In 1977, the outing of science fiction author James Tiptree, Jr. (as Alice B. Sheldon) shook the world’s sense of genre fiction as a male domain. Fifty years later, TIP/ALLI reveals the intricate life of expansive gender that produced some of the 20th century’s most celebrated speculations.
SYNOPSIS
Tip/Alli, like many trans and gender nonconforming people across history, was forcibly outed. But unlike many others, Tip/Alli left us with a rich archive of fiction, correspondence, and self-writing.
TIP/ALLI introduces viewers to the early publications and correspondence of this mysterious recluse before exploring the author’s outing and its repercussions (as evidenced by journals and correspondence). Following the outing, Sheldon insisted that, with Tiptree, “everything other than the signature” was true. “Tiptree kept taking on a stronger and stronger life of his own,” Sheldon explained. “This voice would speak up from behind my pancreas somewhere. He insisted on the nickname [‘Tip’], he would not be ‘Jim.’” If everything about Tiptree except his signature had been Sheldon, it is important to note that Sheldon did not switch to signing letters “Alice Sheldon.” Instead, Sheldon continued to sign their SF correspondence “Tip/Alli,” affectionately holding on to a piece of their male persona.
In taking the name TIP/ALLI, this film embraces all of whom this person may have been without claiming a singular identity on their behalf. Excerpts of the author’s journaling and correspondence come alive via stop motion paper animation. Select Tiptree stories and “reenactments” from Sheldon's life are seen in super 8.
TIP/ALLI details the richness of this unique individual’s experience of gender. In the process, the film opens audiences’ minds to the possibility of transness’ bountiful history and future.
Director Statement
Without Tip/Alli, I might not have the life I do today. As a queer and trans author, Tip/Alli’s writing has indelibly shaped my sense of what is possible.
TIP/ALLI is adapted from the last chapter of my academic monograph, LESBIAN POTENTIALITY AND FEMINIST MEDIA IN THE 1970S (Duke University Press, 2022). The book and film build on over a decade of my research in Tip/Alli’s papers. Contrary to popular claims that transness is something new and common characterizations of second wave feminism as essentializing and transphobic, my research reveals a breadth of gender expressions to be central to 1970s feminist culture.
Supporter Statement
“Samer’s original research and interpretation will engage feminist and lgbtq viewers, science fiction fans, and general audiences...TIP/ALLI is an imaginative and timely documentary that offers viewers complex ways to think about transgender pasts.” —Patricia White (Women Make Movies)
“TIP/ALLI will resonate with diverse public audiences as well as the people who curate movies for curious audiences.” —Nick Davis (Northwestern University)
ABOUT FILMMAKER(S)
Director/Producer Jed Samer
Jed Samer (Director and Producer) is a queer and trans cinema and media studies scholar, remix artist, and (now!) documentary filmmaker. Jed holds a Ph.D. in Cinematic Arts from the University of Southern California. Between 2018 and 2024, they were an Assistant Professor of Screen Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts. As of Fall 2024, they are an Associate Professor of Film and Media Studies at Arizona State University.
Jed is the author of LESBIAN POTENTIALITY AND FEMINIST MEDIA IN THE 1970S (Duke University Press, 2022) and the editor of SU FRIEDRICH: INTERVIEWS (University Press of Mississippi, 2022). Their essays on queer/trans media can be found in THE JOURNAL OF CINEMA AND MEDIA STUDIES; CAMERA OBSCURA; TRANSGENDER STUDIES QUARTERLY; JUMP CUT; ADA: A JOURNAL OF GENDER, NEW MEDIA, AND TECHNOLOGY; FEMINIST MEDIA HISTORIES; FEMINIST FORMATONS; and THE LOS ANGELES REVIEW OF BOOKS.
Jed’s research for this film began fifteen years ago when they were a doctoral student. A public-facing version of their scholarship, TIP/ALLI has been supported by three Clark University research grants, two Massachusetts Cultural Council grants, an Arizona Commission on the Arts Artist Opportunity grant, and a Puffin Foundation grant.
Producer Samantha Farinella
Samantha Farinella (Digital Cinematographer and Producer) is a New York City veteran, now Honolulu-based lesbian filmmaker and founder of One Angry Woman Productions. Samantha’s second feature documentary, HUNTING IN WARTIME, premiered nationally on PBS. It would go on to win five awards, including the Big Sky Award at the Big Sky Documentary Film Festival, and it has screened in over thirty venues.
Her first feature documentary, LEFT LANE (2005), won honors in New Zealand, Paris and New York and received official selection in over forty film festivals, including San Francisco’s Frameline, Out in Africa, Galway Film Fleadh, and opening night at Boston’s Gay and Lesbian Film Festival. Her most recent short film, WITHOUT A SCRATCH, has screened in over fifteen festivals and won five awards including Best Experimental at the Big Muddy Film Festival and Best Experimental at the Columbus International Film and Animation Film Festival.
Samantha has extensive television production and advertising experience with media companies including Viacom, The History Channel, Animal Planet, PBS and Hogarth Worldwide. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Academy for Creative Media at the University of Hawaii, West Oahu.
Oli Galvin (Producer, First AD, Stop-Motion Photographer, and Editor) is a non-binary film editor based in Worcester, MA. They studied Screen Studies at Clark University, where they focused on film production. As a student, they directed and edited two documentaries as well as edited MERIDIAN a 40-minute horror film created by an all-student team, which has since screened in film festivals and found a cult following online. A long-ago student of Jed’s, Oli became a part of the TIP/ALLI team in 2019. They photographed the Lee Mandelo interview, and they are responsible for photographing the film’s stop-motion. As the producer/editor, they have assisted Jed in editing reels and writing grant applications.
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