Coming to virtual cinemas today, Wednesday, November 18:
BORN TO BE
Director:
Tania Cypriano
World Premiere:
New York Film Festival 2019
Select Festivals:
Docaviv, Hamptons, Palm Springs, Hong Kong, Melbourne, Sarasota, Cleveland, Nashville, Cinequest, Seattle Asian American
About:
A portrait of a physician who specializes in gender transition surgery and his patients at Mt Sinai.
Dr Jess Ting heads up Mt Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in New York City, but, as he explains early in Tania Cypriano’s affecting film, just a few years ago, he wasn’t even sure he understood what “transgender” meant. He quickly began to learn, drawing on the expertise of visiting surgeons like Dr Marci Bowers, and, in turn, mentoring a new fellow through the course of the film, pointing to the growing need of this specialization in the field – made clear as Dr Ting’s patients contend with months-long waiting lists for consultations, despite a growing staff. While following the unassuming, sympathetic doctor through his work, the filmmaker introduces several of his patients, each reflecting the significance these kinds of surgeries can have for their overall well-being, and providing a welcome humanization rather than a clinical focus on the medical procedures themselves.
