USA202174 minEnglishDrama, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers

It starts simple enough. In town on a stopover, years after she transitioned, Kris is meeting her college ex-girlfriend Naomi again for the first time. But seeing an ex is never simple. As the evening unfolds, the past inevitably creeps back into their conversations. Despite their best intentions, small talk and innocuous comments remind them of old resentments, uncovering wounds, until they reveal shocking truths for the first time. 

Featuring compelling performances by Pooya Mohseni and Lynn Chen, Mari Walker’s first feature is a classic two-hander that builds to its dramatic conclusion with a deft touch. Ruminating on themes of family, regret, aging, and transitioning, See You Then is a memorable profile of two women finding their way through change.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

USA202184 minEnglishCanadian PremiereDocumentary, Women Filmmakers

About four hours from Los Angeles, on the dusty valley floor beneath the snow-capped Sierra mountains, lies a single white obelisk gravestone, one of the iconic remains of the notorious Manzanar camp for Japanese Americans during World War II. But the valley wasn’t always so. Payahuunadü, or “the land of flowing water,” Owens Valley is the home of the Nüümü (Paiute) and Newe (Shoshone) people who, years earlier, were forced from their land after ranchers and farmers claimed it, while the Los Angeles water department later drained the valley dry, diverting its water to the thirsty city.  

Ann Kaneko’s Manzanar, Diverted invokes this history to tell the story of generations of women: Native American, Japanese American WWII incarcerees, and environmentalists, fighting for the future of the valley. Through a mix of testimonials, archival, and aerial photography, Kaneko weaves intersectional histories with the urgency of the present.  

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family

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

A live Q&A from the Opening Night screening will be simulcast online at 9:45PM on November 10. A recording will be available afterwards with the online screening of Islands.

South Korea202040 minKorean with English subtitlesToronto PremiereComedy, Horror, Romance

Seo, the director of a romance, is at his wit’s end trying to finish his film. Editor Park has been brought in to help fix it. But it’s not your typical post-production problems of recalibrating the film’s story structure. This film is haunted. 

Traversing genres between romance, horror-comedy, and screen-shared desktop video-editing tutorials, Digital Video Editing with Adobe Premiere Pro is an unexpected insider’s ride through filmmakers’ insecurities, petty squabbles, and the dangers of “fixing it in post.” 

What does it take to make a film—and is it worth it?

- Aram Siu Wai Collier & Kelly Lui

Hong Kong2021112 minCantonese with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama

Deep in the night, Fai and his friends are sleeping on the streets of Sham Shui Po, the poorest district in Hong Kong. The police arrive without notice and clear out their belongings, their makeshift homes reduced to roadside trash. With the help of social worker Ms. Ho, Fai takes the case to court, while he and his friends struggle to create a new home.

Based on a true story from 2012, Drifting sharply observes Hong Kong’s inequalities and injustices. Shot during the 2019 protests, without directly mentioning them, the film has clear resonances with its social milieu. Featuring stellar performances by Hong Kong actors new and old, including veteran actor Francis Ng and rising star Cecilia Choi, Drifting is a quietly raging film about dispossession, justice, and the right to live in an unlivable world.

- Ron Ma

Taiwan2021119 minMandarin, Taiwanese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, Fantasy, Romance

Hsiao-chi has never been an ordinary girl. She is always a step faster than everyone else, perhaps too fast for her to connect with anyone romantically. With Valentine’s Day approaching, Hsiao-chi’s anxious about finding someone. When she finds herself the dream date, she goes to bed looking forward to Valentine’s Day. But to her surprise and disappointment, she wakes up on February 15. Maybe A-tai, the bus driver who is a step slower than everyone else, has the answer to her missing Valentine’s Day. 

This whimsical and heartwarming love story will take you on a journey to find Hsiao-chi’s missing Valentine’s Day. As you piece the puzzle together through the two different perspectives of Hsiao-chi and A-tai, you’ll be pleasantly surprised by its fairytale-like way of unfolding a story about “bad timing.” A talented cast, including rookie Patty Lee, will make you wish the tale would last a bit longer.

- June Kim

USA202182 minEnglish, Chinese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDocumentary, Women Filmmakers

At a top-ranking educational institution like Lowell High School in San Francisco, seniors are emotionally exhausted as they prepare for the rigorous application process to get accepted to one of their dream Ivy League universities. With opaque and reductive college admission criteria, the students navigate every aspect of their merits, ranging from extracurricular activities, comparing grades with their peers, and even reflecting on their own racial or class identities. 

Debbie Lum's sophomore feature film is a disarmingly humorous deconstruction of overachievers trying to find their way through an agonizing and fastidious selection system. Torn between personal, filial, and societal responsibilities, this documentary humanizes and channels a lighthearted encounter with five of the gifted students at Lowell. As charming and well rounded the film's approach is, the narrative is also a sharp commentary, aiming at the persisting issues of race, stereotypes, and privilege in America’s exclusive schools. 

- Rolando Basmayor

Japan202170 minJapanese with English subtitlesComedy, Sci-fi

Cafe owner Kato closes up shop on an ordinary night only to be interrupted by a voice from the TV: his own voice, two minutes in the future. As Kato investigates the strange occurrence, the night and time itself start to unravel. Kato’s friends and colleagues get enveloped into his time warp, and the results are hilarious, calamitous and existential. 

A lean, DIY sci-fi written and performed by members of the Kyoto-based Europe Kikaku theatre group, the film uses its talents, resources, and smarts to their fullest potential, with long takes, simple locations, and finely tuned performances. But this is no modest project. It is equal parts an ambitious, mind-bending, and joyous ride of twists and turns through the (very near) future. 

-Aram Siu Wai Collier 

Norway202170 minNorwegian, English, Japanese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDocumentary

If it had to be summed up, Code Name: Nagasaki is a documentary shot by Fredrik S. Hana, following his close friend and film protagonist Marius Lunde on his journey to connect with his estranged mother, who cut ties with the family when Lunde was a child, and relocated to Japan. The experience of watching the film, however, far exceeds this tidy storyline.

Interwoven with live documentary footage are scenes featuring Lunde in performance, paying homage to genres such as samurai epic, Japanese horror, and film noir. These sequences are not deviations from the documentary record; they are complex representations of Lunde’s very real fears and doubts. The artful fusion of raw footage and creative performance speaks to the strength of Lunde and Hana’s collaborative relationship, their love for film, and also a profound understanding of how a story can present complex emotion. Compelling and charismatic, Code Name: Nagasaki ushers us into a magnetically intimate record of Lunde’s exploration of family history. 

- Jasmine Gui

Taiwan202045 minTaiwanese Mandarin with English subtitlesToronto PremiereDrama, Reel Asian Award Winner

In a society different from what we know, a hotel in Taipei welcomes suicidal people and assists them in committing the act by providing several methods that they can choose from. Over the course of one night, a receptionist starts to defy the rules and develops an unusual friendship with a hotel guest who can't make up her mind on whether she wants to live or die. 

Thoughtful and poetic, Taipei Suicide Story uses a few glimpses of grim dystopia to enforce transcendental and deeply human connections. The narrative explores the suffocating sensation of loneliness with a casual, empathetic and sweet approach, thus removing the social stigma and neutralizing the fleeting experiences between the two characters. KEFF's new film reflects on the mundanity of existence, the possibility of death or the opportunities of life, and the gift of choice—and the difference it makes.

- Roland Basmayor