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Los Angeles hosts annual showcase featuring extensive array of work from contemporary and veteran film-makers

The annual celebration of Iranian cinema run by the University of California, Los Angeles, is a vital occasion for two dynamic and overlapping constituencies: cinephiles and Iranians in Los Angeles. The festival's screenings routinely draw large audiences, eager to see films from a nation distinguished by its rich and sustained contribution to world cinema. This year's programme underscored the depth and diversity of cinematic voices in Iranian life.

In recent years, the archive has expanded the scope to include older films, working with Iran's national film archive and exiled filmmakers such as Parviz Sayyad to present seminal works such as The Lor Girl (Dokhtar-e Lor; 1933), directed by Ardeshir Irani; Masoud Kimiai's Caesar (Qaisar; 1969); and Sayyad's own Dead End (Bon Bast; 1977). This year, the festival began with a screening of Bahram Beyzaie's first feature film,...

Glenn here winding down with the Melbourne Film Festival coverage. For whatever reason, Miff’s selection of queer films is never particularly large. I wasn’t able to attend the AIDS documentary How to Survive a Plague, although I’ve heard it’s a powerful experience, but I did get along to Ira Sachs’ Keep the Lights On that follows a nine-year relationship between a Danish documentary filmmaker (Thure Lindhardt, Into the Wild) and a lawyer (Zachary Booth, Damages, Dark Horse) in New York City. I know Nathaniel’s not a fan (and I can certainly see why as there are problematic areas), but it’s rare for a “gay film” to find a positive foothold in the critical community so that made it a veritable must see.

There’s a moment when Lindhardt’s Erik passes a graffiti sign that reads “Fake Your Beauty”, which is actually a good...

Facing Mirrors

Directed by Negar Azarbayjani

Written by Negar Azarbayjani and Fereshteh Taerpoor

Iran, 2011

For time immemorial, Iran has been synonymous for many things – most of them pejorative, none of which has to do with cinema. However, Iran’s cinematic reputation has reached a prestige that was hitherto unprecedented in 2011, with films like Circumstance winning the Audience Award at the Sundance Film Festival and A Separation winning the Best Foreign Language Film at the Oscars. Negar Azarbayjani’s Facing Mirrors, which tells the story of a gender-transitioning woman in Tehran, further cements 2011 as Iran’s golden age of cinema by creating a film of visceral and emotionally stirring gravitas.

The film is about two people; each with their individual stories. Firstly we have Adineh (Shayesteh Irani), a transgendered man living with his despotic father and his acquiescent brother. Adineh (whom prefers being called Eddie) is desperate to go to Germany...