Accessibility

This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, English subtitles, and no captions.
Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Canada, Germany, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Sweden, Taiwan, U.K., USA2018–202560 minVarious languages with English SubtitlesAvailable Online
Through animation’s unique ability to push boundaries and reimagine narratives, this programme reflects the formative dreams that continue to shape Inside Out and Reel Asian. Step into this chaotic but tender journey with us.
For: time travellers; plane counters; animation lovers; dancers; weirdo blobs; fans of Lu and Kelly
*Directors in attendance starred.
Lu Linares
Co-Curator
Lu Linares is a Peruvian Canadian festival programmer and arts administrator whose work is shaped by their experiences as a queer immigrant. They are currently the programming and industry manager at the Inside Out 2SLGBTQ+ Film Festival.

Germany202413 minEnglishAnimation, Available Online, Non-binary, Queer, Transgender
Sam, a deviant artist and proud flower person, is spending one last day in a flower spa with his mother before his final performance act.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Ariel Victor Arthanto
Ariel Victor Arthanto is an Indonesian-born animation filmmaker and illustrator based in Berlin, crafting vibrant 2D worlds that mix playful compositions, bold figures, and character-driven storytelling across film and illustration.

South Korea20203 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Available Online, Music, Queer
One night, while Seolgi is lying on a grass field with friends, a shooting star falls and dark intrusive thoughts hit her, bursting with movement and blooming bright colours.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Sasha Lee
Sasha Lee is an animator who likes plants and animals.

Taiwan, U.K.20246 minMandarin with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Gay
I’ve practised these words for 20 years now, but maybe being candid isn’t the best idea. I’m starting my countdown again — another 20 years. Maybe it will be the right time by then.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
WeiFan Wang
WeiFan Wang is an animation director based in Taipei and London. His practice consists of self-reflective animations that explore intimate and unspoken emotions.

Singapore, USA20238 minNo dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Experimental, Non-binary, Queer
One night, a person brushes a dog's teeth and turns into a bus.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
Exyl
Exyl is a filmmaker working under the umbrella of experimental animation. They love work that is cheap. They care about being honest. They hate thinking about being marketable.

Taiwan, UK2018 6:00No dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Experimental, Gay, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary, Queer, Transgender
Comprising over 2,000 hand-painted frames, Adorable presents a journey of a queer person, illustrating modern queer society, where discrimination, freedom, and love coexist.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Cheng-Hsu Chung
Cheng-Hsu Chung is a Taiwanese animation artist and director based in Berlin. Chung’s artistic practice focuses on surreal images and character performances in animation to articulate the changing nature of emotion, modern love, and the experiences queer bodies encounter.

Canada20196 minEnglishAvailable Online
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 now-closed iconic Edmonton gay bar.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Vivek Shraya
A three-time Canadian Screen Award winner, Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, TV, film, and fashion.

Malaysia, Sweden20229 minNo dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Environment, Family-friendly, Queer, Romance
Newly orphaned and freshly wounded from a loss, a boy lends his companion a prosthetic arm for the day. This is a slow and meditative film about everyday gestures of love, communicated through our universal understanding of body language.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
Gabriel Gabriel Garble
Gabriel Gabriel Garble works across animation, film, and geology, exploring how imagery and material ecologies intertwine.

South Korea20259 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Drama
A girl unexpectedly bumps into her childhood best friend and finds herself torn between rekindling their lost connection or letting the moment slip away forever.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Hanna Kang
Hanna Kang is a graduate of the Korea National University of Arts.
6 Nov, 2025 8:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG

