When 18-year-old South African runner Caster Semenya burst onto the world stage in 2009, her championship was not celebrated, but marred by doubt, her personal medical records leaked to the international media - the public scrutiny of her body, driven by racism and sexism, questioning the most fundamental right of who she is, a great champion. The International Amateur Athletics Federation (now World Athletics) then ruled that targeted female athletes must medically alter their healthy bodies in order to compete. Their naturally high androgen level - deemed a performance advantage. Category: Woman focuses on four remarkable athletes, from the Global South, forced out of competition by these regulations, the devastation to their bodies, and their lives. Equally arresting is their passion for sport is further emboldened by their conviction to stand up for their human rights. Category: Woman is a champion’s journey supported by remarkable advocates and experts who celebrate greatness in the face of oppression. Following her award-winning film Toxic Beauty, filmmaker and Olympian Phyllis Ellis exposes an industry controlled by men putting women’s lives at risk while the policing of women’s bodies in sport remains, in a more nefarious way, under the guise of fair play. Director Phyllis Ellis Writer Phyllis Ellis Director of Photography: Iris Ng Editor Eugene Weis Composer Aaron Davis, tUkU Producers Phyllis Ellis, Howard Fraiberg Executive Producers Howard Fraiberg, Cheryl Staurulakis

Link: www.categorywomandoc.com