Reel Asian's 2009 Call for Submissions has now closed. This year's submissions are exceptionally strong, and we thank everyone for sending us more submissions than ever before! The screening and programming committees look forward to reviewing your work.

• Pay in cash at the Reel Asian offices during business hours.
• Send a cheque or international money order with your screener.
• Pay securely online with your credit card using the PayPal™ form on the left. Please ensure that your film title and email address matches those on your submission form.

Reel Asian is looking to fill two high-level volunteer positions for the 2009/2010 season: Marketing Committee Chair and Special Event Committee Chair. DEADLINE EXTENDED to July 3!

The board and staff of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival are pleased to announce that Sonia Sakamoto-Jog will take up the role of executive director starting May 1, 2009. A long-time friend and supporter of Reel Asian, Sakamoto-Jog was most recently the chair of our Special Events Committee in 2008. Welcome aboard, Sonia!

Download the official press release (PDF)..

As part of Manitoba's Asian Heritage Month celebrations, Reel Asian has been invited to present a special programme at the Winnipeg Film Group's Cinemathèque. This will mark Reel Asian's first-ever presentation in Winnipeg and we're very excited to present Full Boat & More: Reel Asian's Best of Asian Canadian Shorts on Wednesday, May 20, 2009.

The screening takes place at 7:00pm and is FREE to the public! In addition to selections from last year's Canadian Shorts programme, the Winnipeg programme also includes works from our past two Canadian Spotlight artists, Paul Wong and Lesley Loksi Chan. If you live in the Winnipeg area, come down to the historic Exchange District, across from Old Market Square and catch this great programme!

More at the Winnipeg Film Group's site..

Reel Asian is proud to be co-presenting two international features at the 19th Inside Out Toronto LGBT Film and Video Festival.

These films showcase both sides of Inside Out's carefully considered programming: the queer arthouse sensibility of Brillante Mendoza's Service (Serbis) (May 20) and the post-gay "mainstream indie" aesthetic of Chris Mason Johnson's The New Twenty (May 22).

Reel Asian is pleased to announce that we've been invited to co-present the Toronto première of the omnibus film TOKYO! at the 8th Over The Top Festival.

Three different directors present their takes on the titular city: Michel Gondry directs Interior Design; Léos Carax returns after nearly a decade with his explosive Merde; and Korean master Bong Joon-ho (봉준호) concludes the triptych with his segment, Shaking Tokyo. The film will play on the first night of the festival, but is not the opening night film.

More at Over The Top Fest's website..

South Korea is the focus of the 16th Hot Docs Canadian International Documentary Film Festival's national spotlight, and Reel Asian is proud to be the co-presenter for all five films of the Made in South Korea programme.

This programme will include Grandmother's Flower (Jeong-hyun Mun); Black Badge (Jung-min Choi); Children of God (Seung-Jun Yi); Action Boys (Byung-gi Jung); and Farmer's Song (Doc-hyun Yoon).

Reel Asian is pleased to report that our collaboration with the Gendai Gallery enjoyed a successful run April 11-30 with new work being presented at Empty Orchestra: REMIX. This was the third and final installment in our collaborative examination of karaoke in comtemporary art and culture.

The first two installments were both wildly popular and successful, so we took the show full circle, back to the Gendai Gallery and the JCCC's Karaoke Club.

The 9th ReelWorld Film Festival returns to take over the Cineplex Odeon Carlton (20 Carlton St, just east of Yonge) next month from April 15-19. Dedicated to diversity, ReelWorld and Reel Asian share more than just similar names!

Reel Asian filmmaker Jennifer Liao's tale of gothic Canadiana, What You Eat (RA 2008), is featured in the short programme that we are proud to be co-presenting at this year's ReelWorld festival.

Reel Asian is pleased to be co-presenting Toronto-EMAKI, the new work from Takashi Ishida at the Wynick/Tuck Gallery. During our 2008 festival, we collaborated with Trinity Square Video for Ishida's Trans— exhibition.

NOW AVAILABLE! Download the Asian Art Stars Mini-Guide in PDF format.

Reel Asian is thrilled to share co-presentation with NAAAP Toronto of Kenneth Bi's 2004 film Rice Rhapsody (海 南 雞 飯). The film, which opens the 4th Toronto Singapore Film Festival on April 3rd, is making its Toronto premiere at the beautifully-restored Revue Cinema in Toronto's west-end Roncesvalles Village neighbourhood.