"We sell dreams," states the protagonist of this insightful documentary. Issei is the owner of a successful host club whose role in Japanese society is, in a word, unique. For those unfamiliar with the peculiarities of Japanese modern culture, this documentary may come as a bit of a shock. What is exposed over an hour and fifteen minutes is a world of young folk who can't reveal their true emotions to each other, and pretend the salvation to their emptiness is to spend $500 on bottles of champagne.

You see, a host club is Osaka is similar to a hostess club. A female punter chooses a host (read over-groomed toy boy) from the menu to flirt with for an evening. Hostess clubs have been around for a while in Japan, however the gender flipside is a relatively new development. Without giving away too much of the winner of the Best Documentary Feature at the Edinburgh Film Festival, it is a revelation in what people will do to avoid loneliness.

Club Raykko, where the action takes place, is a place of contradictions. Here sits a bunch of stylish, wealthy young Japanese women, all paying for the privilege of flirting with the somewhat androgynous hosts. The highlight of the evening is the $500 'champagne call', where she demands the attention of all the hosts in the club and a bottle of champagne of dubious quality bubbly is downed in a large plastic jug with lighting up ice cubes to frantic dance music.

Tacky in the extreme, however the hosts are convinced that they are performing a useful role by providing the ladies with much-needed attention. Why these attractive ladies feel they need this attention is part of the twist of the doco, and you'll just have to have a look to find out for yourself.

There are a number of reasons I felt drawn to this feature. Firstly, it is fascinating to comprehend a culture so different from the Western world. Secondly, these people really know how to party - they put the clubbing scene of Edinburgh in perspective. And they do it for a living. Every night. God help their livers! Lastly, despite uncovering something akin to a secret society, all of the real life characters in Clennell's documentary have real charisma and intelligence. They express themselves in an open articulate fashion and it's this honesty that makes them believable.