This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, English subtitles, and no captions.
Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
All short films are available digitally through our Digital Shorts Pass
CONTENT ADVISORY
Flashing strobe lights; depictions of violence
The discussion will explore how festivals can better support accessibility — from accommodating filmmakers with disabilities and reaching diverse audiences, to guiding creators on inclusive practices like budgeting for captioning.
The 29th edition of Reel Asian is about to unfold! Celebrate with us at Tha Phae Tavern!
Join us at Sankofa Square on Mon, Oct 27 at 12PM as we announce our programming with four guest directors and hold an artist talk with this year's Festival Creative Artist, Janet Mac.
Malaysia, Sweden20229 minNo dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Environment, Family-friendly, Queer, Romance
Newly orphaned and freshly wounded from a loss, a boy lends his companion a prosthetic arm for the day. This is a slow and meditative film about everyday gestures of love, communicated through our universal understanding of body language.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
Gabriel Gabriel Garble
Gabriel Gabriel Garble works across animation, film, and geology, exploring how imagery and material ecologies intertwine.
6 Nov, 2025 8:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4GA
Ireland, Malaysia202423 minMalay, English, MandarinDirected By Women, Drama, Horror
Set in Malaysia's National Service training camp, Jia Hui, a female ethnic-Chinese trainee, is commanded by her teacher to lead her multiracial female comrades in washing stained sanitary pads in the middle of the night.
This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
This title is not available digitally – join us in-cinema to watch!
Mickey Lai
Born in Malaysia, Mickey Lai is a filmmaker who graduated with a master of film and TV production at MetFilm School in London. Lai is interested in telling stories about diverse cultural values, mortality, and self-identity.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: PUSH BACK shorts programme.
16 Nov, 2024 7:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3Canada, Ireland, Malaysia, Singapore, USA2023-2024TRT: 86 minVarious languages
Trivial or not, these short films push and push ... and push. Is it provocation, retaliation, or sheer determination? Regardless of the answer, how far might you be willing to go?
For: non-believers; genre buffs; task achievers

Canada20249 minEnglishAvailable Online, Comedy, Drama
Pressured into giving away his clothes, an emasculated young man obsessively attempts to reclaim his cherished sweater before it vanishes into the donation abyss.
This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
*Maziyar Khatam
Maziyar Khatam is an Iranian Canadian director and writer who is passionate about telling offbeat and revealing stories. He is also the co-owner of Funny Bone Pictures, a production company in Toronto.

Ireland, Malaysia202423 minMalay, English, MandarinDirected By Women, Drama, Horror
Set in Malaysia's National Service training camp, Jia Hui, a female ethnic-Chinese trainee, is commanded by her teacher to lead her multiracial female comrades in washing stained sanitary pads in the middle of the night.
This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
This title is not available digitally – join us in-cinema to watch!
Mickey Lai
Born in Malaysia, Mickey Lai is a filmmaker who graduated with a master of film and TV production at MetFilm School in London. Lai is interested in telling stories about diverse cultural values, mortality, and self-identity.

Canada20237 minEnglish, CantoneseAvailable Online, Drama
Left home alone, 10-year-old Alex watches his older brother, Quinn, play video games. When his efforts for attention are neglected, Alex sparks a fight that takes a serious turn.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
*Noah Nicholson
Noah Nicholson is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Focused on stories about youth and family, Nicholson aims to explore complicated familial relationships through a realist lens.

Singapore202410 minMandarin, English Animation, Available Online, Comedy, Directed By Women, Drama
Grace Lee, an overworked mom in Singapore, collapses at work. She gets admitted into the hospital, where she finds newfound freedom as a patient.
This film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
Calleen Koh
Calleen Koh is a Singaporean BAFTA-nominated animation filmmaker, currently at CalArts for the experimental animation MFA programme. Enamoured by dark comedy, her films are known for their subversively irreverent energy.

Canada202424 minEnglishAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Horror
On the brink of getting fired from her restaurant by its new owners, Marielle Lau, a visionary chef and master fermenter, develops an incendiary new dish with a bewitching ingredient she’s convinced will save her career.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
ONLINE : This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
*Priscilla Galvez
Priscilla Galvez is a Toronto-based director and producer. Her films have premiered at international film festivals including TIFF, DOC NYC, Fantastic Fest, and SXSW.

