Let's hear it for the girl: Corrie, one of the 5 Girls featured in the new P.O.V. documentary, talks about her bisexuality, activism, and having her high school self captured on video.

If Maria Finitzo's 5 Girls is any indication, girl power didn't end with the Spice Girls. Airing October 2 on PBS as part of its provocative P. O. V. documentary series, 5 Girls introduces us to a handful of diverse--and often inspiring--young women from Chicago.

"A lot of the time, traditional media will look at the ways girls fail," says Finitzo. "I wanted to look at the ways girls succeed. It's not that they don't have challenges or struggles in life, but girls are resilient and grow tip to be strong women."

Finitzo's five girls are Aisha, an achievement-oriented black Catholic schoolgirl balancing her emerging adulthood and a loving, overprotective father; Haibinh, a community leader pulled between American freedoms and her traditional Vietnamese family; Amber, an honor roll student who lives alone and struggles with a boyfriend who is under house arrest; Toby, a plucky daughter of success-oriented parents; and Corrie, an out and proud intellectual bisexual who strives to connect with her staunchly Christian father. Finitzo praises Corrie for her willingness to risk being "authentic" in high school.

Corrie first heard of the project when Finitzo visited her high school looking for teen girls willing to share their lives. Hoping to share her struggles and political views, she filled out an application, was interviewed on video at home along with her highly supportive mother, and eventually agreed to participate. The experience had the unusual side effect of boosting the social outsider'

status at her school, Corrie says. "[The kids at school] thought, Oh, she might have something to say--these people want to film her life," she recalls. "They weren't necessarily jealous, but they certainly started to show more interest in me, which was a weird thing."

Over the next two years Finitzo's small crew followed Corrie around as she attended various school and social functions--not to mention gay youth meetings. They also spent time with her father, who has serious issues concerning his daughter's sexuality. Corrie admits her relationship with Dad is even more complex than revealed in 5 Girls, as the film suggests that he may be gay and closeted.

"You're not the only one who's thought that," Corrie acknowledges, "and it's an ongoing problem with me to have a relationship with someone so closeted. [I've confronted him about it], but like in the film, he's so self-righteous and thinks God has made him straight. I think he's delusional."

Corrie--who currently lives in Oakland, Calif., works in an independent bookstore in nearby Berkeley, and is dating both a man and a woman ("I'm poly," she quips)--professes mixed feelings about the documentary. "It's definitely strange to watch it," she says. "First off, it's me in high school; I've grown up a bit. Plus it chose to focus almost exclusively on nay sexuality, which is disappointing. I'm glad they showed me really comfortable with my sexuality; I think it's important for people to see that. But there was activism that isn't really portrayed in the film."

An active member of the International Socialist Organization--which, she says, promotes "working-class revolution, human liberation, fighting racism and homophobia, and getting involved with labor struggles"--Corrie will add a page to P.O.V.'s Web site where she will hash out such issues and further inspire her peers.

"It doesn't have to be this hard for young women," she affirms, "and we do have our work cut out for us as far as pollution in our neighborhoods, lack of access to abortion, and lack of safe places to talk about sexuality go. I want that to really come across through my story in the film, and I think activism can change these things."

Ferber contributes to Time Out New York and other publications.

Find more on 5 Girls, including Corrie's Web page, at www.advocate.com