Canada2020120 minEnglishDrama, Family, Women Filmmakers
Reel Asian is proud to present as its Closing Night event a live script read presentation of Scarborough, the anticipated forthcoming film by Reel Asian stalwart filmmaking duo of Shasha Nakhai and Rich Williamson. The film, an adaptation of Catherine Hernandez’ award-winning novel of the same name, follows three kids in a low-income neighbourhood who find community, compassion, and resilience at a drop-in literacy centre over the course of a school year.
Having just wrapped shooting this summer and looking ahead to a 2021 premiere, we take pause to provide audiences an opportunity to see a sneak preview of select scenes acted out live by members of the cast. The script read will be followed by an intimate discussion about the themes and creative process of bringing this heralded book to life on screen by this trio of celebrated Toronto artists.
Liam Diaz
Cast as Bing
Liam Diaz is excited to be making his on-screen debut in his first movie role as Bing in Scarborough. He is an avid performer, and loves singing, dancing, and acting. He also enjoys expressing his artistic side through SFX makeup which he uses on his free time. His favourite stage role to date was playing the role of “young P.T Barnum” from the musical film, The Greatest Showman during the JDL Performing Arts summer showcase.
Ellie Posadas
Cast as Edna
Ellie Posadas is a Filipina-Canadian, Actor, Singer-Songwriter, and Creator from Toronto. She is a member of the award winning comedy group ‘Tita Collective’. Ellie is an alumni of Randolph Academy’s Musical Theatre program. She was featured in the 34th Torino Film Festival Official Selection, Wexford Plaza (CAAMfest, Slamdance) and is also featured in the short film The Morning After (Toronto Inside OUT Festival, Los Angeles OUT fest). Other selected Theatre/Film credits include: Baby Blue Canoe (Wattpad productions), Tita Jokes (Tita Collective), The Penelopiad (Hart House), Emily & EV (Nöta Collective), Silenced (HERstory Counts), and Avenue Q (LOT).
Cherish Violet Blood
Cast as Marie
Cherish Violet Blood is an actor, storyteller, activist and Blackfoot woman hailing from the Blood reserve. Based in Toronto, Cherish is a professionally trained and seasoned performer with active followings in the national Indigenous and international theatre community. Cherish has performed all over North America. Select credits include creator/performer in Material Witness (Spiderwoman Theatre La Mama,NYC), creator/performer in Making Treaty 7 directed by Michelle Thrush in Calgary, AB. The lead role in Deer Woman, a new play that has been touring internationally by Tara Beagan . As a natural comedian Cherish has hosted album release parties as well as community events and fundraisers.
Aliya Kanani
Cast as Ms. Hina
Aliya Kanani is a Toronto-based artist and creator, who has worn many hats, including those of comedian, actor, writer, director, producer and entertainer. She spent the better part of the last year touring internationally with her solo show, Where You From, From?, which sold out at the 2019 Just for Laughs Festival, 2019 Melbourne International Comedy Festival and 2020 World Fringe in Perth. In 2015, Aliya co-created, wrote and co-starred in the wacky sketch web series, Juicy. In addition, she has created, written, directed and produced various online sketches and short films, including It’s My Turn, and short doc, 36 Questions to Love, which she co-directed and co-produced.
Alexis Hancey
Cast as Fern
Alexis Hancey is a Toronto based actress & screenwriter, best known for her role as Narrator in a widely popular/CBC-covered performance of Threepenny Opera at Humber College. She stars as Susan in PG: Psycho Goreman, a feature described by Variety magazine as “blowing the roof off (drive ins) where there was no roof,” and is currently developing a web series in which she plays an HSP patient who wasn’t actually fixed by therapy.
Following the live script read, join moderator Amar Wala as he discusses the journey of bringing Scarborough to the big screen with directors Shasha Nakhai & Rich Williamson and writer Catherine Hernandez.
ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
Shasha Nakhai
Director and Producer, Scarborough
Shasha Nakhai is a filmmaker from Toronto whose work has aired on the BBC, CBC, ZDF, and Arte; screened at the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA); been nominated for 3 Canadian Screen Awards; and shortlisted for an Oscar. She recently released her first feature documentary, Take Light, which enters the tangled web of Nigeria’s energy crisis.
Rich Williamson
Director, Scarborough
Rich Williamson is an Oscar-shortlisted filmmaker from Toronto. His award-winning films have screened at festivals worldwide, aired on TV, been released on iTunes, gone viral, and featured on the BBC, CBC, Bravo, Arte, ZDF, Al Jazeera, Short of the Week, The Hollywood Reporter, AV Club, Slashfilm, Screenrant, Gizmodo, Mashable, Collider and Nerdist.
Catherine Hernandez
Writer, Scarborough
Catherine Hernandez is the award-winning author of Scarborough and its screenplay adaptation, and the outgoing artistic director of b current performing arts. She has written the critically acclaimed plays Singkil, The Femme Playlist and Eating with Lola and the children’s books M Is for Mustache: A Pride ABC Book and I Promise. Her second novel, Crosshairs, was published in September 2020.
Amar Wala
Moderator
Using his cinema to deconstruct notions of race and identity, Amar Wala has directed series for CBC, Viceland, and Shopify Studios. He directed the feature documentary The Secret Trial 5 and is currently director and consulting producer of CBC Arts series In The Making.
This fireside chat gathers together filmmaker mentors from Reel Asian’s 2020 Unsung Voices incubator to discuss what the building blocks of a good narrative are. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
Join co-hosts Lainey Lui and Angela Sun as they reveal the award winners for the 24th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
In the port town of Onomichi, Japan, the only movie theatre is bidding goodbye to its local audiences. The owners organize a nightlong screening devoted to historical Japanese war films. Noriko, a teenager who regularly helps in the theatre, walks toward the stage and astonishes the audience as suddenly, she mystically projects herself into an old musical.