USA199565 minEnglishArchive PresentationDocumentary
Cambodian-born Sokly “Don Bonus” Ny takes a Hi8 camcorder into his final year of high school in the San Francisco Bay Area, documenting intersecting events happening at school, at home, and amongst friends and family. Filmed and released in 1995, the film can be seen as a forerunner of the now-popular diary or vlog documentary format, featuring raw footage and voiceover from Don Bonus.
Although made in the 1990s, the beats of the film are familiar and still relevant, moving through issues of low-income housing, gang violence, academic struggle, and family fractures, while also featuring communal celebration, youthful camaraderie and intimate family life. These scenes are simultaneously casual and intentional, recontextualized and given resonance through Don Bonus’ frank, teenage monologic reflections.
A.K.A Don Bonus highlights how the stories that came before us, although constructed from their time and space, can continue to speak powerfully into our present.
– Jasmine Gui
Sokly Ny
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Berlin International Film Festival, 1996
San Francisco Film Festival, 1995
AWARDS
National Emmy Award, 1996
Golden Gate Award, San Francisco Film Festival, 1995
Spencer Nakasako
Spencer Nakasako has over three decades of experience as an independent filmmaker and is the founder of the groundbreaking Media Lab at the Vietnamese Youth Development Center in San Francisco’s Tenderloin District. Nakasako is a member of the Writers Guild of America, and the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Deep dive into narrative construction with director Spencer Nakasako & filmmaker Miko Revereza! ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services.
November 17, 2020 at 6:30PM
What does a hot bowl of lovingly prepared soup remind you of? The taste of home? The warm embrace of a loved one? For Long, a widower and cook at a Vietnamese restaurant in Warsaw, his famous pho is his pride, and his grade-school daughter Mia is his joy. But their world changes when the restaurant is sold, forcing Long to learn to make sushi. Meanwhile, Mia is frustrated by her father's caring but old-fashioned ways, while fearing he is moving on from the memory of her late mother.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
From the mundane to the spectacular, our characters in these five films pave their own paths as some take matters into their own hands, while others come across new points of understanding and acceptance. Includes winner of WIFT-T Film Award, Reel Asian 2020 LOLA'S WAKE.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Students at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music gather for the start of the school day. They laugh, practice, and take tests while preparing for a concert celebrating 100 years of Afghanistan's independence. Ranging from five-year-olds to young adults, some are middle-class kids and others are orphans, and they come from Afghanistan's many ethnic groups.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by East, South and Southeast Asian artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
