Paper Dolls (film)
Encyclopedia
Paper Dolls is a 2006 documentary
by Israeli director Tomer Heymann, which follows the lives of transgender
migrant worker
s from the Philippines
who also perform as drag queen
s during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.
transsexuals, each in different stage of gender transition and often referred to by their feminine names, who have emigrated to Israel
to work as health care provider
s for elderly, Orthodox Jewish
men. On their nights off, they perform in Tel Aviv
nightclub
s as a drag group
called "Paper Dolls". They are among 300,000 foreign immigrants who came to Israel
in the wake of the Second Intifada to fill lowly jobs that had been handled by Palestinians
. Their status is precarious because they cannot file for citizenship
and their visas
are revoked if they lose their jobs. Although the task of taking care of the elderly is not easy, the liberal atmosphere of their adopted country has allowed the Paper Dolls to be free despite being viewed as outsiders.
A notable angle on the documentary is the relationship between Sally and her elderly ward Chaim, who lost his voice due to throat cancer
. He urges her to learn Hebrew by having her recite a poem written by Yehuda Amichai
, while he basks in Sally's warmth and wit. In contrast, when the Paper Dolls were arranged for an audition at TLV—the largest nightclub in Tel Aviv—the booker instead relegated them as geisha
s. They would bow by the entrance and were described by the booker, as well as other drag queens, as "unprofessional" and "fit only for a bus stop".
, was distilled from a six-part Israeli TV
feature produced by Claudius Films, Ltd., Heymann Brothers Films, and Switzerland
-based LM Media GmbH, in association with The Film Sales Company, through the research
of Levin. Andrew Harwitz and Maja Hoffman were its associate and executive producer
s respectively. Additional cinematography
were done by Levin, Tomer Heymann, Daniel Miran, and Gonen Glazer. Asaf Billet provided the graphic design
. Alex Claudius served as the interviewer of the participants.
circuit, first in Berlin International Film Festival
on February 9, 2006, then debuted in the United States at SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival
on June 15 that same year. Its US theatrical premiere was held on September 6, 2006, in New York City's
Film Forum
. The documentary was also commercially released in Switzerland, 15 US states, and Tel Aviv.
Before its second release in the Philippines at the 2007 Israeli Film Festival, Paper Dolls was given an "X" rating
by the country's Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
, which would make it "unfit for public viewing" despite already being shown in a public cinema in Makati City
during the 2006 Cinemanila International Film Festival
. The organizers of the Israeli Film Festival decided the film be shown in various universities around Metro Manila
. The Region 1
DVD
of Paper Dolls was released on March 13, 2007.
on the documentary, with a 71% grade from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
and 72% from Metacritic
. Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York rated the documentary with 4 stars, calling it "strange and sad". Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe
gave Paper Dolls 3½ out of 4 stars, lauding that the documentary does not center on drag culture but on "the discrepancy between the (subjects') self-image and their neighbors' failure to see them as more than freaks and foreigners". Ken Fox of TV Guide
rated the documentary a 3 out of 4 stars, commenting that although "Heymann has a flair for drama and a way of making every scene he appears in all about him... the Paper Dolls themselves are funny and touching and their plight is relevant to any discussion about foreign workers." A.O. Scott of The New York Times
stated that Paper Dolls "seeks to illuminate a subculture without allowing its curiosity to become exploitative or prurient". Michael Booth of The Denver Post
gave it a 2½ star-rating out of 4, saying that the documentary underscores the subjects' role as "eternal outsiders". David Noh of Film Journal International
stated that "despite Heymann's often clumsy technique and sometimes baldly opportunistic approach, a real human story emerges", and that the audience "sincerely root for these unlikely, uncomely souls". Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times
writes that Heymann does not only bring an engaging poignancy and depth in Paper Dolls, but also a powerful universality.
Meanwhile, Russell Edwards of Variety magazine
wrote that Paper Dolls "mostly fails to transcend its ramshackle structure or penetrate the inner-lives of its subjects". Ed Gonzales of Slant Magazine
gave 2 out of 4 stars, while lamenting that the documentary "only skims the surface of the Paper Dolls' personal lives, barely tapping into the dreams that motivate them on a daily basis".
