Documentaries have the power to illuminate and entertain, show you the world and take you home again. This year's selections of Reel Asian docs will leave you yearning for more…more sound, more taste and more understanding. Visit rural Thailand in acclaimed contemporary artist Rirkrit Tiravanija’s feature film debut Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours (Nov 8). People's Park (Nov 9) glides and guides us through a look at Chinese leisure. Produced by Taiwanese master Hou Hsiao-hsien and featuring world renowned Chinese painter Liu Xiaodong, Hometown Boy (Nov 9) muses about time and home. Take your appetite on a journey through Toronto, Trinidad and India to find the roots of the delicioud roti in Dal Puri Diaspora (Nov 10). Jake Shimabukuro: Life On Four Strings (Nov 10) sees the ukulele taken to dizzying new heights. Worlds and documentary ethics collide in Seeking Asian Female (Nov 11) when a Chinese American filmmaker is stuck in between an aging white male with "yellow fever" and the Chinese bride he met online. Taste the sweet and sour with the premiere of Yung Chang’s The Fruit Hunters (Nov 17)
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LUNG NEAW VISITS HIS NEIGHBOURS
Director Rirkrit Tiravanija | Mexico/Thailand 2011 | 154:00 | Canadian Premiere The first feature film from acclaimed visual artist Rirkrit Tiravanija is an exquisitely photographed, minimalist “portraiture” of retired rice farmer Lung Neaw; a quiet and boyish man who spends his idle days conversing with neighbors, doing odd jobs, and walking through the jungle. Thursday Nov. 8, 8:00 PM | AGO Jackman Hall (317 Dundas St W) |
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PEOPLE'S PARK
Directors Libbie Cohn, J.P. Sniadecki | China/USA 2012 | 78:00 | Toronto Premiere This dynamic single shot documentary is a visual and aural adventure that glides through a public space in Chengdu, China revealing waltzing couples, karaoke singers and curious onlookers. Friday Nov. 9, 7:00 PM | AGO Jackman Hall (317 Dundas St W) |
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HOMETOWN BOY Director Yao Hung-I | Taiwan/China 2011 | 72:00 | Canadian Premiere Famous Chinese artist Liu Xiaodong returns home after 30 years to paint portraits of his boyhood friends while discovering the passage of time and economic developments that have altered the character of his rural hometown. Produced by iconic Taiwanese filmmaker Hou Hsiao-hsien. Friday Nov. 9, 9:00 PM | AGO Jackman Hall (317 Dundas St W) |
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DAL PURI DIASPORA
Director Mamoru Hosoda | Japan 2012 | 117:00 | Canadian Premiere Trinidad-born Toronto filmmaker Richard Fung takes an inquisitive food journey through the Caribbean and India to discover the mouth-watering roots of one of his (and Toronto’s) favourite foods, the dal puri, most commonly known as the roti. Saturday Nov. 10, 8:15 PM | The Royal Theatre (608 College St) |
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JAKE SHIMABUKURO: LIFE ON FOUR STRINGS
Director Tadashi Nakamura (in attendance) | USA 2012 | 55:00 | Canadian Premiere Jake Shimabukuro plays the ukulele but not like anything ever seen or heard before in this rock documentary on the pioneering Hawaiian ukulele virtuoso who propelled this simple four-string instrument to dazzling heights. Saturday Nov. 10, 6:30 PM | The Royal Theatre (608 College St) |
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SEEKING ASIAN FEMALE
Director Debbie Lum | USA 2012 | 85:00 | Toronto Premiere Stephen is an aging white male with “yellow fever”. Sandy is the Chinese bride he met online. See if their marriage can make it through the cultural barriers and battle of the sexes in this intimate and quirky personal documentary. Saturday Nov. 10, 8:15 PM | The Royal Theatre (608 College St) |
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THE FRUIT HUNTERS
Director Yung Chang | Canada 2012 | 90:00 | Toronto Premiere Award-winning Canadian documentary filmmaker Yung Chang’s The Fruit Hunters is a globetrotting tour of faraway places, filled with eccentric people to whom fruit is a way of life and not just a suggested daily dietary recommendation. Saturday Nov. 17, 7:00 PM | Richmond Hill Centre for the Performing Arts (10268 Yonge St) |