The story of Efrat Tilma, one of the first trans people in Israel, is an exceptional journey of love triumphing over ignorance. Growing up in the 1960s, life wasn’t easy: Tilma faced assaults and police persecution, prompting a self-imposed exile from her home country. In interviews, she relates a series of kaleidoscopic adventures, including working at Le Carrousel de Paris, her sex change procedure in Morocco and settling down in Berlin—each worthy of its own documentary. Ultimately, Tilma returns home after decades of exile to a changed, modern Israel that now affords her space to confront past demons and forge a more positive future—such as becoming the first transgender volunteer on Israel’s police force. Despite Netanyahu’s rise, Tilma will no longer run away and chooses to fight for necessary social change head on.
Rather than make a historical documentary, directors Udi Nir and Sagi Bornstein breathe life into Tilma’s emotionally layered story, where the hero’s odyssey surges her forward into visibility and urgent activism in Israel and across the globe.
Director Bios: View on IMDB (Bornstein/Nir)
Sagi Bornstein, a director, producer and editor of documentaries, studied photography at Camera Obscura Film School and worked as an editor for leading Israeli broadcasters before starting his own production company.
Udi Nir is a writer, director and producer who began his career working with Amnesty International and other human rights NGOs in Israel before studying at the School of Playwriting in Tel Aviv. In 2015, Nir partnered with Bornstein and transitioned to documentary filmmaking, screening films at leading international festivals, including DOC NYC and Hot Docs, winning several international awards, such as the IDA Award for Best Short-Form Series and the Editing Award at Docaviv.
Guest: Director Udi Nir
Sponsor: Michele and Alan Tesler
Community Sponsors: Congregation Tikveh Chadashah, Jewish Family Service, Three Dollar Bill Cinema
