OWN Slates Chaz Bono Doc

LOS ANGELES: OWN has made a trio of acquisitions for its Documentary Film Club, including a project centered on Chaz Bono.

Becoming Chaz is the story of Chaz Bono’s emotional and physical transition from a woman to a man. Having grown up as Chastitiy, the only child of pop culture icons Sonny and Cher, Bono has documented his journey with under going sex reassignment surgery. The doc is distributed by Passion Distribution.

"Chaz is someone who has risked everything to become himself. But whatever he might have lost, he has gained far more,” said Randy Barbato, director/producer for World of Wonder Productions. “It takes great courage and strength to go against other people’s expectations of us in order to be true to ourselves," added Fenton Bailey, also director/producer for World of Wonder Productions.

Also scoring a slot on OWN, No Woman, No Cry marks Christy Turlington Burns’ directorial debut. The project tells the stories of pregnant women and their caregivers in four countries as they try to avoid becoming maternal mortality statistics.

“No Woman, No Cry captures the fragility of motherhood and illuminates the vulnerabilities of women at this critical juncture in their lives,” said Turlington Burns. “We believe that OWN is the ideal network to air our film.”

Louder Than a Bomb is the story of four Chicago high-school poetry teams as they prepare to compete for the world’s largest youth slam poetry contest. This film is from Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel, Siskel/Jacobs Productions.

"We are thrilled and honored that Louder Than a Bomb has been chosen for the OWN Documentary Club. OWN’s respect for stories that are at once entertaining and inspiring makes the Documentary Club the perfect home for our film," said Greg Jacobs and Jon Siskel, co-director/producers for Louder Than a Bomb.

“We are proud to present this heartfelt and honest portrayal of Chaz’s personal transformation to our viewers,” said Lisa Erspamer, the chief creative officer at OWN. “These courageous documentaries engage conversation and we are pleased to have them join OWN.”