Hot Docs

Longinotto is back in Japan, this time to introduce us to three onnabes who work as hosts at the New Marilyn Club in Tokyo. Onnabes are women who live as men and have girlfriends, though they don’t usually identify as lesbians. Gaish is a cool-looking dude and a bit of a womanizer. Kazuki, more of a cuddler, lives with a transsexual singer. Tatsu, who is in a relationship with a young woman, is the only one of the three who takes illegal hormone injections. All three talk frankly to the camera about their gender-bending lives, revealing their views about women, sex, transvestism, and lesbianism. Alternating with these illuminating interviews are fabulous sequences shot inside the club, which is patronized almost exclusively by heterosexual women who have become disappointed with men. Shinjuku Boys is a remarkable film about the complexity of female sexuality in Japan. - Shannon Abel

Media Coverage

Xtra! (Capsule Review), NOW Magazine (4-star Review)