CONTENT ADVISORY
Blood; abortion; homophobia; formication; sexual content
Canada, China, Iran, Singapore, Taiwan, UK2025–202674 MIN 28 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Open Captions
Under suspicious circumstances, you wonder if the entities around you are withholding your full autonomy. Do you fight back?
For: those feeling suffocated, unheard, vengeful
China202618 MINChinese with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
A portrait of an ordinary “one-child” Chinese family in their habitat in an ordinary apartment.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Dean Wei
Born in Cologne, Germany, Dean Wei is a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. Wei is currently based in Beijing as a director, composer, and cinematographer.
UK20253 MIN 30 SNo Dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Horror, Open Captions
A simple itch spirals into an outbreak with many legs. Certain things will always find their way to the surface.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Lysander Wong
Lysander Wong is a Hong Kong animator and artist based in London and creating playful and tactile work.
Iran202515 MINPersian with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
In a photography studio, a woman and a photographer struggle to capture an innocent portrait of the woman.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Farzam Tabibi
Farzam Tabibi (b. 1997) is an Iranian filmmaker whose journey in cinema began in 2020 through experimental, low-budget student films. His second short, Portrait, was made with support from Tehran’s underground cinema.
Canada202612 MIN 50 SEnglish, Tagalog with English SubtitlesAnimation, Drama, Experimental, Horror, Open Captions
In a rural Philippine market, a street dog scavenges for scraps while a mother and son, fleeing Canada, search for a fresh start.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
NOFAC3
Khrysta Lloren (NOFAC3) is a Filipino stop-motion animator and visual artist in Vancouver. Their multidisciplinary practice explores surrealism, psychological horror, memory, identity, and transformation.
Canada20266 MINEnglish with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Horror, Open Captions
A teenage girl must come to terms with her tense relationship with her mother while reckoning with the suspicion that she may be eating far more than just fruits from their garden.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Chantal Leong*
Chantal Leong is a writer, director, and arts worker based in Toronto. She is drawn to dissecting Chinese diaspora culture, imagining self-contained worlds drenched in vibrant and gothic atmospheres.
*In attendance
Taiwan20254 MIN 33 SMandarin with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Experimental, Horror, Open Captions
Ping faces conflict with her girlfriend's homophobic and aggressive father. As tensions escalate, Ping is forced to take drastic action to save herself.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ting-Jui Chen
Ting-Jui Chen is an animator from Taiwan, based in London. Blending heavy subjects with a touch of humour, she uses mixed media to evoke feelings that are as strange as they are familiar.
Singapore202514 MIN 35 SMalay with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Horror, Open Captions
In a time and place where abortion is illegal, a woman’s repeated attempts to end her pregnancy fail, until she crosses paths with a strange bus driver.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Jen Nee Lim
After 15 years as producer-writer, Jen Nee Lim pivoted to directing in 2019. Her latest short, award-winning Fruit (Buah), competed in the Busan International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and South by Southwest, among others.
14 Nov, 2026 8:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4AA
CONTENT ADVISORY
Blood; abortion; homophobia; formication; sexual content
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme moderated by Khanh Tudo!
As the sole camerawoman at Kabul’s state television network, Naru navigates a daily battleground of misogyny just to hold her rightful place. She is hardened by her realities and her worldview is absolute: There are no good men left.
14 Nov. 8:45 pm
Using a remarkable wealth of archival material seamlessly woven into a creative, scrapbook-style tapestry, AN INCOMPLETE CALENDAR centres on a rare and surprising artifact: the vinyl record of Rhymes and Songs for OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries.
18 Nov. 7:00 pm
Join a multi-user VR journey set in Korea's iconic Gyeongbokgung Palace, where the grandeur of the Joseon Dynasty’s last unrealized royal banquet comes to life. More than a spectator, you are a part of the celebration in this cutting-edge, location-based entertainment experience that seamlessly blends history, culture, and technology in real time.
12 Nov. - 21 Nov.
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, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian 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
