Our story began in 2014 with a core group of dedicated volunteers who held the festival through to 2021. Covid put a big strain on these volunteers, so the festival hit pause. During that time, a review was done in deep partnership with Footscray Community Arts. This was a period of reflection, consideration and focus on the intentions of TILDE moving forward.  

2024 sees us return to mark the last decade of TILDE. We are leading this festival with humility and vulnerability fostering an environment of curiosity for the many varied lived experiences of our community. We have curated a program alongside our team of brilliant programmers that hopes to have captured the richness of these many lived lives through the lens of trans and gender expansive storytellers. We at TILDE aim to serve our trans and gender diverse (TGD) community and their loved ones. Our focus is on the margins: those who live, work, and create on the periphery of dominant cultures. Our vision is to lead in TGD screen experience and practice. We want to build the practice and reputation of TILDE so that it is cherished by our community, respected, and sought after by TGD filmmakers, and recognised as a leader in Australia’s creative industries.