Shinjuku Boys

The 1995 documentary by Kim Longinotto and Jano Williams follows three people working at a nightclub in Tokyo. Gaish, Tatsu and Kazuki were born female and live as men; at the club they accompany women customers, and the work is their living. The method is non-interventionist and rests on the three telling their own stories: their relationships with their bodies, their views on medical transition and what they experience in relationships all differ. Longinotto does not place them in a category, which is why the film still stands despite being made in the nineties. The club and the relationships with customers are shown in detail. It is short and its sections are not equally deep. Who it's for: viewers interested in observational documentary and early records of trans experience. Who it's not for: anyone wanting an explanatory frame, or troubled that the terminology of the period differs from today's.