"NYFF Docs Illuminate Gotham’s Hidden Byways" - Addie Morfoot
When Tania Cypriano began filming Jess Ting, MD, surgical director of Mount Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery in 2017, he was one of only 40 surgeons in the United States who performed gender-confirming surgery. “A lot of films about the trans experience have been made, but I wanted to make something new, that would speak to a larger audience,” says Cypriano, whose documentary is entitled “Born to Be.” Cypriano added, “Dr. Ting and a handful of his patients allowed the director to film their surgeries. We pitched the president of Mount Sinai, David Reich. He looked at the documentary as an opportunity to show the public what Dr. Ting and his team were doing.”
— David L. Reich, MD, President, Chief Operating Officer, The Mount Sinai Hospital, Mount Sinai Queens
— Jess Ting, MD, Surgical Director, Mount Sinai’s Center for Transgender Medicine and Surgery, Assistant Professor, Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai