(re)Rites of Passage – Editors’ Table Talk

2021English

(re)Rites of Passage is a special anthology published as part of our 25th-anniversary celebrations, and a follow-up to Reel Asian: Asian Canada on Screen (published in 2007 for Reel Asian’s 10th anniversary). Drawing on the intersections of interdisciplinary, form-traversing dialogue, the publication features personal and critical responses from media artists on the evolving sensibilities of Asian Canadian film and media creation. Hear from the editors on the process of putting this anthology together, and what to expect from this one-of-a-kind publication.

Moderator:

Jasmine Gui • Industry and Education Programmer, Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

Jasmine Gui (@jaziimun) is a Singaporean-born interdisciplinary artist and programmer living and working in Tkaronto. She is co-founder of TACLA, founder of Project 40 Collective and managing editor at LooseLeaf magazine. Her work includes two chapbooks and writing featured in sineTheta, GUTS, The Spectatorial, Panorama Journal, Hart House Review amongst others. She did her MA in English, Diaspora and Transnational Studies at the University of Toronto. Outside of the arts, she is widely known as a tea lady.

Panelists:

Aaditya Aggarwal • Writer, Editor, and Programmer 

Aaditya Aggarwal is a writer, editor and film curator based in Toronto and New Delhi. He has formerly worked in marketing and curatorial roles at Mercer Union, Images Festival, Regent Park Film Festival, Toronto Reel Asian Film Festival and TIFF. Aaditya has contributed writing to Canadian Art, The New Inquiry, POV Magazine, Rungh Magazine and Ethnic Aisle, as well as exhibition texts to Trinity Square Video, South Asian Visual Arts Centre, Koffler Digital and FADO Performance Art Centre.

Philbert Lui • Multimedia Producer, The Japan Foundation Toronto

Philbert Lui is a multimedia producer, interdisciplinary artist, and filmmaker based in Toronto, Canada. For over a decade, he has worked with various non-profit and cultural organizations such as Kollaboration Toronto, the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, the Chinese Canadian National Council Toronto Chapter, and The Japan Foundation. Whenever there’s a chance, Philbert will temporarily abandon time and space to deep dive into an endless watchlist of films, comics, and video games, often with a bag of chips nearby.

V.T. Nayani • Director, Producer, and Writer, Mutuals Pictures

V. T. NAYANI is a director, producer, and writer. She is an alumni of the CBC Workshop for Diverse Creators, HotDocs' Doc Accelerator and Reelworld’s Emerging 20 Program. She is a resident in the 2021 CFC Directors' Lab and the 2021/22 Canadian Academy Directors Program for Women. Nayani is currently in post-production for her first feature drama THIS PLACE and her next short film THE LOVE MADE, while also in development for her first scripted series.

Khanh Tudo • Programmer and Artist, Insomniac Film Festival

Khanh Tudo is a multidisciplinary artist, straddling between set work, programming at Insomniac Film Festival, and winging it in sculpture work. They are drawn to the magic and spontaneity DIY and low budget artmaking can possess when working from a relationship nurturing and care-centric framework.