Availabile only to to Ontario audiences
USA202191 minEnglish Ontario PremiereComedy, Drama, Women Filmmakers
Monica (Sujata Day), a former spelling-bee champion, lives at home with her ailing mother and tutors young spelling-bee hopefuls whose parents hover around, in hopes that their children will follow in her footsteps. When she is offered a dream job in another city, she considers accepting it, until her estranged brother Sonny (Ritish Rajan) shows up unexpectedly, opening up old wounds and familial tensions.
Day’s directorial debut is a comedy-drama that isn’t afraid to layer themes of intergenerational tensions, mental health stigma, and complicated sibling dynamics to create a touching portrait of a family trying to heal from a difficult past. Through the talents of an impressive cast of supporting actors, Day directs and simultaneously embodies an endearing and relatable image of a spirited millennial on a journey of acceptance and letting go, as she commits to a more meaningful relationship with her family, herself, and her own sense of freedom.
- Mariam Zaidi
Sujata Day
Ritesh Rajan
Anna Khaja
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Seattle Asian American Film Festival, 2021
Asian American International Film Festival, 2020
AWARDS
Best Narrative Feature, CAAMFest Forward, 2020
Outstanding Directorial Debut Feature Film, South Asian Film Festival of America, 2020
Sujata Day
With her infectious personality and unique sense of humor, Pittsburgh native Sujata Day has established herself in Hollywood as a multi-hyphenate performer, creator, writer, and director. Day is known for her starring role as CeCe in Issa Rae’s The Misadventures of Awkward Black Girl. She is honoured to be the 2019 HBO Visionaries ambassador.
Availabile only to to Ontario audiences
12 Nov, 2021 7:00 pm
to 14 Nov, 2021 6:59 pm
PG
This presentation has no captions.
An Active Listener will be available to offer one-on-one peer support for viewers who may find the content of this presentation triggering. More info on how to access here.
Desh Pardesh ended in 2001, in large part due to a massive cut in public arts funding. Two decades later, organizers and artists from the festival discuss the impact of the festival and the ways in which we can learn from the success and challenges of running an unapologetic and political arts festival in the city of Toronto.
Ann Kaneko’s Manzanar, Diverted invokes this history to tell the story of generations of women: Native American, Japanese American WWII incarcerees, and environmentalists, fighting for the future of the valley. Through a mix of testimonials, archival, and aerial photography, Kaneko weaves intersectional histories with the urgency of the present.
Deep in the night, Fai and his friends are sleeping on the streets of Sham Shui Po, the poorest district in Hong Kong. The police arrive without notice and clear out their belongings, their makeshift homes reduced to roadside trash. With the help of social worker Ms. Ho, Fai takes the case to court, while he and his friends struggle to create a new home.
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
