Movie profile

Dancing the Tides

Astri, a Muslim trans woman, and her boyfriend Tambulah are blissfully living together in the their conservative Sama Badjao community. Their happiness is short-lived when Astri turns 16, her father reminds her that as a “man”, she must honor their tradition by marrying Sitti, the girl promised to Astri when they were born. Astri does not want to dishonor her father and defy their community’s custom. The three do not want this wedding to push through. And so they devise ways to prevent the wedding from happening, all to no avail. In the end, the three have to confront desperate choices they wished they didn’t have to make.

Directed by Xeph Suarez