USA202413 minEnglish, Tagalog2slgbtq+, Available Online, Directed By Women, Drama
Yaya and Louie, two baby goths, prepare to summon the ghost of Edgar Allan Poe, but a series of unexpected obstacles jeopardize the entire spooky spectacle — and maybe even their friendship.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
Andrea A. Walter
Andrea A. Walter is a British Filipino filmmaker whose work premiered at SXSW and Inside Out. They are a 2024 Women in Film Cinematography fellow and mentored by Lilly Wachowski.
16 Nov, 2024 7:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3AA
CONTENT ADVISORY
Depictions of violence, Animated depictions of mental illness, self-harm, blood, gore, Depictions of gore; body horror
Please find a list of local and affordable resources below that are arranged alphabetically by name, with the focus or format of their support.
DIGITAL SHORTS
All shorts are available online via a Shorts VOD Pass. Valid from 10AM on Monday, Nov 18 thru 11:59PM on Sunday, Nov 24, 2024.
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This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, English subtitles, and no captions. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Family dynamics are complicated. No matter how intimately familiar kin can feel, there's room for surprise to the point where we wonder if we even knew them at all. Which stories and emotions do we hold inside, and which are we ready to share?
In 1923, Canada passed the ironically named Chinese Immigration Act — better known as the Chinese Exclusion Act — which for the next 24 years barred virtually any Chinese person from entering the country. They were the first ethnic group to be singled out in this way.
Five oblivious youths, a video camera, a remote rundown villa, and a creepy caretaker. Doesn’t it sound like the perfect recipe for a horror film? A mysterious death that soon follows takes the story on a route beyond the fourth wall. The group find out that they’re characters of The Draft! of a screenplay, and that their smarts will dictate their survival.
Malaysia202312 minEnglishExperimental, Fantasy
Two crocodilian men go to a swimming pool to cool off. One of them is seemingly of a different and special kind; the other is unable to control his desire.

Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Mark Chua and Li Shuen Lam are a filmmaker and artist duo. Their films often employ absurdist imagery, thinking on place, histories and the peculiarity of human desire.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: THE STRANGE, THE ODD, AND THE FAMILIAR shorts programme.
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
There’s no need to be certain about what’s next as this collection of shorts places us in a position to face specific pivotal moments of reckoning. Whether we’re feeling stuck or turbulent in the chaos of transition, can we remain gentle to ourselves?
The Good Guise is an artist collective in Toronto formed to spark conversations around healthy masculinity.
Malaysia2023 95 minMalay with English subtitlesToronto PremiereHorror
Free-spirited 12-year-old Zaffan is the first of her friends to get her period and experience the body-changing horrors that come with puberty and menstruation. Set in a kampong, or a Malaysian village, structured around patriarchy and religious expectations, she tries to conceal her pubescent traits out of fear of ostracization. Panic spreads in the village when a monster or demonic spirit is rumored to be roaming the surrounding jungle. Exposed by her peers, Zaffan eventually learns to embrace herself in the face of exclusion and cultural condemnation. A coming-of-age body horror that playfully weaves elements of Southeast Asian folklore, Tiger Stripes is a roaring celebration of embracing monstrosity and otherness.
– Sarah Barzak
Zafreen Zairizal
Deena Ezral
Piqa
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Cannes Film Festival, Critic’s Week, 2023
Sydney Film Festival, 2023
Fantasia Film Festival, 2023
AWARDS
Cannes Film Festival, Critics’ Week Grand Prize, 2023
Amanda Nell Eu
Amanda Nell Eu is a Malaysian-born director who explores the female body and identity within the sociocultural context of Southeast Asia. She graduated from London Film School and is an alumni of the Berlinale Talent Campus and Locarno Filmmakers Academy. Tiger Stripes is her debut feature film, and is the first Malaysian film to win an award at Cannes.
14A
Content Warning: Blood, bullying, physical violence
11 Nov, 2023 7:30 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C3–

