Courtesy of TwoSpirits.org.

“Two Spirits” tells the story of Fred Martinez, a Navajo boy who was nádleehí, or male-bodied person with a feminine spirit, according to the Advocate.com.

Filmmaker Lydia Nibley helped spread the word about the film, which she said the film has helped people talk about gender in a different, more enlightened way.

The film interweaves the tragic story of a mother’s loss along with Native American cultural traditions that once held places of honor for people of integrated genders. Being nádleehí was, in ancient Navajo culture, a special gift but in modern culture Martinez was not honored. . .

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The film, which aired on PBS’s Independent Lens, was screened 1,495 times across 140 stations for 19 days in June. It broke all records for audience engagement in the history of Independent Lens and it received the audience award as the highest-rated film of the 2010-11 season by online voting and other measures of audience support, according to PBS.

To order a copy of the film, go to TwoSpirits.org.

Jenna Cederberg