"Namess Ba'geshem," directed by Doron Eran, is an Israeli movie shown in the U.S. as "Melting Away" (2012). The movie dramatizes the rejection and stigmatization of transsexuals, and the obstacles they face in simply trying to lead a normal existence.
Assaf is a transsexual teenager, whose parents discover his secret, and literally lock him out of his home. Assaf's father Schlomo (Ami Weinberg) is the perpetrator of this horrific act, but his mother Gayla (Limor Goldstein) is passively complicit.
Several years pass and Schlomo is diagnosed as having terminal cancer. Gayla hires a private detective to find Assaf, who has disappeared from their lives. The detective finds Assaf, but now she is the beautiful nightclub singer Anna. The plot revolves around the attempts at reconciliation among father, mother, and child as Schlomo's cancer progresses. (There's a secondary plot involving two of Anna's gay friends, and the attempt of one of them to inform his mother that he and his friend are a gay couple.)
The acting in this movie is excellent, although when Anna is on the screen, it's hard to notice anyone else. The actor portraying Anna is the extremely beautiful international model Hen Yanni. She has the strong features that characterize many models, so it's believable that Anna started life as a man.
However, the film might have been more interesting if director Eran had chosen a transsexual to play the role of Asaf/Anna. Hen Yanni is a serious actor, not just a beautiful one. Casting her in the starring role made artistic and commercial sense. Still, the movie would have been more compelling if the audience could have seen a true transsexual in the role.
We saw this film at the Little Theatre as part of the top-notch ImageOut--the Rochester LGBT Film and Video Festival.