This screening is presented with English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Following our Building Forces: The Director Producer Relationship panel, stay for a reception with Canadian Media Producers Association, a chance to network, ask questions, and enjoy snacks and refreshments. Especially good for Producers!
Ho-jun, a flailing actor, has found relative success as a social media influencer, hawking fishing hacks. He preps his live stream at his preferred fishing spot, only to be disrupted by an obnoxious stranger whose bad vibes are ruining the morning.
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
Malaysia2021-2022TRT: 1h07English, Bahasa Melayu, Malay, Cantonese, Mandarin Comedy, Documentary, Drama, Experimental Horror, Family-friendly, Mockumentary
Initiated in 2002 by Yuni Hadi (Singapore), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Chalida Uabumrungjit (Thailand), S-Express has become an annual showcase of programming from Southeast Asia, spotlighting the abundant filmmaking talent and a nuanced insight into the stories of each participating region. This year, Reel Asian presents S-Express Malaysia, programmed by Chong Lee Yow of Mini Film Festival, featuring five films depicting one's ability to (un)trap themselves from limitations set upon them, be it bodily, mind, or soul, to achieve relief and victory.

Malaysia202122 minEnglish and Bahasa Melayu with English subtitlesComedy, Directed By Women, Mockumentary
A beloved horror actress questions the triviality of her career starring in Pontianak films, all the while being filmed by a group of documentary filmmakers.

Alina Wong JinKei
Alina Wong is a Malaysian writer-director who strives to tell stories that incite wonder, conversations and emotions.

Malaysia202215 minMalay with English subtitlesExperimental, Horror
A religious officer and a journalist embark on a close-proximity case in a house that seems to have other plans.

Aldina Lydia Nabilah Azani
Although she shines with positivity, Aldina Lydia Nabilah binti Azani’s head is still full of sadness and darkness.
Malaysia20217 minMalay with English subtitlesExperimental
Two sisters seeking revenge for the murder of their sister, Isabel.

Yazeid Suhaimi
Extremely attentive to visual details and storytelling, Yazeid Suhaimi is proficient in directing and cinematography roles especially in short film, commercial, photography, and music video.

Malaysia202212 minCantonese with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Documentary, Family-friendly
Unaware it's her dementia-ridden grandmother’s final months, a filmmaker documents her grandmother's physical changes.

Mickey Lai
Mickey Lai is an emerging filmmaker who is interested in developing stories about diverse cultural values, mortality, and self-identity.

Malaysia202211 minMandarin with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Drama
On her 21st birthday, A Xin, who studied abroad in Taiwan, meets her brother who came from Malaysia.

Pei Szi Wong
From learning how to shoot to archiving a film, Wong Pei Szi is a Malaysian student who studies abroad in Taiwan.
PG
Content Warning: Depictions of violence, guns, death, suicide
10 Nov, 2023 5:30 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C3–

This programme is presented with English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
The Sari-Sari Xchange is a project that seeks to amplify Asian representation in the creative emerging media industries in Canada, particularly through a community-building residency program that engages artists with digital and extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 360 cinema, game-engine animation, and 3D scanning.
Canada, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, UK, USA2022-2023TRT: 1h30Tagalog, English, Korean2slgbtq+, Animation, Comedy, Directed By Women, Drama, Experimental, Romance, Science Fiction
Hmm … this doesn’t seem right?! This programme asks us to sit with the discomforting feelings that arise when we begin to confront the unknown in what we believe to know.
*Directors in attendance starred.

Philippines, Singapore202315 minTagalog with English subtitlesComedy, Drama
The audition process for an exploitative game show becomes the latest test of a long-suffering mother’s fortitude and tenacity.

Sonny Calvento
Sonny Calvento is a director, writer, and producer based in Manila. At the age of 19, he worked as a drama writer for ABS-CBN, the largest broadcasting network in the Philippines.

UK20223 minEnglishAnimation, Experimental, Science Fiction
A mad clock takes the viewer on a time trip to a random planet where the concept of time is experienced differently from the one we know...

*Shunny Kim & Taewan Kim
Shunny Kim and Taewan Kim are animators based in London. Co-directing their BA graduation film, their interests aligned through experimental animation, character design and collaboration.

Canada202315 minEnglish and Tagalog with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Drama
In this complex family thriller, Gian has been plotting revenge since the day Janine, his mother, was sent away.

Nushi Sharma
Nushi Sharma is a Filipino Indian undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia.

