All short films and videos are eligible for this prize. Opportunity to broadcast on Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment screens on international flights
Jude Chun
Iven Tu
Thuy Le & Tiago Espirito Santo
Nishant Roy Bombarde
All animated works are eligible for this prize.
$1,000 cash prize
Alisi Telengut
Sam Chou
All films made by female-identified Ontario-based artists are eligible for this prize.
$1,000 cash prize + $1,200 programming pass and one-year membership to WIFT-T.
Jennifer Su
All feature works are eligible for this prize, selected through a tally of votes from the viewers of the 20th anniversary edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
$4,000 cash prize
Jeff Chiba Stearns
with support from
Rahul Chaturvedi
Vivian Lin & Jennifer Millington
Shu Kei
Shu Kei is a Hong Kong film director and screenwriter best known for the 1990 film Sunless Days 没有太阳的日子, a documentary exploring the Tiananmen Square massacre and its influence on the people of Hong Kong in the days preceding the 1997 handover of the city to the People’s Republic of China. Currently, he is the Dean of Film and Television at the Hong Kong Academy for the Performing Arts
Jogsuk Thomas Nam
Jongsuk Thomas Nam joined the Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival (BiFan) in 2007. He is currently the managing director of BiFan’s film industry program, Network of Asian Fantastic Films (NAFF). He has served as a jury and a film industry speaker in numerous film festivals and conferences, including Sitges, Berlin, Hawaii, Warsaw, Vesoul, TIFFCOM, Yubari, Fantastic Fest-Austin, IFX-Philippines, EARS in Helsinki, Talinn Industry Days, ScreenSingapore, and is an avid karaoke fan.
Marcia Douglas
Marcia Douglas is the Director of Business Affairs & Digital Initiatives of the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA), Canada’s leading trade association for independent producers. She brings extensive experience and a broad knowledge of the Canadian media landscape and the production and financing of projects across all platforms.
Vikas Kohli
Vikas Kohli is the Artistic Director of Bollywood Monster Mashup (the largest South Asian festival in Canada) and Monster Rock Orchestra (People’s Choice Award, Mississauga). His award-winning contributions include Mission Istaanbul (performed live at the International Indian Film Academy Awards (IIFA), and two Bollywood albums with Mika Singh.
Adam Shamoon
Adam Shamoon is the founding director of the DOC Institute, an initiative of the Documentary Organization of Canada, Toronto Chapter, which provides a hub for nonfiction professionals to learn business skills, hone their craft and make industry connections. Learn more at www.docinstitute.com
Eileen Arandiga
Eileen Arandiga is the former Festival Director of the CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, a festival she was associated with for over 10 years in various capacities. Eileen has run film and video workshops for young women in Toronto, has sat on festival juries, and has been a guest speaker at festivals around the world.
Karla Bobadilla
Karla Bobadilla is an entertainment and media lawyer, practicing primarily in film, television and new media rights acquisition, production and distribution. Previously, she worked at the Canadian Media Production Association providing policy, regulatory, government relations, strategic planning, advocacy, and lobby work. Karla is also the former Chair of the Board of Directors of Reel Asian.
Immanuel Lanzaderas
Immanuel Lanzaderas is a bilingual criminal lawyer for Legal Aid Ontario. He is a founding member of the Federation of Asian Canadian Lawyers, and served on their board of directors for five years. Immanuel enjoys tennis, and Fifth Generation Chinese Cinema.
Victoria Shen
Victoria Shen is a human rights and labour lawyer. She works at the Canadian Media Producers Association (CMPA) as Director, National Industrial Relations and Counsel. She is a former board member of FACL and President of CCNCTO. She was a board member of Reel Asian from 2008-2014.
Lisa Valencia-Svensson
Lisa Valencia-Svensson is an award-winning documentary film producer based in Toronto. Her first feature-length documentary, Herman’s House, won an Emmy for Outstanding Arts & Cultural Programming. Her second feature Migrat Dreams was a Top Ten Audience Favourite at Hot Docs. Her passion is for film projects which explore issues of inequality and social justice.
Michael Fukushima
Michael Fukushima is studio head and executive producer of the National Film Board of Canada’s world-renowned English Animation Studio. After freelancing following college, Fukushima joined the Animation Studio in 1990 as a filmmaker, then became a studio producer, and is now head of the fabled studio, with over 200 films (and some nice awards and nominations) under his belt.
Kattie Fan
Kattie Fan is dedicated to integrating theoretical knowledge with artistic and technical skills to create art experiences for people and gain a wider vision in life. Currently she is the festival director of ifva – an event organised by the Hong Kong Arts Centre and one of the most established short film and media art awards festivals in the region. She is also a co-founder of art ware – an indepenent curatorial initiative focusing on the promotion of moving images and new media art in Hong Kong since 2010
*All decisions made by the juries are final and binding and not subject to appeal.