The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto has generously made 25 tickets to this screening free. Free tickets are limited to 2 per order, while supplies last.
South Korea2024114 minKoreanInternational PremiereAvailable Online, Drama, Family-friendly
Feeling stuck, young fisherman Yong-su sees no hope in his future - like a fish in a net. As a last resort, he plans an insurance scam by staging his disappearance, hoping to provide a better life for his Vietnamese wife and his ageing mother. At the centre of this scheme is his captain, Yeong-guk (Yoon Joo-sang), who reluctantly reports Yong-su missing. However, when Yong-su’s mother (Yang Hee-kyung) refuses to connect her son’s disappearance with his death, the white lie snowballs into something harder to chew.
The Land of Morning Calm is the sophomore feature of Park Ri-woong of The Girl on a Bulldozer (2022), and as before, he touches upon pressing social issues. It’s an examination of interracial marriages and insurance scams, but more so, a heartbreaking study of the different forms of families, sacrificial love, and the struggles in making a living. The brilliant performances will wrench your hearts.
– June Kim
Yoon Joo-sang
Yang Hee-kyung
Khazsak
Park Jong-hwan
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Busan International Film Festival, 2024
Park Ri-woong
Park Ri-woong studied journalism at Korea University and directing at Korea National University of Arts. His debut feature The Girl on a Bulldozer (2022) won multiple awards including the Best New Director at the Grand Bell Awards.
14 Nov, 2024 8:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4AA
The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto has generously made 25 tickets to this screening free. Free tickets are limited to 2 per order, while supplies last.
CONTENT ADVISORY
Depictions of smoking and drinking; coarse language
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This film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated). Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Information on available captions will be added soon, thank you for your patience.
Community Supporter
Join us for a crafty Happy Hour on Sun, Nov 17, at The Commons, 401 Richmond! Hosted by this year's Festival Creative Artist Agnes Wong, this event features a relaxed journaling and scrapbooking workshop. Bring your own stickers and ephemera to trade, share, or journal with.
Deep in debt, with a house and a university-bound kid, plus a marriage on the rocks, reformed gambler Lucky sees his luck run out after getting scammed in a tax-fraud scheme. Ashamed and desperate to keep it from his family, he returns to underground backroom gambling dens, playing for big payouts to relieve the debt and win back his family’s favour. Meanwhile, each family member, unaware of Lucky’s troubles but feeling the money crunch, too, resorts to unsavoury means to dig out of their hole.
We're welcoming back online screenings to the 29th edition of Reel Asian! This year, our virtual lineup brings the festival experience to your home with features and shorts. Grab your popcorn and enjoy cinema on your terms with flexible digital passes or individual feature tickets!
South Korea202417 minEnglish, KoreanAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Drama, Music
Vega, a lonely programmer, falls in love with a beautiful popstar water deer. Constantly dragged back to reality by pigeons, Vega’s longing for warmth is in need of being sated.
IN PERSON: this film is scheduled to be presented with English subtitles only (no subtitles for English dialogue)
ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
*Sasha Lee
Sasha Lee is an animation artist based in Seoul, South Korea. In the name of Studio Sleeper, she makes 2D animation about isolation and depression using animal imagery.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: LOVE ISLAND shorts programme.
15 Nov, 2024 8:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4
Canada, South Korea, USA2022-2024TRT: 79 minVarious languages
Pulling you in closer, these films traverse the ebbs and flows of infatuation, fascination, longing, desire, and the release of letting go — all this to possibly feel our true selves more intimately.
For: swooners; dreamers; romantics; will-theys/won't-theys; skinship; togethership
*Directors in attendance starred.
South Korea202417 minEnglish, KoreanAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Drama, Music
Vega, a lonely programmer, falls in love with a beautiful popstar water deer. Constantly dragged back to reality by pigeons, Vega’s longing for warmth is in need of being sated.
IN PERSON: this film is scheduled to be presented with English subtitles only (no subtitles for English dialogue)
ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
*Sasha Lee
Sasha Lee is an animation artist based in Seoul, South Korea. In the name of Studio Sleeper, she makes 2D animation about isolation and depression using animal imagery.
