The Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival (TIL&GFF) was founded in 1992 as part of the Gay Art Project. At that time, films, television programs, and books dealing with homosexual themes were garnering a great deal of attention in Japan. However, the local gay and lesbian community felt that it wanted its own chance to present films faithfully depicting the lifestyles of its members. It was this idea that led to the creation of the TIL&GFF.

Each year the festival is proud to present films that because of their themes, scale, or lack of notoriety would ordinarily not be able to enjoy commercial release in Japan. These include independent films, shorts, and documentaries. The festival also places the spotlight on works from Japan's own sexual minorities, including works representing the efforts of Japanese gay, lesbian, transgender, and transsexual cinematic artists. At the same time, the festival is also known for showing films that are currently attracting the attention of the public.

In addition, the festival also acts as a showcase for young talent as many of its films are the works of promising young directors. A few examples include:

Guess Who's Coming to Dinner and Flames of Passion from director Richard Kwietniowski, who later brought us Love and Death on Long Island, starring John Hurt and Jason Priestly

A Secret Evening, which won the Pia Film Festival's grand prize for director Ryosuke Hashiguchi

Minoru and Me, from director Toichi Nakata, who received praise both at home and abroad for his autobiographical Osaka Story

Fatherless, which was produced as a Japan Academy of Moving Images graduation project and which enjoyed a long run in Japan's smaller theaters while also generating a great deal of social commentary

Full Speed, in which Gael Morel, himself the star of Andre Techine's Wild Reeds, directed Elodie Bouchez and Stephane Rideau

The Room and Gold Fish from Cedric Klapisch, who also brought us When the Cat's Away

La Mouette, directed by Nils Tavernier, son of veteran French director Bernard Tavernier, and starring Natacha Regnier, who later took best actress honors at the Cannes International Film Festival for The Dreamlife of Angels

A Summer Dress by Francois Ozon, who first attracted attention with unique shorts and who is now one of the best-known directors in the French cinematic world for films such as Under the Sand and 8 Women, with its cast of top French actresses

The TIL&GFF has also been recognized for its efforts at putting the spotlight on particular regions and countries and for showing films that would not otherwise have been released in Japan. Special themes focused on providing a unique opportunity to experience the richness of queer cultures have included: British Gay TV (7th TIL&GFF); Spanish Retro (8th); Hong Kong Express (8th & 9th); Canadian Feature (9th); and Korean Express, Gay Images in Spanish Cinema, and Israel-Eytan Fox-Special (10th). The TIL&GFF is particularly proud that each of these special initiatives received the strong backing of the relevant countries' embassies and cultural organizations in Japan.

In addition to presenting films with homosexual themes, the festival also organizes discussions and other events related to each year's featured works. In our third year, such events included a “teach-in" on depictions of lesbians and gays in film by A Touch of Fever and Like Grains of Sand director Ryosuke Hashiguchi, and discussions entitled “Living with AIDS," “Lesbian Seminar: Make What You Want Yourself," and “Gay Seminar: Tokyo Gay Life." Inspired by the presentation of the film It's Elementary: Talking About Gay Issues in School, our sixth year featured a discussion entitled “Children Untainted by Hatred for Homosexuals?" Panelists working on the frontlines of education discussed what kinds of initiatives are being taken in schools to provide education on homosexuality. In conjunction with the presentation of the film Transsexual Menace, the same year's program also included a lecture on sex-reassignment surgery delivered by Dr. Takao Harashina of the Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery at Saitama Medical School's Saitama Medical Center. In our seventh year, our special focus on homosexual-themed television programming from the United Kingdom inspired a related event in which British television director Chris Clark and Japanese television director Naoharu Takahashi discussed the differences between depictions of homosexuality on television in Japan and the United Kingdom. These and other events have won the festival acclaim for not only presenting films but also providing a venue for the exchange of ideas.

Other guests who have participated in festival events include: Hustler White directors Bruce La Bruce and Rick Castro and star Tony Ward; The Watermelon Woman director Cheryl Dunye; Hide and Seek director Su Frederich; Shari Friot, curator of the compilation of lesbian shorts, Funny Bone; Eric Shulip, curator of the compilation of gay shorts, Four Seasons; Bishonen director Yonfan and star Daniel Wu; Yellow Fever director and Hong Kong Lesbian & Gay Film Festival curator Raymond Yeung; Florentene director Eytan Fox; and Seo Dongjin of the Seoul Queer Film Festival.

The festival represents a rare opportunity for audience members to interact directly with filmmakers by asking questions and sharing their own impressions of the featured works. Since our venue moved to Spiral Hall, the generous support of our sponsors has made possible another popular and enlivening feature of the festival: a bar offering free drinks to audience members. In addition, the festival also includes an annual club event known as “The Grand Bal," which is always a fun occasion where sexuality knows no bounds.

We at the Tokyo International Lesbian & Gay Film Festival hope that our annual program will continue to be more than just a mere film festival and will grow even further as an event that works to share the diversity of all of the queer cultures that can be found both in Japan and abroad. We look forward to seeing you here in Tokyo!