USA202411 MinEnglishAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Drama

Two friends living in Mānoa Valley spend a summer day together before one of them moves to New York City.

IN PERSON: this film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

Emily May Jampel

Emily May Jampel is a director from Honolulu based in New York City. Her films have played at festivals around the world, including Palm Springs, Aspen Shortsfest, Champs-Élysées, and Outfest.

Canada202416 MinEnglishAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Drama, History

On the evening of the 1987 "Easter Epic" hockey playoff game, a young Cambodian girl grapples with her Canadian identity in a small town in rural Ontario.

IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

Alejandro Yoshizawa & Y-Dang Troeung

Alejandro Yoshizawa is a Vancouver-based filmmaker specializing in grassroots and marginalized people’s stories, oral histories, and community documentaries.

Y-Dang Troeung (張依蘭) (ទ្រឿងអ៊ីដាង) was a writer and scholar based in Vancouver, who passed away in fall 2022 of pancreatic cancer.

USA202414 MinFarsi, EnglishAvailable Online, Directed By Women, Drama, Experimental, Romance

On a seemingly prosaic day, Bita, an Iranian woman with terminal cancer, comes to grips with her changing relationships with her family as life transforms and slips away.

This film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

*Sara Boutorabi

Sara Boutorabi is an Iranian American filmmaker based in New York City, and originally from California. She graduated from UC Berkeley and is an MFA candidate in screenwriting at Columbia University.

Canada202419 MinEnglishAvailable Online

For her next standup routine, Filipino Canadian comedian Alia Rasul reconnects with her dad to mine stories about the ridiculous ways he almost died — but it unexpectedly turns into a record-scratch moment.

IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

ONLINE : This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

Sura Mallouh

Sura Mallouh is a Palestinian Canadian filmmaker. In 2021, she was listed as a 40 under 40 documentary star to watch, co-presented by HBO Documentary Films and DOCNYC. Mallouh’s work amplifies underrepresented stories.

Taiwan20239 MinMandarinAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Family-friendly, Music

Returning to a house that holds nothing, a mother misses her own mother.

IN PERSON & ONLINE: this film is scheduled to be presented with subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

*Ji-Tian Li

Ji-Tian Li graduated from Taipei National University of the Arts and participated in the AVU exchange program in Prague in 2021, focusing on materials and installations. She is now a full-time artist exploring space through gardening, ceramics, painting, music, and performance.

USA202414 MinEnglish, Korean, Spanish, Mandarin2slgbtq+, Available Online, Directed By Women, Drama, Experimental

Today is Parents' Day at the Sweetwater Boarding School for English Learners. When A, B, C, and D discover that none of their families are coming, they decide to hatch a different plan.

IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

ONLINE : This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

Yvonne Zhang

Yvonne Zhang is a British Chinese director and writer who uses fables, dream logic, and digital worlds to explore the diasporic experience.

USA20245 MinMarathi2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Family-friendly, First Films, Music, Romance

This Bollywood-inspired hybrid animated music video features Aadarshini, an anxious Indian American girl who feels out of place at an Indian wedding, until she learns to make space for herself in her culture through Parvati, a traditional dancer who catches her eye.

IN PERSON & ONLINE: No dialogue (No audio + visual descriptions)

Directors Bio

Nimisha Mahatme

Nimisha Mahatme is a Bay Area visual development artist working in film and television. She enjoys creating characters and worlds! She loves having characters that range from different diversities, cultures, and sexualities.

Join us for an exclusive Work-In-Progress presentation of Space Cadet, a captivating animated film directed by Kid Koala. Work-In-Progress events at Reel Asian give audience members a chance to explore the development stages of a piece of work. In this session, we will hear insights from the creative team of Space Cadet, including director Kid Koala, head of story and production designer Lillian Chan, and artistic director Corinne Merrell, who will guide us through the artistic process and illustrate how animation brings this heartfelt narrative to life.

Space Cadet tells the story of Robot, a guardian programmed to protect Celeste, the sweetest astronaut on this (or any) planet. When Celeste embarks on a solo mission into the vast unknown, Robot is left behind, grappling with loneliness and the passage of time. As Celeste faces unforeseen challenges in space, memories of her childhood with Robot resurface, revealing the deep emotional bond they share.

This tomorrow-days lullaby is not just about outer space adventures. It also delves into themes of aging, destiny, and the significance of our memories.

Don’t miss this opportunity to travel the richly textured, imaginative world of Space Cadet and explore its journey.

Canada20242 MinNo DialogueAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women, Family-friendly

For people living with structural dissociation, falling asleep can be a challenge, as multiple contradictory thoughts conspire to keep them awake. Director Michelle Ku draws on her experience with somatic healing to put these thoughts to rest, in a few vivid minutes of hand-painted animation.

IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

ONLINE: No dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions)

Directors Bio

Michelle Ku

Michelle Ku is a visual artist and animation filmmaker living in Mohkinstsis/Calgary. Mainly working with acrylic paint and traditional materials, Ku explores her personal healing journey, the mind-body-spirit connection, and childhood memories.

Taiwan, UK20234 MinEnglishAnimation, Available Online, Directed By Women

A poetic narrative and self-portrait through experimentation in 2D animation, stop-motion and sound, this short film delves into a self-searching and healing journey, exploring the relationship between emotion and space.

IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated)

Directors Bio

Chu-Chieh Lee

Chu-Chieh Lee is a Taiwanese animation director and illustrator based in London, U.K. She finished her master’s in narrative animation at the Royal College of Art. Her clients include LinkedIn, Google, Nestlé, and BBC.