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Paper Dolls
Strand Releasing


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MPAA RATING: Not Rated

After closing the border to Palestinian workers, Israeli authorities sought to fill gaps in the job market by encouraging emigrant workers from other parts of the world. Among those who answered the call were Filipinos in various stages of gender transition. These individuals who see themselves in a female persona, shunned by their families and communities at home, build new lives in Israel as caregivers for elderly, orthodox Jewish men, many of whom come to look upon them as substitute children. On their nights off, the workers perform as a drag queen ensemble, "Paper Dolls," in Tel Aviv nightclubs. Although the troupe's members enjoy Israel's liberal atmosphere, they are still outsiders and are always treated as such. Tomer Heymann's moving documentary explores the role of immigrant worker in Western culture, and delves into the lives of societal outcasts seeking freedom and acceptance, however tenuous. (Strand Releasing)

GENRE(S):	Documentary \| Foreign
WRITTEN BY:	Tomer Heymann
DIRECTED BY:	Tomer Heymann
RELEASE DATE:	DVD: March 13, 2007 Theatrical: September 1, 2006
RUNNING TIME:	80 minutes, Color
ORIGIN:	Israel / Switzerland
LANGUAGE(S):	Hebrew / English / Tagalog (with English subtitles)

Also known as "Bubot Niyar"

All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...

Boston Globe Wesley Morris

Heymann's film was originally a six-part series for Israeli TV. The feature he and his crew have made smoothly truncates those three hours into a rich, discretely damning 85-minute portrait of intolerance.

Salon.com Andrew O'Hehir

Sad, sweet and oddly inspirational.

Los Angeles Times Kevin Thomas

A documentary about transsexuals from the Philippines working as caregivers in Israel sounds highly specialized in its appeal, but Heymann brings to Paper Dolls not only an engaging poignancy and depth but also a powerful universality.

San Francisco Chronicle G. Allen Johnson

Although the "weird" factor is very much in play here, director Tomer Heymann does a fine job of peeking behind the curtain and discovering real humanity at work. We not only get to know these transsexuals as people, but also their patients.

TV Guide Ken Fox

There have been a number of worth documentaries about gender-benders who cross every conceivable line, but Tomer Heymann's film about a group of Filipino cross-dressers living in Israel is a drag doc with a difference.

New York Post V.A. Musetto

The presentation is conventional, but the subject matter isn't. Besides, when was the last time you saw anything resembling good news coming out of the Middle East?

The Hollywood Reporter Frank Scheck

Although the film occasionally become repetitive, one can't help but be moved by the way in which these two groups of people -- who couldn't be more different in terms of background and orientation -- have found a common emotional ground.

The New York Times Dana Stevens

A modest film, less interested in advocacy or analysis than in sympathy.

Village Voice Ella Taylor

Observing the close relationships they develop with clients, the openly gay Heymann becomes, both hilariously and wistfully, part of a community that possesses in spades what's missing in his own life--the gift of happiness and living well in unfriendly surroundings.

Variety Russell Edwards

Distilled from a six-episode Israeli TV series, pic mostly fails to transcend its ramshackle structure or penetrate the inner-lives of its subjects.

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Paper Dolls Strand Releasing

Paper Dolls
Strand Releasing