Frameline Tackles Transphobia in Iran
By Laura Rena Murray Tue., Jun. 19 2012 at 4:55 PM
http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2012/06/frameline_tackles_transphobia.phpLast night, the Frameline Film Festival packed the Castro Theatre. An Iranian film, Facing Mirrors, debuted that evening -- the first Iranian film to portray a transgender protagonist.
Facing Mirrors follows the story of two characters, Rana and Eddie, who meet by chance as the latter is fending off two attackers. Secretly working as a taxi driver to free her indebted husband from jail, Rana agrees to transport Eddie to a hideout after rescuing him from the road.
Under the impression that Eddie is female, only during the long ride does Rana discover that Eddie is on the run from his father, who intends to force him into a marriage with his cousin. As Eddie awaits his passport, one that will allow him to escape to Germany for female-to-male reassignment surgery, Rana and Eddie forge a friendship that ultimately sets both characters free.
Facing Mirrors has won many films in Iran, where gender-reassignment surgery is legal but being gay is illegal.