, Switzerland
, as well as the International Audience Award at Los Angeles Film Festival
, and Best Documentary at Cinemanila International Film Festival held in Manila
, Philippines
. Paper Dolls also received the International Jury and the Audience Awards for a Documentary at 2007 Identities Queer Film Festival in Vienna
, Austria
, as well as the Audience Award for Best Documentary at 22nd Turin International GLBT Film Festival that same year.
. Chiqui became a head nurse at a local hospital, while Giorgio and Jan continued to provide health care for elderly Jewish men. The three formed "Paper Dolls from Israel" and staged their performances in Filipino
nightclubs. Meanwhile, Cheska was deported to the Philippines and managed a bar with her mother.
After Chaim's death, Sally returned to the Philippines to take care of her mother, but eventually went to Sharjah
, United Arab Emirates
and worked as a hairdresser
. On November 19, 2007, just 20 days after arriving in UAE, she was found dead on a pavement near a local mall. The reason for her death is still unknown, but her family claimed that an employee at Department of Foreign Affairs
asked them if Sally was "the one who got bashed in the head". Tomer Heymann was informed of Sally's death during the Israeli Film Fest held in Manila, wherein the proceeds of the screening—as well as his own allowance—were given to Sally's family in Imus, Cavite
.
Documentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
by Israeli director Tomer Heymann, which follows the lives of transgender
Transgender
Transgender is a general term applied to a variety of individuals, behaviors, and groups involving tendencies to vary from culturally conventional gender roles....
migrant worker
Migrant worker
The term migrant worker has different official meanings and connotations in different parts of the world. The United Nations' definition is broad, including any people working outside of their home country...
s from the Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
who also perform as drag queen
Drag queen
A drag queen is a man who dresses, and usually acts, like a caricature woman often for the purpose of entertaining. There are many kinds of drag artists and they vary greatly, from professionals who have starred in films to people who just try it once. Drag queens also vary by class and culture and...
s during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.
Story
The documentary followed five FilipinoFilipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
transsexuals, each in different stage of gender transition and often referred to by their feminine names, who have emigrated to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
to work as health care provider
Health care provider
A health care provider is an individual or an institution that provides preventive, curative, promotional or rehabilitative health care services in a systematic way to individuals, families or communities....
s for elderly, Orthodox Jewish
Orthodox Judaism
Orthodox Judaism , is the approach to Judaism which adheres to the traditional interpretation and application of the laws and ethics of the Torah as legislated in the Talmudic texts by the Sanhedrin and subsequently developed and applied by the later authorities known as the Gaonim, Rishonim, and...
men. On their nights off, they perform in Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
nightclub
Nightclub
A nightclub is an entertainment venue which usually operates late into the night...
s as a drag group
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...
called "Paper Dolls". They are among 300,000 foreign immigrants who came to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in the wake of the Second Intifada to fill lowly jobs that had been handled by Palestinians
Palestinian people
The Palestinian people, also referred to as Palestinians or Palestinian Arabs , are an Arabic-speaking people with origins in Palestine. Despite various wars and exoduses, roughly one third of the world's Palestinian population continues to reside in the area encompassing the West Bank, the Gaza...
. Their status is precarious because they cannot file for citizenship
Citizenship
Citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, national, or human resource community. Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities...
and their visas
Visa (document)
A visa is a document showing that a person is authorized to enter the territory for which it was issued, subject to permission of an immigration official at the time of actual entry. The authorization may be a document, but more commonly it is a stamp endorsed in the applicant's passport...
are revoked if they lose their jobs. Although the task of taking care of the elderly is not easy, the liberal atmosphere of their adopted country has allowed the Paper Dolls to be free despite being viewed as outsiders.
A notable angle on the documentary is the relationship between Sally and her elderly ward Chaim, who lost his voice due to throat cancer
Head and neck cancer
Head and neck cancer refers to a group of biologically similar cancers that start in the upper aerodigestive tract, including the lip, oral cavity , nasal cavity , paranasal sinuses, pharynx, and larynx. 90% of head and neck cancers are squamous cell carcinomas , originating from the mucosal lining...
