CineSpace Toronto has launched its new Cinecares Workforce Training Program, in partnership with BIPOC TV & Film, the Indigenous Screen Office, and POV Film. Aimed specifically at BIPOC individuals seeking film- and television-related apprenticeships and on-set placements, the Cinecares program will offer trainees hands-on training on signatory productions for Set Decorators, Props, Grip, Lighting, and General Labour for up to twelve (12) weeks and will, upon starting their paid placements, gain permit status with IATSE Local 873. This is an incredible opportunity to further the development of BIPOC creatives behind the camera, on set, and in the production ecosystem!
Header photo from POV Film
The début feature from Vancouver-based filmmaker Anthony Shim was selected to open our 2023 festival and it was wildly popular with the capacity crowd. It would go on to win the Best Canadian Feature Film or Video award and lead actor Ethan Hwang would garner an Armstrong Studios Acting Award at our festival. We are proud to see Shim and his cast & crew getting their flowers with multiple CSA nominations. Watch the episode of our Backstory Podcast featuring Shim and lead actress Seung-yoon Choi here!
NominationsThis film by South Asian Canadian director Nisha Pahuja was recently selected as one of TIFF’s Top Ten. Pahuja was a panelist at our Canadian Films Shot in Asia Industry Series session (the precursor to our Reel Ideas stream of programming) in 2015.
NominationsAnn Shin‘s powerful and unnerving documentary opened the 2021 Hot Docs Festival and the work is up for two awards. Shin has been a friend and advisor to the festival many times over the years.
NominationsRUN THE BURBS was a marquee live event for Reel Ideas at RA2022. A popular and well-attended event saw the cast and showrunners addressing the importance of bringing a cultural consultant on board to ensure the specificity and authenticity of the work. The show is up for numerous awards involving Reel Asian alumni.
NominationsThis dramedy airing on CBC Gem stars South Asian performer Bilal Baig as Sabi Mehboob, a non-binary millennial trying to balance their roles as a child of Pakistani immigrant parents, a bartender at an LGBTQ bookstore and café, and a caregiver to the young children of a professional couple. Among its nominations, the series has a pair involving Reel Asian alumni.
NominationsThe TallBoyz troupe appeared in the anti-piracy messages of the 2021 festival and were featured in an artist talk in the 2019 Reel Ideas stream of programming. Troupe member Franco Nguyen is also a filmmaker whose works have been screened at the festival.
NominationsMontréaler Michael Fukushima was the former executive producer of the National Film Board‘s English Animation Studio before retiring recently. He was our Canadian Spotlight Artist in 2012 and after serving as a Pitch Juror for us for many years, he currently sits on Reel Asian’s Board of Directors, where he helps spearhead our Reel Asian Alumni Network activities. In what he describes as probably his last nomination for a Canadian Screen Award, he is being recognized for his work as an executive producer for THE ORCHID AND THE BEE.
NominationsVancouver-based creative Paisley Smith was part of RA2018 with her VR project HOMESTAY the focus of that year’s RA:X stream of programming. She is nominated for her work on the immersive piece UNCEDED TERRITORIES.
NominationsTOKENS, now in season 2, is the creation of Winnifred Jong, whose microshort MILK played the Food For Thought: Short Eats programme at our 2017 festival. The web series is a tongue-in-cheek comedy about the actors who find themselves randomly sent to productions desperate to hit their diversity quotas and features tons of BIPOC creatives & talent both in front of and behind the camera.
NominationsTOPLINE is the brainchild of prolific FilCan creative Romeo Candido, who has screened extensively at Reel Asian and was featured as our Canadian Spotlight Artist at the 2022 festival. The series stars Cyrena Fiel as Tala, a 16-year-old girl who dreams of being a singer with an alter ego called ‘Illisha’. When one of her songs as Illisha goes viral her life begins to change and Tala must learn to find her own voice. Reel Asian showcased an electrifying screening of the entire series with live musical performances by the cast as the Festival Closing Gala event of our 26th edition.
NominationsProlific FilCan filmmaker Romeo Candido has screened extensively at Reel Asian, most recently being featured as our Canadian Spotlight Artist at our 2022 festival. He is nominated for his work on the young adult series THE NEXT STEP.
NominationsToronto-based producer Teresa M. Ho is being nominated in for her role as showrunner on THE DEPARTURE. Ho served on Reel Asian’s finance committee in 2009-2010 and both she and her independent production company 100 Dragons have been strong supporters and friends of the festival ever since.
NominationsVeteran filmmaker Gloria Ui-Young Kim‘s first film at Reel Asian was the short A SOLITARY SILENCE back in 2000. Her most recent Reel Asian screening was her feature QUEEN OF THE MORNING CALM in 2020, and she has screened numerous works in between. She is nominated for her work on the dramatic series HEARTLAND.
