“Facing Mirrors” to receive IFFA award in Tehran

TEHRAN,Jan.16(MNA) -- “Facing Mirrors”, an Iranian film on the transgender issue, will receive an award from the 2nd Iranian Film Festival Australia during a special ceremony in Tehran in the near future. The Pomegranate Audience Award will be brought to Iran by IFFA co-director Anne Démy-Geroe, producer Fershteh Taerpur said in a press release on Monday. However, no dates were mentioned for the ceremony or Démy-Geroe’s arrival to Tehran. “Facing Mirrors” won the award last October. Directed by Negar Azarbaijani, the film is about Rana, a conservative young mother, who has been secretly driving a cab to support her family since her husband went to jail. When she picks up Adineh, a young woman from a wealthy family who is fleeing an arranged marriage and the country for a transgender operation, it’s a clash of class and belief systems, but an unlikely alliance forms. Some of Tehran’s theaters are currently screening the film. “The Pomegranate Audience Award rightly went to Facing Mirrors which was very pleasing to me,” Démy-Geroe previously said. “We are delighted that this important film was so warmly received by Australian audiences,” she added. “Each year we’re overwhelmed by the responses we receive from audiences and it gives us the motivation to keep showcasing the best of Iranian films to Australia,” she stated. The aim of IFFA directors, Démy-Geroe and Iranian-Australian filmmaker Armin Miladi, is to introduce Iranian culture to other Australians through cinema, proving better cultural understanding and tolerance.