Gan (Garden)
D: Ruthie Shatz, Adi BarashDocumentaries about prostitution seem to follow a certain pattern – a shot of a woman sticking her head in a car window, her spandexed rear-end filling out the frame while a hidden microphone records her negotiations; then maybe some head shots of women calling each other ho’s; and then the telltale silhouette of a transvestite under a single streetlight, teetering away from the camera. But Garden achieves a much more intimate and surprising look at its subjects. Nino and Dudu are teenagers, best friends, Arabs living in Israel, and male prostitutes – in that order, it seems – working the “Garden,” a section of Tel Aviv notorious for its streetwalking. Nino is irresponsible, restless, frustratingly evasive. He’d be the quiet jock in your homeroom, the one with the sweet grin who everyone tells to buckle down. But he’s not, of course, because he’s a homeless prostitute. And Dudu is elegant, sharp, a little dramatic. He’d be the aloof and sophisticated senior you’d adore from afar. But he’s not, of course, because he’s also a homeless prostitute. How they came to live in the Garden is heartbreaking. But how they care for each other is wholly uplifting. – N.A.
Sept. 1, 7:30
This article appears in August 27 • 2004.