NominationsActor Paul Sun-Hyung Lee is best known for his role as Appa on CBC’s much beloved (and sadly departed) series KIM’S CONVENIENCE. He participated in two marqeee Reel Ideas live events along with other KIM’S cast members in 2016 and 2017 and can always be counted on to keep coming out to support the festival. He is being nominated for his hosting work at the 2021 SCOTIABANK GILLER PRIZE.
NominationsMarvel Universe superhero Simu Liu was part of the second cohort of our Unsung Voices programme all the way back in 2013. He credits Reel Asian in his recent book We Were Dreamers: “..the experience of learning how to put a film together from the ground up has continued to pay dividends for me, allowing me to produce my own work when others were not giving me the opportunities I needed.” Liu is being nominated for his work on THE 2022 JUNOS.
NominationsNg is a long-time friend and supporter of the festival. An accomplished cinematographer, she was among our very first mentors in the inaugural cycle of our Unsung Voices program all the way back in 2012. She also served on the Features Jury for us that year. She is nominated for her work in the quirky comedy STRAYS.
NominationsPornel co-hosted our digital Awards Show in 2021 with Angela Sun and will join the cast of RUN THE BURBS for season 2. She has come out to numerous festival events and screenings and she is nominated for the hosting gig that made her a household name, THE GREAT CANADIAN BAKING SHOW.
NominationsAcclaimed director Warren P. Sonoda has been an awards presenter at Reel Asian on behalf of the Director’s Guild of Canada and Reel Asian was actively involved in promoting an online screening of his work THE THINGS I DO FOR MONEY, the first successful wide-release genre film to feature Japanese Canadian leads. He is nominated for his work on the kids series ODD SQUAD MOBILE UNIT.
NominationsWei hosted the artist talk with Midi Onodera as part of the Reel Ideas Conference in 2019 and has more recently DJ’d the 2022 Festival Launch Party. They are co-nominated (along with Ann Tipper) for their work on SEX WITH SUE.
NominationsBorn in Hong Kong but now based in Toronto, cinematographer Kevin C.W. Wong was a panelist on our Industry Series session The Reality of DV Filmmaking all the way back in 2005. The Industry Series was the precursor to our Reel Ideas stream of programming. He is nominated for his work on the reality series MARY MAKES IT EASY.
NominationsYe is a prolific and highly-renown director and cinematographer. She generously agreed to participate as a mentor in the 11th cycle of our Unsung Voices program in 2022. She is nominated for her work in the comedy series DETENTION ADVENTURE.
NominationsYoung has appeared as an actor in several films that have screened at Reel Asian and he was a Pitch juror for us in 2021. He is nominated for his work on the children’s series DINO RANCH.
Nominations8 Apr, 2022
At this year’s Canadian Screen Awards, the winner of the Best Direction in a Documentary, Barry Avrich, stated “…this is a testament that there are so many Black stories in Canada that need to be told, it doesn’t matter who tells them, we just need to tell them.” We at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival profoundly disagree.
We stand in solidarity with the Black Screen Office and the Reelworld Screen Institute, whose statements appear below.
20 Mar, 2021
Reel Asian is proud to join other media organizations and sector unions in support of NABET 700-M UNIFOR‘s new Terminology Reform initiative, launching to coincide with International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on Sunday, March 21, 2021.
From their statement:
“The entertainment sector, like many others, is grappling with questions of how to build a diverse and inclusive workplace. We have a unique dual responsibility to do so, as an industry both highly visible to the public, and bearing the power to shape the public’s perceptions.
The attached Terminology Reform bulletin was created by a NABET 700-M UNIFOR Permittee who saw an opportunity for change from within their own ranks. This bulletin highlights terminology used regularly on set primarily in the Grip and Lighting Departments, terms that should be immediately removed from set vocabulary due to their discriminatory origins and/or implications.
We hope that by identifying terms that are currently being used without awareness of their impact and message they send, and by sharing the origins of these terms, crews can move onto language that promotes open and inclusive workplaces.”
(click here for a mobile-friendly PDF)
26 Oct, 2020
Reel Asian’s community message board, the RA Film Forum, is now live on Discord, hosted by Hot Pot Community and ISO Radio. We are excited to offer this space where filmgoers can connect with one another and talk about the films they’re excited about seeing – or ones they’ve just seen. Think of it as the online equivalent of the movie theatre lobby!
RA Film Forum is on Discord
The RA Film Forum is hosted on Discord, the popular chat-and-messaging service that has grown from a favourite hangout for gamers to expand into all sorts of communities.
Joining is simple – just click below and you will be taken to our Discord server. Once you reach the welcome screen, read over the code of conduct in the welcome message and react to the message using the green checkmark icon.
You will then see categories and channels open up on the left-hand side of the page. Join one and say hello! Staff members are identified by their names being in yellow, so you can always tag one of us (type our names with an @-sign in front of it) to get our attention.
RA Film Forum is presented with the support of
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