Canada20244 minEnglish2slgbtq+, Available Online, Directed By Women, Family-friendly, History
The music video for One Thing I Can Afford, by Louie Sanchez, broadly addresses queer and trans friendship in the diaspora, Filipinx masculinities, and everyday enactments of transgenerational care.
IN PERSON: this film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
ONLINE: his film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)
*Casey Mecija
Casey Mecija is an accomplished multidisciplinary artist, primarily working in music and film. She is an assistant professor at York University in the department of communication and media studies.
Canada, USA202415 minEnglish2slgbtq+, Available Online, Drama
Ann Lai, a mature trans woman, navigates the complexities of her fading memory, delving into the intricacies of love and the burgeoning of her evolving gender identity.
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)
day
day (they/them) is a filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist based in Brooklyn. Their work often explores themes of identity, and is informed by their lived experience of being Black and queer.
Canada202410 MinEnglish2slgbtq+, Available Online, Directed By Women, Documentary, Experimental
This experiential and textural short film invites viewers into the inner workings of a mind, to ponder how we love and unlove ourselves.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
*Tara Hakim & Hannah Hull
Tara Hakim is a Palestinian Jordanian multidisciplinary artist whose public displays of vulnerability invite the viewer to meditate on notions of self, multicultural identities, and spaces in between — both physically and mentally.
Hannah Hull (they/them) is an artist and musician, also known as Burning Salt. The ancient practice of “burning salt” is an act of expulsion, purification or protection.
Canada20242 MinNo DialogueAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Horror
As Manon sits at her table waiting for her date, an uncontrollable itch overtakes her.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: No dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions)
*Maggie Zeng
Maggie Zeng is a Montreal-based children’s book illustrator, concept artist, and animator. Zeng loves making story-driven illustrations that convey a feeling of adventure and wonder through fun characters and magical environments.
USA202411 MinEnglishAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Drama
Two friends living in Mānoa Valley spend a summer day together before one of them moves to New York City.
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)
Emily May Jampel
Emily May Jampel is a director from Honolulu based in New York City. Her films have played at festivals around the world, including Palm Springs, Aspen Shortsfest, Champs-Élysées, and Outfest.
South Korea202320 MinKorean2slgbtq+, Action, Available Online, Comedy, Romance, Science Fiction
With Seoul under a UFO attack, will Soojin be able to find the green-glowing girl she slept with the night before? (Re)Discover the power of love in this alien invasion, student-drama, action-romance blockbuster short.
IN PERSON: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)
Jung Inhyuk
Jung Inhyuk has earned a passionate fanbase by mixing stories of non-mainstream characters with B-grade humor and various filmmaking techniques to create a genre that defies definition.
15 Nov, 2024 8:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
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.
Sit in on this exclusive screening and deep dive of LATE BLOOMER, the groundbreaking series from the creative mind of Jasmeet Raina (Jus Reign). Centred on Jasmeet Dutta's life, the show unpacks family expectations, intergenerational relationships, and racial identity in ways rarely seen on Canadian TV. We’ll screen Episode 1: "Nudes" and Episode 4: "The Turban," offering a glimpse into Jasmeet’s complex journey as he navigates personal desires that go against familial pressures. Stick around to hear from the creative team about how Late Bloomer has landed in the community, and how it will continue to shape these conversations in real life.
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?
After a mysterious encounter leaves her daughter Sumi in a coma, Sara rushes from South Korea to Winnipeg to be by her side. As Sumi heals, Sara begins to unpack details of her life that her daughter never shared with her. On a mission to find a husband to take care of Sumi when she wakes, Sara ventures into the daunting unknowns of dating apps and Winnipeg winters, and finds out more about herself than she planned.
South Korea202311 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Family-friendly, Fantasy
A grieving boy finds his late mother’s hair caught in the shower drainage hole and gets swept into the “Hair Universe,” an unknown world underneath the bathtub.
Jinuk Choi
Jinuk Choi is a Korean filmmaker based in New York.
This film is part of the WEE ASIAN shorts programme.