Canada202310 minEnglish2slgbtq+, Music
Filmmakers Njo Kong Kie and John Greyson (using their highlighter compositional method) have created an original short opera about the last day on Earth for Li Shiu Tong, the lover of Berlin sexologist and legendary gay-rights pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld.

Njo Kong Kie & *John Greyson
Njo Kong Kie is an award-winning Toronto composer who has been a long-serving music director of La La La Human Steps in Montreal.
John Greyson is a Toronto filmmaker who is a pioneer of the new queer cinema. His films have won four Berlin Teddies, five Canadian Screen Awards, and over 50 Best Film prizes at festivals internationally.

Malaysia202312 minEnglishExperimental, Fantasy
Two crocodilian men go to a swimming pool to cool off. One of them is seemingly of a different and special kind; the other is unable to control his desire.

Mark Chua & Lam Li Shuen
Mark Chua and Li Shuen Lam are a filmmaker and artist duo. Their films often employ absurdist imagery, thinking on place, histories and the peculiarity of human desire.

Singapore, USA20238 minNo dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Experimental, Romance
One night, a person brushes the teeth of a dog and turns into a bus.

This film has no dialogue and is presented without captions.
Elizabeth Xu Yuan Li (EXYL)
EXYL is a filmmaker and animator born and raised in Singapore. They were trained in painting and drawing, but moved slowly but surely into time-based mediums like live action and animation.
South Korea202227 minKorean with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Drama, Horror, Science Fiction
Sujin, who was recently fired and is planning to go to Canada on a working holiday, lives with her family after her parents’ return.

Eun-uk Jeong
Eun-uk Jeong is studying film at Myongji University.
12 Nov, 2023 5:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C4PG
Content Warning: Flashing lights; depictions of suggested violence
–

This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, English subtitles, and no captions. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
The Good Guise is an artist collective in Toronto formed to spark conversations around healthy masculinity.
Blue Ant Media is looking for its next hit factual paranormal series with T&E and HauntTV's global free streaming channel. Join us for a spooky information session with Blue Ant Media's Sam Linton, VP Production and Development and Julie Chang, EVP Business Strategy and Co-productions, to get all of your questions answered.
There’s no need to be certain about what’s next as this collection of shorts places us in a position to face specific pivotal moments of reckoning. Whether we’re feeling stuck or turbulent in the chaos of transition, can we remain gentle to ourselves?
Malaysia202122 minEnglish and Bahasa Melayu with English subtitlesComedy, Directed By Women, Mockumentary
A beloved horror actress questions the triviality of her career starring in Pontianak films, all the while being filmed by a group of documentary filmmakers.

Alina Wong JinKei
Alina Wong is a Malaysian writer-director who strives to tell stories that incite wonder, conversations and emotions.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: S-EXPRESS MALAYSIA shorts programme.
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
Ho-jun, a flailing actor, has found relative success as a social media influencer, hawking fishing hacks. He preps his live stream at his preferred fishing spot, only to be disrupted by an obnoxious stranger whose bad vibes are ruining the morning.
Six fearless emerging filmmakers embarked on a summer-long filmmaking journey online. We’re proud to present their world premiere here in the 12th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking program.
Malaysia202215 minMalay with English subtitlesExperimental, Horror
A religious officer and a journalist embark on a close-proximity case in a house that seems to have other plans.

Aldina Lydia Nabilah Azani
Although she shines with positivity, Aldina Lydia Nabilah binti Azani’s head is still full of sadness and darkness.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: S-EXPRESS MALAYSIA shorts programme.
At the heart of Baby Queen is a tender and joyful relationship between Singaporean drag queen Opera Tang and her 90-year-old grandmother, who makes many of her performance costumes.
Societal, political, and magical forces at play beyond our control, this programme brings together a variety of filmmaking approaches to reflect on what can remain in troubling times, and along with it, agency to construct the narrative.
The Sari-Sari Xchange is a project that seeks to amplify Asian representation in the creative emerging media industries in Canada, particularly through a community-building residency program that engages artists with digital and extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 360 cinema, game-engine animation, and 3D scanning.