By Ben Martin
October 19, 2012
ThirdCoast Digest
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the Iranian made Facing Mirrors is that the film was ever produced in the first place. Iran is a country known for stringent government censorship, so it came as quite a surprise to see a sympathetic film about a transsexual come out of such a seemingly intolerant country. I pictured something like Leni Riefenstahl directing Schindler’s List, but this film does not speak through the mouth of the oppressor – it speaks to it.
The film opens on Rana (played by Qazal Shakeri) a sheltered young mother who, after her husbands imprisonment, has been forced to defy social norms and take a job as a cab driver. First time director Negar Azarbayjani immediately draws attention to the oppressive nature of Iran’s social norms—no matter what the situation, a woman should not work. Her place is in the home.
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