Some family stories are so epic they demand telling. Some moments in history require the intimate and inside knowledge of community storytellers. The venerated Chinese Canadian filmmaker Keith Lock narrates the story of how his mother married his father in Australia, who was training with other Chinese Canadian veteran volunteers for the top secret suicide mission, Operation Oblivion.
Discover the comedically honest and heartwarming story of the CBC Gem original short-form series How to Fail as a Popstar in our screening of the first three episodes followed by a panel discussion, "The Clumsy Art of Finding Yourself."
From the team behind Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Reel Asian Official Selection, 2021) comes Junta Yamaguchi’s latest time loop comedy, River. Set in a quaint inn along the Kibune river near Kyoto—a one-street village wedged between a riverbed on one side and mountains on the other—staff and guests find themselves stuck in a continuous two-minute time loop.
South Korea202224 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Directed By Women, Drama
Sejin once had the power to have anything she wanted just by thinking about it. But now she has lost her magic.
HAN Jiwon
Ji-won Han is an animation film director, illustrator, and comic book writer who often approaches themes focused on subjective moments and emotions of the younger generation living in the pressure cooker of South Korean society.
We are kicking off the 27th edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival with a night to remember! Celebrate with us at our Festival Launch Party, co-hosted by New Ho Queen!
Hang out with us for Festival Happy Hour, open to the public! Grab a drink and join in on the casual activities each day.
Step into the thrilling world of TV writing with a range of talented writers as they share their insights into crafting a successful TV series, advancing careers in the writers' room, and promoting diversity in showrunning.
South Korea202224 minKorean with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Mystery
Kyu-ho, an ordinary office worker, receives an interview request from a famous writer and agrees to talk to her.
*ROH Do-hyeon
Do-hyeon Roh has held various jobs in the field, such as a lighting technician for a commercial film and a web novelist after signing a contract with a publisher.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: UNDER THE INFLUENCE shorts programme.
When 13-year-old Ilyas’s parents yank him out of his comfortable Islamic private school and force him to adjust to life in public school, he develops a plan to change their minds. After a staged fondness for non-halal food and explicit music fails to sufficiently scandalize his parents, Ilyas asks his whip-smart former classmate, Yasmeen, to help devise a more foolproof plan.
Catch author Jeff Yang in conversation with RepresentASIAN Project's EIC and founder Madelyn Chung about his new book, THE GOLDEN SCREEN. Purchase a copy and get it signed!
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.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: THE STRANGE, THE ODD, AND THE FAMILIAR shorts programme.
When Azra, a queer Muslim grad student, hears of her father’s sudden death, she flies back to her ancestral home in Karachi, Pakistan for the funeral, where she is received by her conservative mother, Mariam, perpetually disappointed by Azra’s choices. As a self-assured Azra wrestles with Karachi’s customs and norms, we time travel back to Mariam’s own life in the city 30 years ago, a remarkably different era in Pakistan’s political and cultural history.
Delve into the profound connections filmmakers Fawzia Mirza (The Queen of My Dreams) and Zarrar Kahn (In Flames) forge when revisiting their roots in Pakistan, through a cinematic lens. This in-depth conversation explores how filmmakers turn place into its own dynamic character, and unpacks the emotive pull of returning, despite its tensions and contradictions. Join us as they showcase how "home" can transcend geographical boundaries, ignite stories with new interpretations of place, and animate narratives with the rich tapestry of personal heritage.
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!
South Korea202395 minKorean with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, First Feature, Sports
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. The stranger is Director Nam, a hotshot (and hot-headed) independent film director about to shoot his first commercial feature. He’s invited rising actress Hee-jin for a quiet pondside chat to convince her that his film will be a star-making breakout role—only Hee-jin isn’t sure about Director Nam’s film, or his ulterior motives. As the day progresses, links between Ho-jun, Director Nam, and Hee-jin entwine and unravel to reveal each character’s ambition, pettiness, and pathos as they try to reel in their respective dreams.
