POV Acquires ‘Who I Am Not,’ Documentary On Intersex Experience From Exec. Producer Patricia Arquette

deadline.com:

EXCLUSIVE: The public television series POV has acquired Who I Am Not, the award-winning documentary executive produced by Patricia Arquette that explores “what it means to be intersex in a binary world.” The film directed by Tünde Skovrán will make its broadcast debut this summer as part of POV’s 37th season on PBS.

POV, produced by American Documentary, is the longest-running show on American television devoted to independent documentary films. [Watch the Who I Am Not trailer below] Intersex people constitute an estimated 1.7 percent of the population, according to the Intersex Campaign for Equality, which the organization notes “makes being intersex about as common as having red hair (1%-2%).” Yet, intersex people have been largely invisible in most cultures.

Who I Am Not combats that invisibility by foregrounding the experience of two intersex people in South Africa, a beauty queen and a male-presenting activist.

The documentary “reveals the diversity of experiences in the intersex community and the struggle to achieve body autonomy,” notes a release from POV. “While Who I am Not‘s focus is on intersex experiences, it is set within the broader context of challenging binary gender norms, and urges society to embrace the full spectrum of human identity.” Who I Am Not implicitly asks a series of timely question: “What makes a male, and what makes a female in a world dominated by the gender binary?