Each year, Reel Asian celebrates Asian talent with awards for features and short films. Juried by distinguished creatives, filmmakers and industry professionals, these awards speak to the brilliant talent within our communities and the meaningful impact these stories leave with our audiences.
All feature works are eligible for this prize.
$4,000 cash prize
Sheron Dayoc
Jury Statement
A film that’s both small and huge, this film brought us intimately into a unique world, with characters we soon won’t forget. Cruel but also tender, the film quietly builds, methodically revealing new layers, until by the end, you’re left floored. This is a testament to the filmmaker’s assuredness of vision and command of storytelling. The jury was so impressed by this filmmaker’s distinct and profound cinematic voice.
Akira Nagai
Jury Statement
The jury was completely taken by this outrageous, wickedly sharp and hilarious satire that never ceased to surprise and delight from the first frame to the last. This is cinema at its most alive and unruly, not afraid to confidently exist in a register all its own. An exhilarating piece of work.
All first feature films are eligible for this prize.
$4,000 cash prize
Patrick Alcedo
Jury Statement
We were impressed and moved by the film’s thoughtful and beautifully nuanced portrayal of women who face the seemingly impossible tasks of living in two places at once and of somehow finding purpose and fulfillment in both worlds. The jury believes that the film’s intelligence and sensitivity makes it all the more remarkable as a first feature.
All Canadian works are eligible for this prize
$1,000 cash prize
Patrick Alcedo
Jury Statement
An intimate portrait of the lives of three Filipina women who have come to Canada as foreign domestic workers in Toronto. A Piece of Paradise is a rumination on the challenges of family, home, identity and the pursuit of one’s own personal paradise. Shot in three countries over a five year period, the jury was impressed by the filmmaker’s honest portrayal of these women lives and their dedication to their faith, their community and their family.
All feature documentaries are eligible for this prize
$1,000 cash prize
Megumi Sasaki
Jury Statement
On paper this film seems like an impossible task. However, with grace and nuance, this film deftly brings compassion and understanding to a hotly controversial debate. The jury recognizes the filmmaker’s skill and courage to strip away the sensationalism, bitterness and hysteria and truly find the humanity. In doing so, this film continued to resonant and challenge long after the final credits rolled.
All short films and videos are eligible for this prize. Opportunity to broadcast on Air Canada’s in-flight entertainment screens on international flights
Evan Wu
Jury Statement
A well-told, convincing portrayal of a delicately changing relationship between two brothers, moving and empowering the lives of people with developmental disabilities.
Joseph Chen-Chieh Hsu
Jury Statement
A beautiful, complex portrait of a matriarch saying goodbye to a lost love, hello to his new girlfriend and the family dynamics in the wake of his death. It will make you hungry for her shrimp rolls and want to ride in a karaoke cab with her. Such skillful storytelling with a strong lead character, featuring wonderful moments of humour blended throughout the film.
Liong Sieu-Hong
Jury Statement
Quietly heartbreaking, this film was beautifully acted by its young cast, expressing more with a gesture than any words could convey.
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Nakyung Kim
Jury Statement
Intimate and chilling, this gut-wrenching film provides a fresh perspective on a very timely topic. Very believable portrayal of how people’s need to protect their self interest can turn so quickly to coldness and harshness.
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All animated works are eligible for this prize.
$800 cash prize
Robin Joseph
Jury Statement
We were immediately drawn into the stunning visuals of the lush natural environment, combined with a touch of whimsy, playfulness, and wonder. Enjoyable for any age, this film needs to be shared to many audiences.
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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.
Mariam Zaidi
Jury Statement
Commendable doc that provides an intimate portrait bringing us to the heart of a changing Regent Park.
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All feature works are eligible for this prize, selected through a tally of votes from the viewers of the 21st edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
$5,000 cash prize
Nattawut Poonpiriya
with support from
Alice Liu & Bianca Linhares-Huang
Alice Il Shin
Helen du Toit
Helen du Toit has a background in independent film production and curation of international film festivals. As Senior Interim Director, she currently oversees CBC’s Breaking Barriers Film Fund, a program established to support the work of under-represented filmmakers.
Albert Shin
Albert Shin graduated from York University with a BFA in Fim and Video Production in 2006 and directed his debut feature, Point Traverse, in 2010. He returned to the director’s chair for his second feature, In Her Place (2014), which premiered at TIFF and went on to receive seven Canadian Screen Award nominations.
Jason Anderson
Jason Anderson is co-programmer for Short Cuts at the Toronto International Film Festival and director of programming for the Kingston Canadian Film Festival. He regularly writes about film, music, and the arts for such publications as Sight and Sound, Uncut, Cinema Scope, and The Toronto Star. He also teaches at the University of Toronto and the Ryerson School of Journalism.
Joyce Wong
Joyce Wong is an award-winning director and writer. Her debut fiction feature, Wexford Plaza, screened in competition at the Slamdance Film Festival and won the Center for Asian American Media’s 2017 Best Narrative Feature Award. She is an alumna of the 2008 Berlinale Talent Campus and the 2016 TIFF Talent Lab.
Milda Yoo
Milda Yoo is the Director of Sales & Acquisitions at Pacific Northwest Pictures, a Canadian film distributor that releases content across all platforms. She has extensive experience in the film industry specializing in digital, on-demand, and broadcast sales. She has previously held positions at Warner Bros. Entertainment, eOne Films, and Alliance Films.
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.
Shasha Nakhai
Shasha Nakhai is a filmmaker based out of Toronto with Compy Films. Her award-winning short films have screened at festivals and aired on TV worldwide, been released on iTunes, gone viral and been awarded Vimeo Staff Pick and Short of the Week. Her latest film, FRAME 394, was shortlisted for the 2017 Academy Award for Best Documentary Short. It was named one of TIFF’s Top 10 Films of 2016, and was nominated for 2 Canadian Screen Awards. Shasha was born in the Philippines, grew up in Nigeria and came to Canada as an international student in 2003.
Heid Tao Yang
Heidi Tao Yang currently manages the Hot Docs Film Funds where she oversees Hot Docs’ portfolio of documentary film funds for Canadian and international documentary films. In this role she works with filmmakers from around the world on their projects and oversee Hot Docs’ investment in their work and professional development. Heidi has a background in producing and developing fiction and nonfiction for film and TV. Heidi is an alumnus of the Producer’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre. If there is spare time, she devotes it to reading books.
*All decisions made by the juries are final and binding and not subject to appeal.
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from Asia and the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.
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