What is a female? What is a male? What or who determines whether you are one or the other? Can you be both or neither? And does it even matter? WHO I AM NOT follows two intersex South Africans who were born with bodies that are not typically female or male. Sharon Rose (she/her) is a beauty queen, and although she is officially recognized as one of South Africa’s most beautiful women, she still struggles to understand how could she be born with male genetics. She finds support in Dimakatso (they/them), a male-presenting intersex activist who also struggles with gender dysphoria and to understand what they really are. An important and moving film, and one of the very few about the approximately two percent of the world’s population defined as intersex.

WHO I AM NOT is my debut documentary. My intention with this film is to invite the audience to become both witness and participant to what it is like to live inside the skin of an intersex person. Who I Am Not is born out of a long research period, during which I worked with people living different intersex experiences. They took the risk to embark with me on a challenging, emotional journey. Sharon (she/her) was among the first openly out intersex people I ever met, and we immediately bonded. She was ready to share with the world the most vulnerable parts of her life. Dimakatso’s (they/them) mission was to give a voice to the almost 150 million people
worldwide born with intersex traits. When I asked them why they trusted me to tell their story, they answered: “The intersex community is not limited to South Africa. It has many colors and nationalities. This is beyond male-female, black-white, rich-poor divide. The film you are making is about all of us, and I hope it will help others understand that we are one." "Sharon, Dimakatso, and I spent the past four years working together to develop our shared voice, giving Who I Am Not a unique collaborative quality. I felt that it was not fair to just observe my characters. I had to offer them something in return for their trust. I introduced group therapy, psychodrama, acting, and even dream interpretation techniques in our work. That strengthened our relationship, helped build their self-confidence, and gave the joint work a meaning for them, as well. These exercises also inspired the visual world of the film. The form became as important as the content. The final result became a film with a unique cinematic style, that will hopefully inspire the audiences to re-learn how to connect with other human beings without prejudice, re-evaluate their perspective on sex and gender, and embrace all facets of the human condition.