Meticulously detailed and choreographed, director Kyle Credo delivers an authentic snapshot into Justin, a timid Filipino boy, and his afternoon.
A breathtaking and touching documentary alerting the urgency to care for our habitats and preserve the incredible knowledge of the Ama, a tradition of women divers spanning over thousands of years in Japan, weaving the director’s personal connection to it all.
Torn between her mental illness and her desire for long standing love, a young woman named Maria tries
to tame her self-destructive tendencies in an attempt to preserve her partner's affection.
Hardcore and punk to the max, this electric documentary shares the story of Atomic Nancy and the infamous Atomic Café in L.A.
Beautifully shot against visceral landscapes of New Mexico, Ayah is a 10-year-old refugee on her first camping trip who ends up finding connection to ancestral memory even in the most unfamiliar of places.
Though brief and contained, Bind provides an extensive glimpse into the trans Asian diaspora when Jules is confronted by a surprise visit from their mother with their chest binder.
If three dogs who dabble with dog-ception to save their fellow four-legged friend isn’t enticing enough, it’s also a musical with some animation and features Donggyu Lee, the Korean Benedict Cumberbatch.
Caught between two seemingly isolated worlds, director Danielle Ayow interrogates her own cultural identity as Trini and Chinese with much heart and humour. Sometimes asking is not enough as Ayow’s process makes clear the harm of essentializing identity and ultimately, the limitations of language.
In this light, yet deeply moving short, Dva Liu returns home to Shaoguan with the wish of taking “couple portraits” with her aging grandfather.
A love letter to the queer Asian community, director Allie Cuerdo finds the strength to come out and rebuild a relationship with her mom with a little help and inspiration from New York’s radical dance party Bubble_T.
Learning from and caring for the land she farms on, Catherine Nguyen owns two-thirds of an acre by herself growing and selling annual vegetables while challenging the industrialization of food in Portland, Oregon.
Pakistani-Canadian artist Wahab Jaffer endearingly retells his journey from collector to artist and imparts the lessons he’s learned along the way.
An unapologetic statement about queer joy, resistance, and resilience in the face of abuse, trauma, and transphobia.
Shin-mi, a dancer, bravely faces forward with grace and style as she takes the physical examination at the Military Manpower Administration. Winner of the Change Connect Award, Reel Asian 2020.
Beautifully poetic, Handscape tells the story of Xia Qing and his desire to dance despite his mother’s outright disapproval.
At 62, Samriti visits her late father’s home in Amritsar, India - a place that only existed in retellings of the past - for the very first time.
On a journey to a small island town, two city boys explore their shared love for fishing. Travelling alongside an ocean run of salmon, they find there is much more to discover about themselves.
Navigating her thoughts on white beauty standards, a girl seeks to understand her relationship to them,
and express the damaging effects and harm that fetishizing Asian women causes.
What does it take to open conversation and unpack your family’s past? Playful and unabashed, director Yeon Park sets off to do so by purchasing a time machine off eBay. Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020.
I Dream of Vancouver interrogates alienation from the lived experience of spaces as they are subsumed by algorithms and mediated images, linking corporate technologies and gentrification with the erasure of populations that don’t fit Google’s agenda. Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020.
Drawing parallels between ikebana and finding belonging, Japanese Canadian elder Kaz Takahashi shares stories of her upbringing.
Tenderly crafted, director Anne Koizumi recounts a shameful childhood memory spurring conversation and a self-realization that which felt out of reach was there all along.
Joelle is determined to uphold a Filipino tradition even if it means spending the night in a funeral home. Loosely based on the director’s own experiences. Winner of WIFT-T Film Award, Reel Asian 2020.
A newcomer to the film industry, Margo’s careful and cautious actions make clear the insidious traces of misogyny that permeate through.
Accurately awkward, Rose attends a karaoke party and hears a voice louder than her own in this subtly nuanced take on navigating adulthood and finding independence.
Created by a community of local Filipinx creatives, Novena is an affectingly crafted poetry animation touching upon grief, mourning, and healing.
Addressing the harm racialized women as professional and informal caregivers face and can internalize, Tahirih Vejdani delivers a resonating performance as Sriyani, an overtaxed social care worker.
With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is about community complexity and longing—an elegy to a lost space as much as it is director Vivek Shraya’s ode to a closed popular Edmonton gay bar.
Blending Indonesian tradition and culture with fantasy and mysticism, RONG is a terrifying yet satisfying take on a girl who walks home alone at night as the hunted becomes the hunter. Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020.
Filled with evocative imagery, this queer futuristic short follows Jia, who develops the ability to teleport when she dissociates and must learn how to control her powers. Winner of the National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020
A film that began over 15 years ago, Sing Me a Lullaby is a heartachingly touching story of a daughter’s attempt to piece together the missing parts in her mother’s history. Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020.
This action-comedy short features Sedina Fiati as Super Zee, a kickbutt queer Black superhero who swoops in to save her crush from the microaggressions at the office.
Steadily narrated by the director’s grandmother, The Fourfold imbues an indigenous worldview and wisdom based on the ancient shamanic rituals and animistic beliefs in Mongolia and Siberia.
Our focus shifts from the oversaturated cityscape of Hong Kong to the mundane, yet peaceful fisherman’s life of a retired hitman. When his apprentice arrives unannounced, will the tranquility last?
Pairing personal home videos with audio-recorded stories from Katherine Chun, Wenda Li, Tamai Kobayashi, and Nancy Seto - four queer Asian women recall, relive, and reflect upon their adolescent years.
Confronting patriarchy and societal gender norms aside, Tiger and Ox is about a fraught yet loving relationship between mother and daughter.
“Where do you want to start?” The relationship between mother and son, uttered and silent, what’s known and forgotten, archival footage and public spaces are strewn into this affecting elliptical portrait of Orange County’s Little Saigon touching upon the history of war, displacement, and colonialism.
Paving their own paths towards freedom and independence, Turf Nation follows the street dancers who perform on BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) trains in Oakland as they navigate their interpersonal relationships, the system, and their burgeoning dance influence.
Sunday is a semi-autobiographical animation based on the filmmaker’s childhood memories of growing up
within her father’s church. Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020.
