In collaboration with North York Arts, join us for Soccer City Celebration, a three-day series that brings the community together through sport, film and culture! Enjoy free, family-friendly community events to celebrate the festivities of the soccer season.
Bring your friends and family along to be part of the soccer season action.
The Soccer City Celebration is supported by the City of Toronto and the Province of Ontario
As part of the celebration, you’re invited to watch these short films from North York Arts’ The Animation Project. Screenings will be played on a loop, drop by and see stories from the neighbourhood!
Total duration: 17 minutes
June 13, 2026 from 11AM–4PM @ Gibson House Museum
June 20, 2026 from 1–3PM @ Toronto Public Library – North York Central
Part of Soccer City Celebration, happening 1–10PM @ Mel Lastman Square
June 27, 2026 from 11–4PM @ Gibson House Museum
A Knight announces a final competition, but he has trouble with his voice. So, he orders the sound to be removed, and the movie becomes a silent film, with banners showing titles between actions on screen instead of dialogue moving forward. The competition ensues!
Miladin Mitrovic is a multidisciplinary filmmaker with a background spanning music, sound engineering, photography, design, painting, and animation, he thrives on creative challenges and storytelling across mediums. While studying physics in Belgrade, Serbia, he worked in radio as a host and creative director before building a freelance career in design and digital media, developing a particular passion for web animation during the early Adobe Flash era.
Instagram: @comixstagram
A stop-motion animation dedicated to Halloween.
Jeff Yolleck, North York resident , spends his days working as a landscape gardener at a golf course while spending some of his off-hours doing animation. His creative journey began over 45 years ago when he crafted his very first animated movie using clay and a Super 8 camera. After a long hiatus, North York Arts successfully reintroduced Jeff to his favorite artistic pursuit through a recent storytelling and storyboarding course. As part of the program’s initial curriculum, students were challenged to create and submit an original piece. Jeff’s final submission perfectly captured his revitalized dedication to the craft, a tribute to the creativity seen at many homes on Halloween, and a marked return to his animation roots.
A rebellious teen girl bonds unexpectedly with her mother during a tattoo session.
M.C Cruz Issaoui is a child of Chilean immigrants turned nomadic artist and filmmaker. They are currently based in Toronto but also lived two years in Chile and completed an artist residency in Morocco. They attended Etobicoke School of Arts and majored in visual arts before moving to Vancouver to study film at Capilano University. Their animation journey began at sketch working arts at stop motion workshops sponsored by TIFF Lightbox and TAIS.
Instagram: @Mccruzissaoui
Youtube Channel: Loca Leopard Lady Tv
Blog: https://Localeopardlady.Wordpress.Com/Animation/
An experimental narrative film about letting yourself experience something deeply, yet being able to move on with grace.
Rada Zinchuk, born in 2007, Minsk, Belarus, is a passionate artist whose journey spans multiple creative areas. After immigrating to Canada in 2013, Rada immersed herself in the performing arts, exploring vocals, drama, dance, piano and guitar. However, her artistic path took a distinct turn when she joined the Claude Watson Film Arts Program at Earl Haig Secondary School (Toronto) in 2021.
Website: https://radazinchuk.com/about
Film/Art Instagram: @radazine_
Personal/Main Instagram: @radazinchuk
Film Youtube channel:@radazinch
A young man uncovers a mysterious life blueprint and discovers he has been living a life not designed for him.
Joseph Chung is a Korean Canadian filmmaker, director, and producer based in North York. A graduate of York University’s Cinema and Media Studies program, Joseph creates intimate, character-driven films that explore family, memory, identity, and the quiet emotional weight of everyday life. His work includes Mother’s Tongue (2018), Uprooted: The Plantemic (2022), and Table for Three (2024), with projects screened for audiences in Canada, the United States, Italy, and South Korea. Across his films, Joseph is interested in reflecting Asian Canadian experiences while moving beyond familiar tropes, grounding his stories in specificity, humour, and emotional truth.
Instagram: @kimchijoe
Join us on June 20th from 1–10PM at Mel Lastman Square for the Soccer City Celebration in partnership with North York Arts and Yonge North York BIA. The festivities includes an outdoor screening of Bend It Like Beckham directed by Gurinder Chadha, watch party for the Germany and Ivory Coast World Cup game, soccer-themed art activations, family DJ show, inflatable bouncers, and more!
Bring your friends and family along to be part of the soccer season action.
Welcome greetings are at 7:30PM with the screening beginning at 8PM.
Mel Lastman Square
(5100 Yonge St.)
Sat, June 20, 2026
1–10PM
Gibson House Museum
(5172 Yonge St.)
Sat, June 13 and 27, 2026
11AM–4PM
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 and Asian diasporic 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
