By Kevin Thomas, Special to The Times

After closing its borders to Palestinian workers in 2001 in response to the intifada, Israel admitted more than 300,000 immigrants to fill the employment void. Among them were many Filipinos, including a group of pre-op transsexuals who found jobs as caregivers to elderly Jews. Several put together a drag show, performing for the Filipino community in Tel Aviv. They called their lip-synch act "Paper Dolls," which is the title of Tomer Heymann's captivating, consciousness-raising documentary, as affectionate toward the Dolls as it is critical of widespread Israeli antipathy toward the transgendered and suspicion of immigrants in general, especially amid escalating terrorist attacks.

By Wesley Morris 

Like a lot of drag queens, the ones in Tomer Heymann's highly affecting documentary, ``Paper Dolls," don't lead a glamorous life. They've come to a suburb of Tel Aviv from the Philippines and work, mostly, as caregivers to the elderly, some of whom are Orthodox Jews. They do so in their street clothes, as men, and when their weekend shifts end, they change into their costumes (tubby Jan Jan slips into his evening gown in the stairwell of his client's building) and head to a drag show where they perform as an entertainment collective called the Paper Dolls.

By A. O. SCOTT

Published: September 6, 2006

Many of the films from Israel that show up on American movie screens — and most of the documentaries — deal obliquely or directly with the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In this context, “Paper Dolls,” which opens today at Film Forum, is both a surprise and something of a relief.

The film, directed by Tomer Heymann, is part diary and part human-interest story. It examines the lives of a group of transsexual Philippine immigrants who work as home attendants for elderly Israelis and also perform in Tel Aviv nightclubs. It also records the filmmaker’s friendship with them, including his efforts to bring them to the attention of an influential club promoter.