‘Paper Flower’ debuts with free public screening

Toy Gun Films’ “Paper Flower” will be shown at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Harkins Bricktown Cinemas, 150 E. Reno, on a first-come, first-served basis.

The film looks at Japan’s practice of enj?-kosai — or “compensated dating” — in which teenage girls from well-to-do families accept money and gifts to go on dates with men that often end with sexual activity.

“We were fascinated by the notion that young affluent girls in Tokyo would participate in enj?-kosai and we wanted to develop a film that explored the relational pressures and societal values that seem to motivate this sort of behavior,” said Brent Green, director and co-producer. “Our hope is that this film will encourage its audience to take a step back and re-evaluate the various forces in their lives that they may be allowing to determine their own self-worth.”

Green co-founded Toy Gun Films with Jeff Goldberg, who wrote and co-produced “Paper Flower.” Headquartered in Oklahoma City with an office in Los Angeles, their nonprofit company aims to make entertaining films that showcase and champion moral courage.

The duo’s 2010 project, “En Tus Manos,” shot on location in Colombia, won best short awards from the Beverly Hills Film Festival and the Los Angeles International Film Festival. Works in development are slated to be lensed in Africa and Russia.