Be Like Others

Infobox Film
name = Be Like Others


image_size =
caption = Screenshot of Anoosh/Anahita
director = Tanaz Eshaghian
producer = Tanaz Eshaghian
Christoph Jorgcite web
last = Brunette
first = Peter
title = Be Like Others
publisher = Screen Daily
date = 2008-02-11
url = http://www.screendaily.com/ScreenDailyArticle.aspx?intStoryID=37242
accessdate =2008-03-01 ]
writer = Tanaz Eshaghian
narrator =
starring =
music =
cinematography = Amir Hosseini
editing = Jay Freund [Citation
title = Be Like Others Production Credits
newspaper = New York Times
year = 2008
url = http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/452017/Be-Like-Others/credits
accessdate=2008-03-01]
distributor = Wolfe Video
released = January 19 2008 (Sundance Film Festival)
runtime = 74 mins.
country = Canada
Iran
United Kingdom
United States
language = Persian
budget =
gross =
preceded_by =
followed_by =
website = http://www.belikeothers.com/
amg_id = 1:426693
imdb_id = 1157609

"Be Like Others" (also known as "Transsexual in Iran") is a 2008 documentary film written and directed by Tanaz Eshaghian about transsexuals in Iran. It explores issues of gender and sexuality while following the personal stories of some of the patients at a Tehran clinic. The film played at the Sundance Film Festival and the Berlin International Film Festival, winning three awards.

Overview

Although homosexual relationships are illegal (punishable by death) in Iran, sex reassignment operations are permitted. In 1983, spiritual leader Ayatollah Khomeini passed a fatwa allowing sex-change operations as a cure for "diagnosed transsexuals".cite news
last = Barford
first = Vanessa
title = Iran's 'diagnosed transsexuals'
publisher = BBC
date = 2008-02-25
url = http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/middle_east/7259057.stm
accessdate =2008-03-01 ] "Be Like Others" shows the experiences of male and female patients at Dr. Bahram Mir-Jalali's Mirdamad Surgical Centre, a sex-reassignment clinic in Tehran.cite journal
last = Blizek
first = William L.
coauthors =Ruby Ramji
title = Report from Sundance 2008: Religion in Independent Film
journal = Journal of Religion and Film
volume = 12
issue = 1
date = April 2008
url = http://www.unomaha.edu/jrf/vol12no1/sundance_2008.htm#be
accessdate =2008-03-01 ] One of them is Ali Askar, a 24 year-old man who faces harassment from other men due to his feminine appearance and behaviour. He does not want to become a woman but sees no other options for him in Iranian society. He decides to go ahead with the surgery despite death threats from his father and finds support from Vida, a post-operative transsexual he meets at the clinic. By the end of the film, Ali has become a woman named Negar. She has been disowned by her family, experienced depression and has had to work as a prostitute. 20 year-old Anoosh is another young man who has been ostracised due to his femininity. His boyfriend feels more comfortable when Anoosh dresses as a woman, and in contrast to Ali, Anoosh's mother is supportive of his desire to change sex. The end of the film shows Anoosh — now Anahita — happy and engaged to her boyfriend.Citation
last = Koehler
first = Robert
title = Be Like Others Review
newspaper = Variety
date = 2008-01-31
url =http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2478&reviewid=VE1117936019
accessdate=2008-03-01 ]

Throughout the film, the patients of the sex-reassignment clinic assert that they are not homosexual, seeing homosexuality as something that is shameful and immoral. Eshaghian's opinion is that this shame is the driving force behind so many Iranians deciding to change their sex. She says that identifying as transsexual rather than homosexual allows them to live free from harassment.

Production

Eshaghian, an Iranian American film-maker, got the idea for "Be Like Others" after reading a 2004 "New York Times" article about sex-change operations happening in Iran and being surprised that such an operation would be acceptable in a Muslim country.cite web
title = Interview with Tanaz Eshaghian
publisher = The British Documentary Website
date = 2007-12-15
url = http://www.dfgdocs.com/Resources/Articles/102.aspx
accessdate =2008-03-05 ] She wrote a proposal for a film and tried to find funding, but was unsuccessful. She contacted a British journalist who had written on the subject and he gave her telephone numbers for Dr. Bahram Mir-Jalali and the Muslim cleric featured in the film.cite web
title = Be Like Others - Sundance Film Festival
publisher = FilmCatcher.com
url = http://www.filmcatcher.com/festivals/Sundance_Film_Festival/day_1/65/
accessdate =2008-03-05 ] To find subjects, she visited the predominant sex-reassignment clinic in Iran, and spent time in the waiting-room talking to patients and their families.cite web
last = Ellison
first = Jesse
title = ‘Be Like Others’ Director Tanaz Eshaghian on Sundance, Sex Changes, and the Ayatollah
work = New York
date = 2008-01-24
url = http://nymag.com/daily/entertainment/2008/01/be_like_others_director_tanaz.html
accessdate =2008-03-01 ] She found that female-to-male transsexuals were generally very successful in living as their new gender and as a result were reluctant to take part in the documentary for fear of being "outed" as transsexual. She felt that the contrasting stories of Ali and Anoosh highlighted the importance of family bonds in Iranian society.cite web
title = Tanaz Eshaghian, Be Like Others
work = The Reeler
date = 2008-01-20
url = http://www.thereeler.com/sundance_features/tanaz_eshaghian_be_like_others.php
accessdate =2008-03-01 ] At a question and answer session at the Sundance Film Festival, Eshaghian said that one of the men she met while filming decided to live as a gay man rather than become a woman, and that she is now trying to help him leave Iran. [cite web
last = Ferber
first = Lawrence
title = Sundance Gay Film Dispatch 3: Homos Away from Home, Craig Lucas, and shoes
publisher = AfterElton.com
date = 2008-01-28
url = http://www.afterelton.com/taxonomy/term/2441
accessdate =2008-03-01 ]

Distribution and reception

In 2008, "Be Like Others" was screened at the Sundance Film Festival, where it was nominated for the Grand Jury Prize and the Berlin International Film Festival where it won three Teddy Awards; the Amnesty International Film Prize - Special Mention, Reader Jury of the "Siegessäule" and the Jury Award. [cite web
last = Levy
first = Emanuel
authorlink = Emanuel Levy
title = Berlin Film Fest 2008: Complete List of Winners in All Sections
date = 2008
url = http://www.emanuellevy.com/article.php?articleID=8872
accessdate = 2008-03-01] The film was shown on BBC television as "Transsexual in Iran" in February 2008.It is due to be screened at the Seattle International Film Festival in June 2008. [cite web
title = Films & Events - Be Like Others
publisher = Seattle International Film Festival
url = http://www.siff.net/festival/film/detail.aspx?id=27270&FID=64
accessdate =2008-05-17 ] Writing for "Variety", Robert Koehler called "Be Like Others" "a powerful window into a once-hidden side of the country" and "a model of non-dogmatic filmmaking on a highly charged topic."

ee also

*LGBT rights in Iran
*Transsexuality in Iran

References

External links

* [http://www.belikeothers.com/ Official site]
*imdb title|1157609