Canada202586 minNo dialogueAnimation
Ever since astronaut-in-training Celeste was a child, Robot has served as a surrogate parent while her mother explored the galaxy. When Celeste starts a months-long mission after graduation, the pair must explore the unknowns of life without each other.
On her mission, Celeste stumbles upon a clue to her mother’s disappearance. Back on Earth, without Celeste to take care of, Robot’s mission goes from straightforward to existential. Separately but together, the two explore their purpose — inside and beyond the stars.
World-renowned scratch DJ and artist Kid Koala adapts his graphic novel of the same name into a dream cinema project. Working with a long list of collaborators from his extensive career (including songs by Karen O and Digable Planets’ Ladybug Mecca), Kid Koala evokes classic movies of the silent film era by using no dialogue and only beautiful images and sound driven by his original scratch soundtrack.
An independent, animated film adventure 14 years in the making, Space Cadet is a true accomplishment of gritty determination and soaring creativity. It is a beautiful testament to dreaming of possibilities while grounded with love.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Kid Koala
Kid Koala (Eric San) is a Montreal-based DJ, composer, and visual artist. Creator of five solo albums and the graphic novels Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet, he has collaborated with Gorillaz and Radiohead. His first animated feature, Space Cadet, premiered at the Berlinale and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
5 Nov, 2025 7:30 pm
Hot Docs Ted Rogers CinemaGA
CONTENT ADVISORY
trypophobia
This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
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 Kid Koala and head of story and production designer Lillian Chan moderated by Reel Asian artistic director Aram Siu Wai Collier.
Join us at Tranzac Club for the Opening Night Gala Party after the screening of SPACE CADET!
Suggested $10 donation at the door.
9:30PM at Tranzac Club
A calm & quiet zone will be available at this event. If you require accessibility accommodation for this event, please click the link below.
Join us for an in-depth conversation about SPACE CADET. Director Kid Koala and head of story and production designer Lillian Chan will discuss the journey from book to film, exploring how to translate vulnerability into craft, and how to make authenticity come through in every frame.
Thurs, Nov 6 at 2PM at CineCyle
Enter worlds that feel both impossibly extreme and unsettlingly real. Thrust against the grain, these protagonists take back control of their narrative, despite forces that seek to define them otherwise.
Reuniting with the cast of her highly acclaimed 2017 festival hit, Village Rockstars, Rima Das returns with a standalone sequel centering Dhunu, now a teenager, who lives in a small village in Assam, India, and dreams of becoming a musician. While Dhunu and her friends navigate the vulnerable transition between childhood and adulthood, weighing new responsibilities and priorities, the elders around them face harsher circumstances brought on by predatory land developers and climate change, affecting their livelihoods and sense of community.
From augmented reality projects reactivating rural Chinese areas to virtual reality works shaping collective memory, this roundtable opens a dialogue on how emerging media can tell local stories and convey lived experiences.
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
