Born to Be Human
| Born to Be Human | |
|---|---|
| Chinese | 生而為人 |
| Directed by | Lily Ni |
| Written by | Lily Ni |
| Based on | An autobiographical account by the director |
| Produced by |
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| Starring |
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| Cinematography | Po-Hsiung Huang |
| Edited by | Yi-Men Tu |
| Music by |
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Release date |
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Running time | 105 minutes |
| Country | Taiwan |
| Language | Mandarin |
Born to Be Human (Chinese: 生而為人; pinyin: Shēng ér wéi rén) is a 2021 Taiwanese drama film with LGBTQ+ themes, written and directed by Lily Ni. The film follows the story of an adolescent intersex boy, Shi-Nan, and explores themes of medical violence and gender identity. For her performance in the lead role, Ling-Wei Lee won the Yakushi Pearl Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021, where the film premiered.
Plot
Shi-Nan appears to be an ordinary 14-year-old—he plays video games obsessively and bristles when his mother calls for him while he's masturbating. His life shatters when severe abdominal pain strikes, followed by blood in his urine. Initially dismissed as an infection, medical tests later reveal Shi-Nan has a disorder of sex development: he is intersex, with outwardly male anatomy but internal female reproductive organs (including ovaries and a uterus), a condition that remained undetected until that point.[1][2][3]
Under pressure from the doctor and social stigma, Shi-Nan's parents consent to irreversible genital surgery without his informed consent, intending to "normalize" his body to match his XX chromosomes. When Shi-Nan awakens from the procedure, he finds himself forcibly redesignated as female and renamed Shi-Lan. The film traces his traumatic struggle to reconcile societal expectations with his own fractured sense of self, exposing the harms of non-consensual intersex medical interventions.[1][2][3]
Cast
- Ling-Wei Lee as Shi-Nan/Shi-Lan (credited as Lily Lee)
- Vera Chen as Chen Jie
- Chao-te Yin as Lee Pei-Rui (credited as Yin Jau Der)
- Yao-Jen Chang as PE teacher
- Yang Chen as Hsu Jui
- Cheng-Mei Chuang as Hsu Tien (credited as Mu Mei)
- Alice Lee as Dr. Lee's mom
- Hsing-Wen Li as Yang Guo-Ying
- Zi-Cheng Li as Old school bully
- Bonnie Liang as Chang Tian-Qi
- Yu-Hsien Lin as Ko Hao (credited as Mo-Cheng Lin)
- Hsiao-yuan Wang as Liu Cho-Sung
- Frances Wu as Ku Shu-Chuan
- Chung-Min Yin as Wang Wei
Reception
Lily Ni won the Yakushi Pearl Award at the Osaka Asian Film Festival for her role in the film.[4]
References
- ^ a b Shih, Jamin (2021-03-25). "Review: Taiwanese Movie "Born to Be Human" Interrogates Medical Violence Against Intersex Individuals". Cinema Escapist. Retrieved 2025-03-25.
- ^ a b Lukanov, Martin (2021-03-15). "Film Review: Born to be Human (2021) by Lily Ni". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ a b Lukanov, Martin (2021-11-22). "Interview with Lily Ni: We Are All Just Human Beings". Asian Movie Pulse. Retrieved 2025-03-26.
- ^ "Osaka Asian Film Festival 2021 List of awards".
External links
- Born to Be Human at IMDb
- Born to Be Human at Box Office Mojo
- Born to Be Human at Rotten Tomatoes
- Born to Be Human on YouTube (full movie with English subs)