addis Ababa's streets in short skimpy dresses.
"In the three movies I have done before, I had small roles of prostitutes and I always wanted to have a major role in one of them," says Ms Hermon.
"In the three movies I have done before, I had small roles of prostitutes and I always wanted to have a major role in one of them," says Ms Hermon.
"It's of course a very controversial topic and people ask me why I include such roles in my movies but I think we have never told enough, and if we think prostitution is bad, we should change that by loving them, not shunning them - that is the message of my movie."
'Change a life'
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