The in-cinema screening for Ashima will be at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3.
This feature film will also be available as a digital screening from Nov 18 – Nov 24.
USA202386 minEnglish, JapaneseAvailable Online, Documentary, Family-friendly, First Feature
What does greatness look like? What does it take to be great? In the documentary Ashima, greatness looks like Ashima Shiraishi, a modest but determined 13-year old Japanese American rock-climbing prodigy. For her demanding father, Hisatoshi, a former Butoh dancer and Ashima’s coach, greatness requires discipline and intense focus. Together, they’ve embarked to South Africa to climb Golden Shadow, a famous V14 boulder, for Ashima to become the youngest woman to ever climb it.
Director Kenji Tsukamoto’s portrait of the Shiraishis was years in the making and captures significant moments in the family’s life. With uncommon access gained from living with the family, Tsukamoto masterfully blends the minute details of the Shirashis' home lives, Ashima’s numerous public appearances, and her dogged attempts at solving Golden Shadow. Raw and unharnessed, like bouldering itself, Tsukamoto crafts a familiar Asian American family story set against sport and celebrity.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Doc NYC, 2023
Visions Du Reel, 2024
Hawaii International Film Festival, 2024
AWARDS
Best Documentary Feature, VC Film Festival, 2024
Audience Award, Asian Film Festival of Dallas, 2024
Audience Award, Asian American International Film Festival, 2024
Kenji Tsukamoto
Born in Fukushima, Japan, Kenji Tsukamoto moved to America as a child, and his family relocated frequently across the country. As a third-culture kid, Kenji found a kindred spirit in the world-renowned climber Ashima Shiraishi, who became the subject of his first feature film.
17 Nov, 2024 4:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3GA
The in-cinema screening for Ashima will be at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3.
This feature film will also be available as a digital screening from Nov 18 – Nov 24.
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This film is being presented with English subtitles for non-English dialogue both online and in person. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with director Kenji Tsukamoto.
Seemingly stagnant on the surface, in motion underneath. These five short films trace and retrace what movements and stories might exist within us and beyond, pulling us in unexpected directions.
While picking juicy lychees on an endless summer day, Ting is uneasy. She’s on the verge of marriage in her hometown in mainland China. Before she ties the knot, Ting ventures to Hong Kong to find the father she’s never known. While on her journey, she finds she has other loose ends to tie up, too.
In 1923, Canada passed the ironically named Chinese Immigration Act — better known as the Chinese Exclusion Act — which for the next 24 years barred virtually any Chinese person from entering the country. They were the first ethnic group to be singled out in this way.
Founded in Toronto in 1997, Reel Asian is Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival and a year-round cultural organization dedicated to championing Asian, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian artists and storytellers. What began as a grassroots film festival has grown into a national platform supporting filmmakers and audiences through screenings, education, industry initiatives, artist development, and community programming presented across Toronto, the GTA, and online across Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