. He urges her to learn Hebrew by having her recite a poem written by Yehuda Amichai
Yehuda Amichai
Yehuda Amichai was an Israeli poet. Amichai is considered by many, both in Israel and internationally, as Israel's greatest modern poet. He was also one of the first to write in colloquial Hebrew....
, while he basks in Sally's warmth and wit. In contrast, when the Paper Dolls were arranged for an audition at TLV—the largest nightclub in Tel Aviv—the booker instead relegated them as geisha
Geisha
, Geiko or Geigi are traditional, female Japanese entertainers whose skills include performing various Japanese arts such as classical music and dance.-Terms:...
s. They would bow by the entrance and were described by the booker, as well as other drag queens, as "unprofessional" and "fit only for a bus stop".
Participants
- Salvador "Sally" Camatoy
- Chiqui Diokno
- Giorgio Diokno
- Francisco "Cheska" P. Ortiz Jr.
- Toran "Jan" Jacob Libas
- Efrenito "Nits" Manalili
- Jose "Neil" T. Datinguinoo
- Eduardo "Rika" Javar (died during production)
- Chaim Amir (died during production)
- Noa Heymann
Production
The documentary, shot for a span of five years and 320 hours of videotapeVideotape
A videotape is a recording of images and sounds on to magnetic tape as opposed to film stock or random access digital media. Videotapes are also used for storing scientific or medical data, such as the data produced by an electrocardiogram...
, was distilled from a six-part Israeli TV
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
feature produced by Claudius Films, Ltd., Heymann Brothers Films, and Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
-based LM Media GmbH, in association with The Film Sales Company, through the research
Research
Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
of Levin. Andrew Harwitz and Maja Hoffman were its associate and executive producer
Executive producer
An executive producer is a producer who is not involved in any technical aspects of the film making or music process, but who is still responsible for the overall production...
s respectively. Additional cinematography
Cinematography
Cinematography is the making of lighting and camera choices when recording photographic images for cinema. It is closely related to the art of still photography...
were done by Levin, Tomer Heymann, Daniel Miran, and Gonen Glazer. Asaf Billet provided the graphic design
Graphic design
Graphic design is a creative process – most often involving a client and a designer and usually completed in conjunction with producers of form – undertaken in order to convey a specific message to a targeted audience...
. Alex Claudius served as the interviewer of the participants.
Releases
Paper Dolls was shown around the film festivalFilm festival
A film festival is an organised, extended presentation of films in one or more movie theaters or screening venues, usually in a single locality. More and more often film festivals show part of their films to the public by adding outdoor movie screenings...
circuit, first in Berlin International Film Festival
Berlin International Film Festival
The Berlin International Film Festival , also called the Berlinale, is one of the world's leading film festivals and most reputable media events. It is held in Berlin, Germany. Founded in West Berlin in 1951, the festival has been celebrated annually in February since 1978...
on February 9, 2006, then debuted in the United States at SILVERDOCS: AFI/Discovery Channel Documentary Festival
Silverdocs
AFI-Discovery Channel Silverdocs Documentary Festival is an American international film festival created by the American Film Institute and Discovery Channel. It is held every year in Silver Spring, Maryland near Washington, D.C.. Started in 2003, the festival is held for eight days in June at...
on June 15 that same year. Its US theatrical premiere was held on September 6, 2006, in New York City's
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
Film Forum
Film Forum
Film Forum is a nonprofit movie theater located at 209 West Houston Street in New York City. It began in 1970 as an alternative screening space for independent films, with 50 folding chairs, one projector and a US$19,000 annual budget. Karen Cooper became director in 1972 and under her leadership,...
. The documentary was also commercially released in Switzerland, 15 US states, and Tel Aviv.
Before its second release in the Philippines at the 2007 Israeli Film Festival, Paper Dolls was given an "X" rating
X-rated
In some countries, X is or has been a motion picture rating reserved for the most explicit films. Films rated X are intended only for viewing by adults, usually legally defined as people over the age of 17.-United Kingdom:...
by the country's Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
Movie and Television Review and Classification Board
The Movie and Television Review and Classification Board is the government agency responsible for rating television and film for the Philippines. Recently, the MTRCB was given the additional task of rating various video media . It is under the executive powers of the Office of the President...
