Rent Boys (DVD)

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 hoys at the station. Each of the subjects' stories reveals the expected obstacles - abuse, drug 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.