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Directed by Tanaz Eshaghian
In Iran, where religion is law, people are not allowed to disrupt the ‘social order’. Women are denied many rights we take for granted, homosexuality is still punishable by death and people’s movements are continually monitored – with enforcement coming from both the police and much of the general population it seems. Yet because the Koran does not officially say that having a sex change operation is a sin (a bit of a loophole as it probably didn’t exist when the tome was written), Iran now has a generation of young men undergoing sex change surgery because it legally allows them to have relationships with men. Iranian-American filmmaker Tanaz Eshaghian takes us deeper and deeper into the convoluted logic that pushes young men to be ‘reborn’.
Eshaghian accompanies several young men as they undertake the transformation in pursuit of ‘a decent life’ and they allow the cameras to record intimate details of their lives before and after the surgery. The doctor at the Tehran medical facility helps arrange government funding and promises candidates that ‘attracting men will be easier’ as Iranian women are becoming less amenable to household duties. As we get to know the young men, we begin to reflect on the ethics and the human impact of a society forcing young men to make a choice that they otherwise would never make. The film is on Farsi with subtitles, but the body language of the characters speaks the loudest.
Be Like Others is just one of the must see films in the Pride International Film Festival that runs from 1-12 October at Cinema Paradiso, Northbridge. Get tickets at www.lunapalace.com.au and see www.pridewa.asn.au for film details.
Lezly Herbert