In an impressively lean and resourceful production, Small Fry director Joongha Park and co-writer Howon Kim (who also stars as Ho-jun) have crafted a funny, biting, and heartfelt meta film commentary about the strains on artistic process and purpose, especially when confronted with the demands of the commercial industry.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Howon Kim
Seonghwan
Chaeyoung Leem
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Jeonju International Film Festival, 2023
Arizona International Film Festival, 2023
San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2023
AWARDS
Best Acting Prize, Jeonju International Film Festival, 2023
Best First Feature, Arizona International Film Festival, 2023
Joongha PARK
Born in 1980 and majoring in environmental engineering, Joongha Park started making films because he wanted to make stories about the environment and humans. His short film Sweet Potato Family (2015) won the Bucheon Choice Audience Award at the BIFAN 2015.
PG
10 Nov, 2023 5:30 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C450 tickets are made free with the generous support of the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Toronto.
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This screening is presented with English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with Director Joongha Park & Writer/Producer/Actor Howon Kim.
Jude Chehab, a Lebanese American cinematographer and filmmaker, has always known her mother and grandmother to be women devoted to their Muslim faith. During a trip to Lebanon, Chehab is propelled by a curiosity to understand the quest for love, acceptance, and meaning that brought three generations of women in her family to pledge loyalty to a secretive matriarchal religious order operating clandestinely in the country.
When Azra, a queer Muslim grad student, hears of her father’s sudden death, she flies back to her ancestral home in Karachi, Pakistan for the funeral, where she is received by her conservative mother, Mariam, perpetually disappointed by Azra’s choices. As a self-assured Azra wrestles with Karachi’s customs and norms, we time travel back to Mariam’s own life in the city 30 years ago, a remarkably different era in Pakistan’s political and cultural history.
Mariam, a medical student, is dealing with her grandfather’s passing, her grieving mother, and preparing for upcoming exams. When an estranged and suspiciously helpful uncle re-enters their lives and promises support with their property and finances, Mariam senses trouble.
Canada, Japan, South Korea, USA2023TRT: 1h37Japanese, French, Korean, English, Tagalog, Arabic
These shorts look at the soft to even slightly off-kilter bonds we find in one another, the realms we exist in, and ultimately, ourselves, despite ongoing change—no friendship bracelets required.
*Directors in attendance starred.
Japan202220 minJapanese with English subtitlesComedy, Drama, Science Fiction
In the peripheries of near-future Tokyo, high schoolers Kou and Yuta practice a prank that begins as a faux argument and involves a prop glass bottle stolen from their theater department.
Neo Sora
Raised in New York and Tokyo, Neo Sora is a filmmaker, artist, and translator living between the two cities. He is in development for his debut feature as a writer-director, Earthquake.
Canada202312 minFrench with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Documentary
Kathy Tran and Agnès Gaudreau work as auto mechanics at Bâtiment 7, a collective-run space where they can truly be themselves.
Namaï Kham Po
Namaï Kham Po is a self-taught video director and editor based in Montreal and born in Thailand.
USA202316 minEnglishDirected By Women, Drama, Family-friendly
Flaming lobsters and menstruation woes plague 12-year-old Yuki’s doomed Hawai'ian beach vacation.
Maya Tanaka
Maya Tanaka is a Japanese and Lebanese American filmmaker based in Brooklyn. Her work uses writing and film to question historical narratives around cultural legacy, gender, and sexuality.
South Korea202214 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Family-friendly
A boy longs for his father's affection, but he is only interested in fishing.
Jinman KIM, Jiyoung CHON
Jin-man Kim and Ji-young Chon both work at HUMUHUMU Stopmotion Studio as directors.
USA202213 minEnglish and Tagalog with English subtitlesComedy, Directed By Women
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006.
*Kayla Abuda Galang
Born in Olongapo, Philippines, and raised in San Diego and Houston, Kayla Galang is an Austin-based filmmaker exploring themes of femininity, home, and belonging.
USA20227 minEnglishAnimation, Directed By Women, Experimental
A crush gone mouldy…
Zhen Li
Zhen Li is a Chinese American animation artist based in L.A. whose work centers around expressing the in-between, with an affinity with darkness, misalignment, warping realities, and folded feelings.
