RELI IN PARADISE

COWBOYS IN PARADISE

Director: Amit Virmani2009 Singapore 82 min Documentary M18

Thousands of women travel to Bali each year in search of paradise. And many find it in the arms of Kuta Cowboys, the bronzed beach ambassadors who have made the island a leading destination for female sex tourists.
Cowboys in Paradise gets between the sheets of this “holiday romance” trade to reveal its closely-guarded secrets. What separates a Cowboy from garden-variety gigolos? How do women compensate him? And how does his family feel about his colourful ways?
Since sparking an internet controversy, the film has been condemned by Bali authorities as an attempt to shame the island. Others have embraced it as a counterpoint to Eat, Pray, Love, welcoming its “myth-shattering perspective on a tropical utopia” (Melbourne International Film Festival).