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.
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. 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. 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.”
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”. 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. 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.
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.
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. 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. 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.
On the other hand, Dr. Bahram Mir-Jalali says that he describes to the patient all the woes and scary facts and the many complications that could happen during or after the surgery and sex-change and basically calls it the gate of hell – or at least the road leading to it, leaving no room for suspicion for anyone about going ahead with the operation. He also says that no man, even if gay, would go any further, and that all of these questionable cases run off after his second or third statement, usually saying “I do not want to Mutilate my body” or “I would never want to go through such a thing, I’d rather stay how I am” so it was unheard for him of anyone he operated on regretting the surgery afterwards. Dr Mir-Jalili adds, “but with transsexual women, they’ll listen to all this scary information and still say this is what I want and I can handle this and that this is nothing compared to what we’ve been through and what we’re going through in society and in life.
Link : Official Site of the Documentary “Be Like Others”
Link : BBC news article about the documentary (“Iran’s Diagnosed Transsexual”)
Link : Download the Documentary Film with english subtitles using Bit-torrent
Source: Wikipedia “Be Like Others” page
This film was fantastic! I really think it important to see how other cultures AND people of alternative lifestyles face difficulty. I am an American, who is NOT gay and NOT transsexual. I just feel responsible to educate myself rather than listen to mere opinion, which has no basis in real experience. American culture, like all others, is so fearful of other cultures. Rumors about practices start and are spread by ignorant people to other ignorant people. We are left with a large group of people who still know nothing, but are quick to judge and condemn the myth. Truly, my heart was moved and broken by the position of danger that the Iranian Government places homosexuals in! Death??? My heart was really bleading, especially for Ali “Negar” Askar who is so beautiful as a woman, but who will never know the love of her family again, and just as tragic… Has given up on being loved by a man in her future, because of this forced pain from the judgements of the ignorant. Tell her that an American man sends his love and prayers to her aid and for her future peace. Don’t give up Negar! You were created by a God who loves you and wants you to have love and respect in your life. But you MUST start to respect yourself too. Please tell Negar to feel free to contact me at:keithaharris44@yahoo.com for friendship, encoluragement and understanding. I want nothing in return, but for her to know that not ALL Americans, or Eurpeans or even Iranians are hateful because of her differences. I truly believe that God wants her to know this! Sincerely, Keith A Harris, USA
Comment by Keith Harris — 23/06/2009 @ 12:10 PM