Film produced by local woman

‘Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She’ Warwick — The film “Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She” will premier on HBO at 9:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 6, and be re-broadcast throughout December. A co-production of HBO and Granada Television, the film was produced by Carleen Hsu of Warwick, and written, directed and produced by Anthony Thomas. “Middle Sexes” explores the controversial subject of the blurring of gender, as well as the social and family problems - even dangers - often faced by those whose gender may fall somewhere between male and female. Narrated by noted author Gore Vidal, and filmed in the United States, Europe, Asia, and South America, the film examines the ways in which different societies and cultures handle the blurring of gender, sexual identity, and sexual orientation. The film considers the entire spectrum of sexual behavior, personal identity and lifestyles among people of different backgrounds and cultures. Comments from the scientific and academic communities include interviews with anthropologists and psychologists who offer ground-breaking research on the biological and cultural influences on gender identity and sexuality. Researchers cite examples from the natural world, where species display a wide range of sexual variation, and point out that humans show more diversity than the strict male-female dichotomy. About one in every 100 people is born with anatomically ambiguous genitalia; these individuals, formerly called hermaphroditic, are now known as “intersex.” Other research reveals biological explanations for differences in sexual identity. At the Dutch Institute for Brain Research, Prof. Louis Gooren found that tiny clusters of nerve cells in the brain structure of male-to-female transsexuals were more like a female structure; likewise, in female-to-male transsexuals, they were more like a male structure. This, he says, “explains that the brains of transsexuals have not developed in agreement with their genitalia. Airs on HBO in December Among other experts featured are: Dr. James Pfaus from Concordia University in Montreal; Prof. Alice Dreger from Michigan State University; Prof. Louis Gooren from Free University Hospital in Amsterdam; Dr. Joan Roughgarden from Stanford University; Prof. Anne Fausto-Sterling from Brown University; Prof. A.W. Richard Sipe; Prof. Milton Diamond from University of Hawaii; Shivananda Khan, O.B.E., from Naz Foundation International; Prof. Sam Winter from University of Hong Kong; Dr. Gloria Wekker from University of Utrecht; and Dr. Lester Wright from Western Michigan University. Interviews with transgender, transsexual, transvestite, intersexual and bisexual men and women, along with their partners and families, offers thought-provoking personal experiences. The filmmaker interweaves the scientific findings with personal stories: From the U.S.: 8-year-old Noah, who gets teased for acting like a girl; Calpernia, a transgender woman whose boyfriend was killed when her true identity was revealed; and Max, an intersex male who was raised female for most of his life; From India: Veejay, secretly married to a male partner while maintaining a “normal” heterosexual marriage; and Nandini, who undergoes a sex change operation as part of an ancient religious ritual; From Thailand: Go, who, though born male, is a successful actress and model, and Kui, a transsexual who met her western boyfriend on the internet; From Suriname: Elli, who lives in a culture where sexual orientation is seen as fluid and has had a non-stigmatized 20-year relationship with her female partner.