Paper Dolls

Now here's something you don't see everyday: a documentary about Filipino pre-op transsexual caregivers working in Tel Aviv. By day, the immigrants in Tomer Heymann's entertaining and frequently eye-opening film maintain their male identities as home attendants in Orthodox Jewish neighborhoods, but at night they transform themselves into a glamorous she-male revue called the Paper Dolls and perform lip sync numbers in gay nightclubs. The film succeeds on two different levels: as an examination of gender roles cutting across dissimilar cultures (the Paper Dolls acknowledge that Israel's liberal environment is friendlier than the conservative Philippine society), and as a study of Israel's surprisingly high number of non-Jewish immigrants in lower-paying occupations traditionally held by Palestinians prior to the 2001 intifada (the interview subjects here are not eligible for Israeli citizenship and can face immediate deportation if they lose their jobs). Heymann errs somewhat by putting himself into the story via a failed attempt to get the Paper Dolls on a TV variety show—a venture that only reinforces the group's obvious limitations as performers. Aside from this minor misstep, this fascinating, engaging film is highly recommended. (P. Hall)