Paper Dolls (film)
| Paper Dolls (Bubot Niyar) |
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Israeli-release poster
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| Directed by | Tomer Heymann |
| Produced by | Claudia Levin Stanley Buchthal Tomer Heymann |
| Written by | Tomer Heymann |
| Starring | see Participants |
| Music by | Eli Soorani |
| Cinematography | Itai Raziel |
| Edited by | Lavi Ben Gal |
| Distributed by | Strand Releasing |
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Release date
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Running time
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80 minutes |
| Country | Israel Switzerland United States |
| Language | Hebrew Tagalog English |
| Box office | $36,089 |
Paper Dolls (Hebrew: בובות נייר, Bubot Niyar) is a 2006 documentary by Israeli director Tomer Heymann, which follows the lives of transgender migrant workers from the Philippines who work as health care providers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men and perform as drag queens during their spare time. It also delves into the lives of societal outcasts who search for freedom and acceptance.
In 2013, the story was adapted as a musical and produced at the Tricycle Theatre in London.
The documentary followed five Filipino 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 providers for elderly Orthodox Jewish men. Religious rules forbid the Orthodox men from being touched by women, so their carers must be male. On their nights off, the transsexuals perform in Tel Aviv nightclubs 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, and they are able to earn enough money to send support to their families in the Philippines.
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