Rent Boys

Berlin stories behind sex for money

Since the 1960s, West Berlin's most important transportation center - Bahnhof Zoo train station - served a second, lesser-known function as a meeting place for hordes of male prostitutes from all over Eastern Europe. Now, filmmaker Rosa von Praunheim profiles the personal and historic impact of the hustler culture that emerged at Bahnhof Zoo by turning his lens on five grown men who spent their youths as rent boys at the station. Each of the subjects' stories reveals the expected obstacles - abuse, addiction and poverty - but the men also display a surprising tenderness and determination to move on. At the same time, each man must cope with the emotional and physical consequences of their past decisions.

Rent Boys is a frank and sympathetic chronicle of the historic causes and lasting effects of Berlin's hustler trade. By capturing a broad array of voices - from former rent boys and clients, to the counselors and public servants who offer them treatment - von Praunheim creates an engrossing historic survey from the intimate stories of those whose lives intersected at Bahnhof Zoo.