, which would make it "unfit for public viewing" despite already being shown in a public cinema in Makati City
Makati City
The City of Makati is one of the 17 cities that make up Metro Manila, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. Makati is the financial center of the Philippines and one of the major financial, commercial and economic hubs in Asia...
during the 2006 Cinemanila International Film Festival
Cinemanila International Film Festival
The Cinemanila International Film Festival is an annual film festival held in Manila, the Philippines. It was founded by Filipino filmmaker Amable "Tikoy" Aguiluz in 1999....
. The organizers of the Israeli Film Festival decided the film be shown in various universities around Metro Manila
Metro Manila
Metropolitan Manila , the National Capital Region , or simply Metro Manila, is the metropolitan region encompassing the City of Manila and its surrounding areas in the Philippines...
. The Region 1
DVD region code
DVD region codes are a digital-rights management technique designed to allow film distributors to control aspects of a release, including content, release date, and price, according to the region...
DVD
DVD-Video
DVD-Video is a consumer video format used to store digital video on DVD discs, and is currently the dominant consumer video format in Asia, North America, Europe, and Australia. Discs using the DVD-Video specification require a DVD drive and a MPEG-2 decoder...
of Paper Dolls was released on March 13, 2007.
Reception
Critical reception
Film critics have mostly-positive reviewsFilm criticism
Film criticism is the analysis and evaluation of films, individually and collectively. In general, this can be divided into journalistic criticism that appears regularly in newspapers, and other popular, mass-media outlets and academic criticism by film scholars that is informed by film theory and...
on the documentary, with a 71% grade from review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
and 72% from Metacritic
Metacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
. Joshua Rothkopf of Time Out New York rated the documentary with 4 stars, calling it "strange and sad". Wesley Morris of The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe
The Boston Globe is an American daily newspaper based in Boston, Massachusetts. The Boston Globe has been owned by The New York Times Company since 1993...
gave Paper Dolls 3½ out of 4 stars, lauding that the documentary does not center on drag culture but on "the discrepancy between the (subjects') self-image and their neighbors' failure to see them as more than freaks and foreigners". Ken Fox of TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
rated the documentary a 3 out of 4 stars, commenting that although "Heymann has a flair for drama and a way of making every scene he appears in all about him... the Paper Dolls themselves are funny and touching and their plight is relevant to any discussion about foreign workers." A.O. Scott of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
stated that Paper Dolls "seeks to illuminate a subculture without allowing its curiosity to become exploitative or prurient". Michael Booth of The Denver Post
The Denver Post
-Ownership:The Post is the flagship newspaper of MediaNews Group Inc., founded in 1983 by William Dean Singleton and Richard Scudder. MediaNews is today one of the nation's largest newspaper chains, publisher of 61 daily newspapers and more than 120 non-daily publications in 13 states. MediaNews...
gave it a 2½ star-rating out of 4, saying that the documentary underscores the subjects' role as "eternal outsiders". David Noh of Film Journal International
Film Journal International
Film Journal International is a motion-picture industry trade magazine published by the American company Prometheus Global Media. It is a sister publication of Adweek, Billboard, The Hollywood Reporter, and other periodicals....
stated that "despite Heymann's often clumsy technique and sometimes baldly opportunistic approach, a real human story emerges", and that the audience "sincerely root for these unlikely, uncomely souls". Kevin Thomas of Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles Times
The Los Angeles Times is a daily newspaper published in Los Angeles, California, since 1881. It was the second-largest metropolitan newspaper in circulation in the United States in 2008 and the fourth most widely distributed newspaper in the country....
writes that Heymann does not only bring an engaging poignancy and depth in Paper Dolls, but also a powerful universality.
Meanwhile, Russell Edwards of Variety magazine
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
wrote that Paper Dolls "mostly fails to transcend its ramshackle structure or penetrate the inner-lives of its subjects". Ed Gonzales of Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine
Slant Magazine is an online publication that features reviews of movies, music, TV, DVDs, theater, and video games, as well as interviews with actors, directors, and musicians. The site covers various film festivals like the New York Film Festival.- History :...
gave 2 out of 4 stars, while lamenting that the documentary "only skims the surface of the Paper Dolls' personal lives, barely tapping into the dreams that motivate them on a daily basis".