Canada202215 minEnglish and Arabic with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Comedy, Directed By Women, Drama, Romance
Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly making sales of knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of his true self.
*Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller
Fateema Al-Hamaydeh Miller is a Queer mixed-race Palestinian Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. Her work explores themes of fragmented identity, isolation and connection through grounded “oh no, should I laugh?” comedy.
PG
11 Nov, 2023 12:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4–
This programme is presented with a mix of open captions and English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
You rarely couple poop and romance together, but Okiku and the World does it effortlessly in the most genuine and adorable way.
Starring Jerry as Himself shakes up notions of traditional storytelling in a genre-bending mystery that centres on Jerry Hsu. Jerry is a loving father of three, a recent divorcé, and has been keeping a secret.
Last fall, the DOC Institute invited creative producers to reimagine a documentary ecosystem that recognizes the needs of BIPOC producers with critically acclaimed projects, and published their thoughts in the “Creative Producer Think Tank Report.” A key point highlighted was producer/director relationships—listen as panelists delve into the critical and vital collaboration that underpins any successful film.
Canada, Denmark, Germany, South Korea, USA2022-2023TRT: 1h32English, French, Mandarin, Buryat Mongolian, Korean2slgbtq+, Animation, Directed By Women, Experimental
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?
*Directors in attendance starred.
Canada202315 minEnglish2slgbtq+
Faye, a 16-year-old ballet dancer, prepares for her final solo.
*Emma Zuck
Emma Zuck is a filmmaker with a focus on directing and screenwriting, whose work is born from growing pains: her soft spot for the sentimental, her childhood of prairie antics, and the contradictory feelings of “home.”
Denmark, South Korea20228 minNo Dialogue Animation, Directed By Women, Experimental
Unable to find the presence of women in the artwork of Lee Jung-seob, I am a Horse spins an imaginative tale inspired by tae-mong (Korean birth dreams) of women born with half of their bodies, being a horse and a tiger.
This film has no dialogue and is presented without captions.
Chaerin Im
Chaerin Im is a filmmaker from South Korea with a focus on experimental animation. With the use of craftsmanship and distinctive materials, she explores gender issues and sexual imagery.
USA202216 minEnglishDirected By Women, Disability, Drama, Family-friendly
Anna, a cognitively disabled woman, and her estranged sister, Emily, must learn to communicate after their mother’s death in order to move forward.
Liz Sargent
Liz Sargent is a Korean American adoptee writer and director, whose award-winning work explores themes of adoption, disability, and family.
Canada20232 minFrench with English subtitlesAnimation, Directed By Women, Family-friendly
Following an exchange of text messages with her mother about her newly adopted dog Abby, a young woman sees her experience as a transracial adoptee reflected in this adoption.
Fanny Lord-Bourcier
Fanny Lord-Bourcier is a multidisciplinary artist and animator. Curious and keen, she is continuously willing to adopt and be adopted by new places, disciplines, mediums, and people.
USA202318 minEnglish, Mandarin with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Documentary, Drama, Experimental
Opaque memories seep into a quotidian flow despite efforts to move onward.
*Emory Chao Johnson
Emory Chao Johnson (they/them) is an artist settled on the land of the Tongva whose work centres on the real and abstract forces that charge queer trans lifeworlds.
Canada, Germany20239 minBuryat Mongolian with English subtitlesAboriginal + Indigenous, Animation, Directed By Women, Documentary, Experimental, Family-friendly
The formation and history of Lake Baikal in Siberia are re-imagined with handmade animation, featuring the voice of a Buryat woman who can still recall some words in her endangered language.
Alisi Telengut
Alisi Telengut is a Canadian artist of Mongolian roots, living between Berlin and Tiohtià:ke/Montréal.
South Korea202224 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Directed By Women, Drama
Sejin once had the power to have anything she wanted just by thinking about it. But now she has lost her magic.
HAN Jiwon
Ji-won Han is an animation film director, illustrator, and comic book writer who often approaches themes focused on subjective moments and emotions of the younger generation living in the pressure cooker of South Korean society.
PG
11 Nov, 2023 5:00 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox 4–
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.
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.
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
