2011 ‘آینه‌های روبرو’ Directed by Negar Azarbayjani
Rana has chosen a path in order to support her family, while Adineh (Eddie) has fled his home and city to escape his complicated situation as a transsexual man prevented from living as his true self by his family. They find themselves on the same journey and caused to know each other in a better way.
Aynehaye Rooberoo, Aynehaie Rooberoo
نمیتونم به یاد بیارم که فیلم دیگه‌ای با این موضوع تو سینمای ایران دیدم و یا حتی اسمی ازش شنیدم یا نه. توی آفساید هم شایسته ایرانی نقش مشابهی رو بازی کرده بود ولی خب اونجا روش تمرکز نشده بود و موضوع اصلی چیز دیگه‌ای بود. انتخاب موضوع به همین جهت برام جالب بود ولی خب برای فرهنگ سازی در این رابطه خیلی بیشتر از چند تا دیالوگ که شاید(و واقعا شاید) روی مخاطب تاثیر بذارن لازمه و قطعا با ساخت یه فیلم چیزی حل نمیشه که البته تلاش کارگردان برای ساخت فیلمی با این موضوع برام قابل احترامه.
Have you never been in love? Sadegh says being in love should be in your destiny. Suddenly, you see a person who is different from others.
This was so fucking good. Azarbayjani delivers a beautifully crafted story of two people exploring themselves through the presence of each other, reconciling ideologies, traditions.. forging a bond that transcends gendered notions of intimacy / connection and instead embodies a cautious, delicate, fluid reflexivity.
reminds you the sacrifices people make just to be themselves. How radical it is to listen to others
از حال و روزش بیشتر نمیگم
کل بعضیا قرار نیست بفهمن
پس چه فایده گفتن
بعضی وقتا باید رد شد و رفت
-برش، بهرام
بنظرم با فیلم تاثیرگذار ساختن تو این زمینه‌ها خیلی فاصله داریم هنوز، چیزی که مدام می‌بینم وتکرار می‌شه هچپونده‌شدن دیالوگا تو جاهای بی‌ربط و اصرار زیادی ورزیدن بر فلسفی کردن اون سکانس‌هاست
Watched in a World Cinema class.
This was actually fairly interesting. Obviously there's a political message, as the two characters are struggling with being people who Iranian society sees in a certain way.
There was something interesting about the cinematography, especially towards the 3rd act, that made it almost feel like a documentary.
The 3rd act is also super strong. Lots of drama and some really memorable moments.
This would certainly be mediocre if it came from the States, or Middle Europe. So shouldn't we judge it by those standards?
Nah. Context is what matters here and it matters a lot. Iran, it seems, is a country just as conflicted and contradictory as the characters shown here, and has always been. The basic challenges of gender as a personal issue are dealt through Eddie, and although precious, they are what you'd expect from a movie like this. It could be Rana that is the actual mirror of her country. Someone left to her own, with a deep passion for her husband but with a newfound independence – isn't that the face of change in modernity that none can…
It comes as a shock when watching Facing Mirrors to learn that sex reassignment surgery is a legal practice in Iran. In fact, the country’s government will even fund up to half of the operation’s cost. Under a fatwa from Ayatollah Ruholla Khomeini, Iran has become a country with the second-highest rate of sex reassignment in the world, after Thailand, and recognises a change of sex on the person’s birth certificate.
This revelation creates a fascinating contrast with the country’s civil rights record in other areas, particularly its treatment of women and LGBT people, who are still potentially subject to the death penalty under Shari’a law. Facing Mirrors, however, is content to explore this multi-faceted aspect of Iranian society through…
Facing Mirors, the first Iranian feature to deal with the "issue" of transsexualism, has been making waves on the queer festival circuit. It is a very translatable experience, intensified by the context of the country’s strict moral code and deep-rooted prejudices relating to sexuality, gender roles and family honour.
For much of its runtime, it’s a quiet two hander, Eddie (Shayesteh Irani) is waiting to collect his passport and flee to Germany to undergo reassignment surgery. In the meantime he is forced to exist as Adineh, under his birth gender, in hiding from his family who are trying to force him into a marriage with his cousin. He finds and unlikely saviour in Rana (Qazal Shakeri), a woman who has…