Awards
Paper Dolls won three awards from independent juries in 2006 Berlin International Film Festival: Panorama Audience Award for a Feature Film; the Manfred-Salzgeber Prize; and the Siegessäule Reader's Jury Award. The documentary also received Best Cinematography and Best Music at Israeli Documentary Film Forum in 2006. That same year, it received the Audience Award at Pink Apple Film Festival held in ZurichZürich
Zurich is the largest city in Switzerland and the capital of the canton of Zurich. It is located in central Switzerland at the northwestern tip of Lake Zurich...
, Switzerland
Switzerland
Switzerland name of one of the Swiss cantons. ; ; ; or ), in its full name the Swiss Confederation , is a federal republic consisting of 26 cantons, with Bern as the seat of the federal authorities. The country is situated in Western Europe,Or Central Europe depending on the definition....
, as well as the International Audience Award at Los Angeles Film Festival
Los Angeles Film Festival
The Los Angeles Film Festival, presented by the Los Angeles Times is an event held annually in June in downtown Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Film Festival began as the Los Angeles Independent Film Festival in 1995. The first LAIFF took place over the course of five days in a single...
, and Best Documentary at Cinemanila International Film Festival held in Manila
Manila
Manila is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities forming Metro Manila.Manila is located on the eastern shores of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north, Quezon City to the northeast, San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east, Makati on the southeast,...
, Philippines
Philippines
The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...
. Paper Dolls also received the International Jury and the Audience Awards for a Documentary at 2007 Identities Queer Film Festival in Vienna
Vienna
Vienna is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Austria and one of the nine states of Austria. Vienna is Austria's primary city, with a population of about 1.723 million , and is by far the largest city in Austria, as well as its cultural, economic, and political centre...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, as well as the Audience Award for Best Documentary at 22nd Turin International GLBT Film Festival that same year.
Aftermath
Chiqui, Giorgio, and Jan, went to LondonLondon
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
. Chiqui became a head nurse at a local hospital, while Giorgio and Jan continued to provide health care for elderly Jewish men. The three formed "Paper Dolls from Israel" and staged their performances in Filipino
Filipino people
The Filipino people or Filipinos are an Austronesian ethnic group native to the islands of the Philippines. There are about 92 million Filipinos in the Philippines, and about 11 million living outside the Philippines ....
nightclubs. Meanwhile, Cheska was deported to the Philippines and managed a bar with her mother.
After Chaim's death, Sally returned to the Philippines to take care of her mother, but eventually went to Sharjah
Sharjah (city)
Sharjah is the third largest and most populous city in the United Arab Emirates. It is located along the southern coast of the Persian Gulf on the Arabian Peninsula.Sharjah is the seat of government of the emirate of Sharjah...
, United Arab Emirates
United Arab Emirates
The United Arab Emirates, abbreviated as the UAE, or shortened to "the Emirates", is a state situated in the southeast of the Arabian Peninsula in Western Asia on the Persian Gulf, bordering Oman, and Saudi Arabia, and sharing sea borders with Iraq, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Iran.The UAE is a...
and worked as a hairdresser
Hairdresser
Hairdresser is a term referring to anyone whose occupation is to cut or style hair in order to change or maintain a person's image. This is achieved using a combination of hair coloring, haircutting, and hair texturing techniques...
. On November 19, 2007, just 20 days after arriving in UAE, she was found dead on a pavement near a local mall. The reason for her death is still unknown, but her family claimed that an employee at Department of Foreign Affairs
Department of Foreign Affairs (Philippines)
The Philippines' Department of Foreign Affairs is the executive department of the Philippine government tasked to contribute to the enhancement of national security and the protection of the territorial integrity and national sovereignty, to participate in the national endeavor of sustaining...
asked them if Sally was "the one who got bashed in the head". Tomer Heymann was informed of Sally's death during the Israeli Film Fest held in Manila, wherein the proceeds of the screening—as well as his own allowance—were given to Sally's family in Imus, Cavite
Imus, Cavite
The Municipality of Imus is a first-class municipality in the province of Cavite, Philippines, and it is the officially designated capital of Cavite...
.