Japan, Philippines2024102:00Tagalog, JapaneseNorth American PremiereAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Drama, First Feature
In Japan’s aging society, kodokushi — the lonely death of the elderly — has become disturbingly common. Divorced salaryman Yoji (Lily Franky) is confronted with this reality when he discovers his neighbour’s decomposing body. The shocking experience forces him to face his solitude, deepened by his own mother’s ageing. Seeking escape and connection, he follows a caretaker to Manila, where his choice takes an unexpected turn.
Diamonds in the Sand explores the contrasts between two distinct Asian cultures. While reflecting on the isolation faced by many people in modern society, the film also captures the warmth, vitality, and complexity of family life in the Philippines. Within this vibrant setting, bonds bring both joy and hardship, connection and obligation. This is a bittersweet story of acceptance, the courage and impact of our personal choices, and the search for meaning within oneself and community alike.
– Rolando Basmayor
Lily Franky
Maria Isabel Lopez
Soliman Cruz
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Tokyo FILMeX, 2024
Udine Far East Film Festival, 2025
Taipei Film Festival, 2025
AWARDS
Best Debut Feature
Udine Far East Film Festival, 2025
Janus Victoria
Janus Victoria, a Manila-based writer-director, creates documentaries and films on human-place connections. She’s made six shorts, including Myth of Manila, as well as the documentary Encounters with Silence. Diamonds in the Sand is her debut feature.
8 Nov, 2025 5:15 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
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 Janus Victoria moderated by Reel Asian artistic director Aram Siu Wai Collier.
This workshop spotlights the Sari-Sari Xchange Assetory, a storytelling-led virtual asset library prototype created with and for the Asian diaspora. Participants will be asked to bring an object with a personal meaning, which they will learn how to scan and create a 3D reproduction of. They will also be able to share what memories, stories, and histories the object holds and contribute to the SSX Assetory if they wish.
A man's attempt at burglary goes wrong when he’s overpowered and captured by the apartment’s elderly owner. Things take a turn for the curiouser when it’s revealed there is a human-sized plaster cast in which the old man has encased his dead wife. To win his freedom, the burglar merely has to accompany the owner to the desert to bury him along with his wife.
Six emerging filmmakers embarked on a months-long filmmaking workshop this past summer. We’re proud to present their world premieres here in the 14th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking program.
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 filmmakers and artists. 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.
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Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
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info@reelasian.com
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