Trans Australiana – Shorts Package

These three Australian documentary shorts, Who I Am (Naomi Ball), The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone (Maya Newell) and The Accidental Archivist (Tracey Spring), bring into focus the lives of three very different trans and non-binary protagonists. What they all share, however, is the innate compassion that the film experience can bring in documenting extraordinary/ordinary lives.

Sensory Friendly Screening – enjoy this screening in a safe and accepting environment with the cinema lights turned up, and the sound turned down low.

Short films

Who I Am (2022)

"Who I Am" follows a transgender teen who is also autistic. Research shows that people who are neurodivergent are more likely to be trans or gender diverse. After being bullied at school, 14-year-old Charlie (pronouns they/them and he/him) finally comes out to their mum, setting him on a path of navigating the first steps of his transition - the social transition - and ultimately settling into their identity with a new name, Aether. Meanwhile their mum Anthea goes on her own journey to embracing her child for all that he is. The story is told through observational moments, intimate reflections from the whole family, and Aether’s own original animated characters, The Fallens, coming to life.

The Accidental Archivist (2022)

‘People have told me I’m a hoarder, turns out I’m an archivist!’ - Julie Peters. Julie Peters is a legend in the trans community in Melbourne. She was the first person to transition at the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, at a time when there were no role models around her, and the first openly trans person to run for Parliament. From her early twenties, Julie started collecting anything trans or queer related. Whenever she saw a magazine or newspaper article, medical records or images related to the trans or queer experience, she cut it out and filed it away. Julie's home is crammed with filing cabinets filled with precious material. She also archived her personal portraits – 4,000 'selfies' (pre internet) where she experimented with looks and fashions. She tried high fem looks, girl next door, to Showgirl to work out different ways to 'do gender'. It wasn’t until she mentioned her filing cabinets to Noah Riseman, who was researching a book on trans history, that she thought of them as an archive. Compiled over fifty years, Julie’s meticulously organised collection is one of the most comprehensive archives of transgender history in Australia.

The Dreamlife of Georgie Stone (2022)

Spanning nineteen years, The Dreamlife of GeorgieStone tells the story of Georgie, an Australiantransgender teen as she helps change laws, affirmsher gender, finds her voice and emerges intoadulthood.