Tip/Alli

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.