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

USA

Since the advent of cinema and the forced colonization of the islands, Hawai’i stories on film have too often been told by outsiders. Reel Asian is bringing a spotlight onto two acclaimed Hawai’i-made dramatic feature films. Christopher Kahunahana’s award winning WAIKIKI is the first dramatic feature film written and directed by a Kanaka Maoli (Native Hawaiian). Christopher Makoto Yogi’s I WAS A SIMPLE MAN had its World Premiere at the Sundance Film Festival in 2021. Unique films and filmmakers, both Kahunahana and Yogi share a genuine reverence for their home and seek to provide images and sounds of the Hawaii they know. 

In this moderated filmmaker to filmmaker conversation Kahunahana and Yogi will discuss each others films and the groundbreaking context that surrounds them.

Afghanistan, CanadaEnglishLGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers

Desh Pardesh centred the work and expressions of South Asian and Indo Caribbean diaspora and had its roots in the queer communities of Toronto. Although no similar space has been created since, the legacy and impact of the festival continues.

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. Despite the absence of a dedicated space like Desh Pardesh, resistance and community building through the arts remains present. In this program, two generations of artists come together to exhibit and reflect on the need and power of creating space to learn, experiment, discuss, create, and collaborate on works that fully centre their identity and politics.

CanadaEnglish

Desh Pardesh ended in 2001, in large part due to a massive cut in public arts funding. Two decades later, organizers and artists from the festival discuss the impact of the festival and the ways in which we can learn from the success and challenges of running an unapologetic and political arts festival in the city of Toronto.

Panelists:

2021English

Ali Kazimi’s documentaries urge us to see different sides of history. Archival images, gleaned and rescued, have been rich instruments of Kazimi’s storytelling, which focuses on sharing essential perspectives on communities of colour that would otherwise be lost to time. Follow Canadian Spotlight artist Ali Kazimi on a deep dive into his archive-infused films Continuous Journey and Random Acts of Legacy. Topics will include technical looks at film preservation, editing, music composition, and creative considerations of perspective and collaboration.

Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family

Our Opening Night presentation is the in-person screening of ISLANDS on November 10 at 7:30pm at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Guests in attendance include director Martin Edralin, and cast members Sheila Lotuaco and Esteban Comilang. Vangie Alcasid and Pablo S.J. Quiogue will be available for the media call and will participate in the Q&A.

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

Canada, Pakistan202189 minUrdu, English with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDocumentary, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

In the electrifying lead-up to the multi-city Aurat March (Women’s March) in Pakistan, director Anam Abbas follows grassroots organizers as they navigate a deeply surveilled and violent environment to assert a growing, nation-wide feminist movement. Negotiating freedoms with fearful relatives and dodging constant scrutiny, activists move with unbreakable commitment to galvanizing their communities with a radical feminist agenda.

Using observational footage of heated organizing conversations and extensive coverage of the movement and its backlash across 11 cities, Abbas constructs a layered narrative, astutely tracing state suppression of women’s resistance in Pakistan to the damage caused by its colonial past. This Stained Dawn (Dagh Dagh Ujala), which borrows its title from a verse by revolutionary poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz about the tainted dawn after a violent partition, is a powerful record of a turning point in Pakistan’s history, as one of the most urgent displays of large-scale feminist organizing gains remarkable momentum and promise.

- Mariam Zaidi

So You Think You Can Pitch is back! Celebrate our 15th year of pitch competitions by supporting your favourite emerging filmmakers in our live event! Featuring a total of five finalist individuals or teams, the winner will walk away with our amazing prize package to kickstart or finish their short film, including a cash award, in-kind support, and the opportunity to premiere their work with us at next year’s festival!

Pitch Winner Prize Package

• $8,000 cash prize
• Business-affairs and legal consultation with Behind the Scenes
• Acting support (if applicable) including consultation, coaching, and more with ACTRA Toronto
• One-on-one consultation with Blue Ant Media
• A production workflow consultation with Charles Street Video, which includes
  • $2,700 in edit suite access and/or production-equipment rentals
  • One-year membership
• Opportunity to premiere work at the 2022 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (subject to review), with full festival accreditation

Pitch Finalist Package

• $1,000 cash for participation (the pitch winner will not receive this $1,000 cash prize)
• All-access pass to the 25th Reel Asian Film Festival
• $350 equipment-rental credit plus one-year membership to Charles Street Video

South Korea2021115 minKorean with English subtitlesDrama, Reel Asian Award Winner

Mi-yeon seems to be living the perfect life as a choirmaster and the wife of a successful man. In comparison, her sisters Hee-sook and Mi-ok seem to be miserable, making Mi-yeon frustrated. But in the shadow behind her perfect smile, Mi-yeon’s also suffering from the three sisters’ shared childhood trauma that they’ve yet to come to terms with. On the day of their father’s birthday, the monstrous truth breaks free from its bubble, leading to turmoil.

Three Sisters is an emotional rollercoaster that samples contemporary Korean society. It critically questions how domestic violence, childhood trauma, and social standing are both seen and overlooked through the stories of the three unique characters. Moon So-ri, an award-winning actress and the film’s co-producer, plays Mi-yeon in a rare and strong women-led film with a cathartic ending.

- June Kim