Middle Sexes: Redefining He and She (2005) (TV)

Director:

Antony Thomas

Writer:

Antony Thomas

Release Date:

May 2005 (UK)

Genre:

Documentary

Plot:

Examines the diversity of human sexual and gender variance around the globe, with commentary by scientific experts and first-hand accounts of people who do not conform to a simple male/female binary. |

Plot Keywords:

Gender | Devotional | Interracial Relationship | Gender Transition | Animal

Awards:

2 nominations

Cast

Gore Vidal	...	Narrator (voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Calpernia Addams	...	Herself
Beth Aynsley	...	Character Voiceover
Max Beck	...	Himself
Tamara Beck	...	Herself
Milton Diamond	...	Himself - University of Hawaii (as Prof Milton Diamond)
Alice Dreger	...	Herself - Michigan State University (as Prof Alice Dreger)
Anne Fausto-Sterling	...	Herself - Brown University (as Prof Anne Fausto-Sterling)
Louis Gooren	...	Himself - Free University Hospital Amsterdam (as Prof Louis Gooren)
Sylvia Guerrero	...	Herself
Andrea James	...	Herself
Shivananda Khan	...	Himself - Naz Foundation International (as Shivananda Khan OBE)
Luke	...	Himself - Noah's Older Brother
Michelle	...	Herself - Noah's Mother
Mike	...	Himself - Noah's Step-Father
Noah	...	Himself
James Pfaus	...	Himself - Concordia University Montreal (as Dr James Pfaus)
Richard	...	Himself - Noah's Father
Joan Roughgarden	...	Herself - Stanford University (as Dr Joan Roughgarden)
A.W. Richard Sipe	...	Himself (as Prof A.W. Richard Sipe)
Gloria Wekker	...	Herself - University of Utrecht (as Dr Gloria Wekker)
Sam Winter	...	Himself - University of Hong Kong (as Prof Sam Winter)
Lester Wright	...	Himself - Western Michigan University (as Dr Lester Wright)

Directed by
Antony Thomas

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Antony Thomas

Produced by
Nancy Abraham	....	supervising producer: Home Box Office
Carleen L. Hsu	....	producer (as Carleen Ling-an Hsu)
Liz McLeod	....	executive producer: Granada Television
Sheila Nevins	....	executive producer: Home Box Office
Antony Thomas	....	producer
Alexander Ward	....	associate producer (as Alex Ward)

Original Music by
Dimitri Tchamouroff

Cinematography by
Jonathan Partridge		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
McDonald Brown

Production Management
Ruth Cody	....	production manager

Sound Department
Simon Farmer	....	sound recordist
Ed Novek	....	additional sound
John Valadez	....	additional sound
Tim Wheeler	....	dubbing mixer

Camera and Electrical Department
Jack Cochran	....	additional photography
Elia Lyssy	....	additional photography
Dirk Nel	....	additional photography
Brian Robertshaw	....	gaffer

Editorial Department
Aidan Farrell	....	colorist
Ian Goff	....	on-line editor
Anna Ksiezopolska	....	additional editor
Scott Thomas	....	on-line editor

Other crew
Rebecca Auld	....	production coordinator
Stephanie Burke	....	production coordinator
Gavin Hill	....	location co-ordinator: Thailand
Shernaz Italia	....	location co-ordinator: India
Ben Johnston	....	production runner
Freny Khodaiji	....	location co-ordinator: India
Elizabeth Klinck	....	researcher
Chandra Van Binnendijk	....	location co-ordinator: Suriname
Eddy Van der Hilst	....	location co-ordinator: Suriname

Production Companies

• Deep Stealth Productions
• Granada Films
• Granada Television (as A Home Box Office/Granada Television Production)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (as A Home Box Office/Granada Television Production)

Distributors

• Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (CBC) (2005) (Canada) (TV)
• Channel 4 Television Corporation (2005) (UK) (TV)
• HBO Documentary Films (2005) (USA) (TV)
• Home Box Office (HBO) (2005) (USA) (TV)

Other Companies

• Cha Cha Cha Restaurant  with thanks to
• Havering Mayesbrook Athletic Club  with thanks to
• National Geographic Television & Film Library  archive (as National Geographic TV & Film Library)
• Oxford Scientific (OSF)  archive

Runtime:

54 min | USA:74 min (DVD version)

Country:

USA | UK

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

USA:TV-MA

Filming Locations:

Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Deep Stealth Productions

No matter how much you know, you'll learn something

This short documentary packs a lot of exhaustive research and information on differing sexuality, tolerance and intolerance around the world. The documentarians literally went around the world and interviewed everyone from "ladieboys" in Thailand to gay boys and men in intolerant India. It explores the fascination the repressed, so-called "modern" West has with the acceptance of the transgendered in the socially more advanced Eastern cultures, and even interviews Dutch physicians who undertook a long, in-depth study of the differing brain structures of men, woman, transsexual men and women, and all the variations, proving an actual physical difference in the brain structures depending on the individual's sexual preference: a study our "advanced" Western culture never bothered to undertake.

The documentary is fascinating and at times a very painful study, as it also shows how much people are made to suffer by their society (up to and including murder), because of a sexuality they were born with.

No matter how much you think you understand human sexuality, you will learn something you didn't know before. You may even find yourself losing some of your prejudices and discomfort with others' sexual identities. A documentary that should have been made 30 years ago, if the American public could have handled it.