19 NOV, 2021
Doors at 3:30 PM
Screening: ISLANDS at 4:00 PM
Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family
Due to popular demand, we're screening ISLANDS once again, for free on the last night of our 25th anniversary festival at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema at 4PM ET. Tickets must be reserved in advance with a limit of 2 per person. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Martin Edralin, producer Priscilla Galvez, and actors from the film.
Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.
On the surface, Joshua’s anxieties around loneliness may seem bleak, but writer and director Martin Edralin treats him with a warm affection, showing the challenges and humour imbued in everyday life, as he learns to take new chances. Cutting vegetables, taking a shower, and walking down the stairs all take on new meaning through finely tuned performances, and Edralin’s observant eye toward everyday life at home. And amid a year-plus of our collective pandemic-induced isolation, Islands is a hopeful and humanist story that reminds us the importance of stepping outside.
- Aram Siu Wai Collier
Rogelio Balagtas
Sheila Lotuaco
Esteban Comilang
Pablo S.J. Quiogue
Vangie Alcasid
OFFICIAL SELECTION
South by Southwest, 2021
Calgary International Film Festival, 2021
Vancouver International Film Festival, 2021
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2021
AWARDS
Special Jury Recognition for Breakthrough Performance, South by Southwest, 2021
RBC Emerging Canadian Artist Award, Calgary International Film Festival, 2021
Special Jury Mention – Best Emerging Canadian Director, Vancouver International Film Festival, 2021
Special Jury Award for Ensemble Acting, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2021
Martin Edralin
Martin Edralin is a Filipino Canadian, Toronto-based filmmaker. His first short film, Hole (2014), won the grand prize at Clermont-Ferrand, jury prizes at Locarno and Seattle, and screened at Sundance, TIFF, and BFI London. His second short, Emma (2016), was selected in TIFF’s Canada’s Top Ten and won Best Live Action Short at the Rhode Island IFF. Islands is his debut feature film.
PG
19 NOV, 2021
Doors at 3:30 PM
Screening: ISLANDS at 4:00 PM
PROOF OF FULL COVID-19 VACCINATION AND GOVERNMENT-ISSUED PHOTO ID SHOWING DATE OF BIRTH WILL BE REQUIRED FOR ADMITTANCE. MASKING WILL BE REQUIRED IN ALL PUBLIC AREAS.
Community Supporter
This presentation has English subtitles.
This presentation does not have captions.
ASL interpretation is available for the film intro, and Q&A.
Watch ISLANDS online from anywhere in Canada from November 10-19!
Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.
Nov 10 - 19
The shorts in this program include works screened two decades ago at Desh Pardesh, as well as films made last year by a cohort of South Asian and Indo Caribbean emerging filmmakers who participated in Inside Out Festival’s Short Film Lab.
10 Nov. - 19 Nov.
(re)Rites of Passage is a special anthology published as part of our 25th-anniversary celebrations, and a follow-up to Reel Asian: Asian Canada on Screen (published in 2007 for Reel Asian’s 10th anniversary).
11 Nov. 4:30 pm
Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.
10 Nov. - 19 Nov.