TIL•DE (NOUN\’TIL-D \): A SYMBOL (~) INDICATING EQUIVALENCY OR SIMILARITY BETWEEN TWO VALUES/APPROXIMATIONS.
We like the idea that a TILDE has a thereabouts, an approximation, an in-between-ness to it that steers away from absolutes or being rigidly bound. This captures our thoughts about the messy, indefinable nature of gender.
Fa’afafine & Fa’atama/Fa’afatama (Samoa), Mahu (Tahiti/Hawaii), Māhūkāne (Hawai’i), Vaka se lewa lewa (Fiji), Palopa (Papua New Guinea), Akava’ine (Cook Islands), Fakaleiti/leiti (Tonga), Fakafifine (Niue), Pinapinaaine/Binapinaaine (Tuvalu & Kiribati), Rae rae (Tahiti), Haka huahine (Tokelau), (Samoa), Binabinamane (Kiribati), Takatāpui (Aotearoa), Las Traviesas (Columbia) Two-spirit (USA), Hijra (India), Khawaja sira (Pakistan), Waria (Indonesia),
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.
Over 10 years, many have contributed their time and passion to support TILDE. We are incredibly grateful to our community, founders and alumni. A very special thank you to Jac Fitzgerald, who held TILDE with such care, carrying the festival between 2021 to 2024 – we are forever grateful for you Jac! Thank you to Nick Henderson, Lisa Salmon and the team at the Australian Queer Archives. Thank you to our strategic heroes Jane Crawley and Debra Jefferies, and to our core funders and sponsors. Thank you to Daniel Santangeli, Bec Cole, Bernadette Fitzgerald and the entire team at Footscray Community Arts, you’ve had our back since 2017. We are truly grateful.
TILDE
MELBOURNE TRANS
& GENDER DIVERSE
FILM FESTIVAL
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ACN. A0060769Z