Be Like Others

In the Islamic Republic of Iran, a country with strict social mores and traditional values, gender-affirming operation is legal. Over twenty years ago, Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa (religious edict) making gender transition permissible for “diagnosed transgenders.” Yet same-gender sexual orientation is still punishable by death. Highly feminine and attracted to members of the same sex, yet forced to live in secret for fear of retribution, a generation of young Iranian men are adopting an identity legally allowed to them– transgender. In pursuit of what one man calls simply, “a decent life,” they flock to the country’s best-established gender-affirming surgeon, Dr. Bahram Mir Jalali, and are counseled by 24-year-old Vida, a post-op woman who claims to be “reborn” but warns of dangers that still await. Be Like Others is a fascinating look at those on the fringes of Iranian life – those looking for acceptance through the most radical of means.

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Direction: Tanaz Eshaghian

Script: Tanaz Eshaghian

Cinematography: Amir Ηosseini

Editing: Jay Freund

Sound: Bill Lacey

Music: Ηenning Lohrner

Production: Forties B, Necessary Illusions Productions

Producers: Tanaz Eshaghian, Christoph Jörg

Co-production: ITVS International, BBC

Co-producers: Alexandra Kerry, Andrew Orr, Paul Rozenberg, Peter Wintonick, Ilan Ziv

Executive producer: Richard Shaw, Sally Jo Fifer

Format: HD

Color: Color

Production Country: Canada, USA, UΚ, Iran

Production Year: 2008

Duration: 74'

Contact: PBS Distribution

Awards/Distinctions: Special Jury Prize – Berlin IFF 2008, FIPRESCI Award – Thessaloniki International Documentary Festival 2008

Tanaz Eshaghian

Filmography

2001 Ι Call Myself Persian (short, co-direction)
2006 Love Iranian-American Style
2008 Be Like Others
2011 Love Crimes of Kabul
2018 The Last Refugees (short)
2022 As Far As They Can Run (short)