Paper Dolls festivals-awards

Director: TOMER HEYMANN
Producer: CALA (CLAUDIA LEVIN), STANLEY BUCHTEL, TOMER HEYMANN
Cinematography: ITAI RAZIEL
Editing: LAVI BEN GAL
Original Score: ELI SOORANI
Research: TALI SHAMIR-WERZBERGER

With the support of:
The Rabinovich Foundation/Makor Foundation for Israeli Films

A group of transvestite Filipino migrant workers who came to Israel to become caretakers for elderly religious Jewish men, take one day off per week to perform drag under the name Paper Dolls. It is a story about people who are rejected by their own families for being gay/transvestite, who then become immigrants and in turn take care of others who have been rejected by their own children. They work grueling hours to send money back to the Philippines to support the families that have rejected them. As unbelievable as it may seem, these very different people (old religious Jews and transvestites from the Philippines) form very deep, quasi familial bonds.

The film explores the problems of global immigration as well as the personal stories of its characters. After the second Intifada, the Israeli government unofficially opened its doors to illegal workers to replace the Palestinians who were no longer allowed in the country. As tensions with the Palestinians eased, the government changed its policy again and began to forcibly deport these foreign guest workers with dramatic consequences for our characters. But despite having to deal with often harsh working conditions, threats by street criminal , fear of terrorist bombings and perils of deportation, The Paper Dolls demonstrate a rare generosity of spirit, humanity and lust for life.

• Audience Award,  Jury Award Teddy Awards, Manfred Salzgeber  Film Prize  – Berlinale Film Festival
• Best Documentary – Cinemanila International Film Festival, Phillipines
• Best Documentary – Motifs Festival Warsaw
• Best Documentary – Copenhagen Gay & Lesbian Filmfestival
• Best Feature – DNA Film Festival Toronto
• Audience Award Best Documentary – Torino International GLBT Film Festival
• Audience Award and Best Documentary – Identities Queer Film Festival, Austria
• Audience Award – Thessaloniki LGBTI Cultural Panorama
• Audience Award – Los Angeles Film Festival
• Public Award – Pink Apple Film Festival