France, India202513 minKannada with English subtitles
On his return home, androgynous-looking Madhu attempts to seduce Ratnakar, his rickshaw driver, who is staying celibate in preparation for a religious pilgrimage.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Ashok Vish
Ashok Vish was one of eight filmmakers selected for Directors’ Factory Philippines. He works as a film programmer at the New York Indian Film Festival and at Arthshila in India.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
depictions of sexist language
Canada202586 minNo dialogueAnimation
Ever since astronaut-in-training Celeste was a child, Robot has served as a surrogate parent while her mother explored the galaxy. When Celeste starts a months-long mission after graduation, the pair must explore the unknowns of life without each other.
On her mission, Celeste stumbles upon a clue to her mother’s disappearance. Back on Earth, without Celeste to take care of, Robot’s mission goes from straightforward to existential. Separately but together, the two explore their purpose — inside and beyond the stars.
World-renowned scratch DJ and artist Kid Koala adapts his graphic novel of the same name into a dream cinema project. Working with a long list of collaborators from his extensive career (including songs by Karen O and Digable Planets’ Ladybug Mecca), Kid Koala evokes classic movies of the silent film era by using no dialogue and only beautiful images and sound driven by his original scratch soundtrack.
An independent, animated film adventure 14 years in the making, Space Cadet is a true accomplishment of gritty determination and soaring creativity. It is a beautiful testament to dreaming of possibilities while grounded with love.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Kid Koala
Kid Koala (Eric San) is a Montreal-based DJ, composer, and visual artist. Creator of five solo albums and the graphic novels Nufonia Must Fall and Space Cadet, he has collaborated with Gorillaz and Radiohead. His first animated feature, Space Cadet, premiered at the Berlinale and screened at the Toronto International Film Festival.
5 Nov, 2025 7:30 pm
Hot Docs Ted Rogers CinemaGA
CONTENT ADVISORY
trypophobia
This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with director Kid Koala and head of story and production designer Lillian Chan moderated by Reel Asian artistic director Aram Siu Wai Collier.
Join us at Tranzac Club for the Opening Night Gala Party after the screening of SPACE CADET!
Suggested $10 donation at the door.
9:30PM at Tranzac Club
A calm & quiet zone will be available at this event. If you require accessibility accommodation for this event, please click the link below.
Join us for an in-depth conversation about SPACE CADET. Director Kid Koala and head of story and production designer Lillian Chan will discuss the journey from book to film, exploring how to translate vulnerability into craft, and how to make authenticity come through in every frame.
Thurs, Nov 6 at 2PM at CineCyle
How far would you go to uncover a family history that has been purposefully buried? What are the consequences of resurfacing these stories to fulfil your own? In an extremely candid documentary, filmmaker Tony Nguyen embarks on a scrappy investigation to reconnect to his father, who was estranged from his family due to the Vietnam War.
In Japan’s aging society, kodokushi — the lonely death of the elderly — has become disturbingly common. Divorced salaryman Yoji (Lily Franky) is confronted with this reality when he discovers his neighbour’s decomposing body.
The discussion will explore how festivals can better support accessibility — from accommodating filmmakers with disabilities and reaching diverse audiences, to guiding creators on inclusive practices like budgeting for captioning.
Taiwan202412 minNo dialogueDirected By Women, Experimental, Horror
On a hot summer day in 1980s Taiwan, a teenage girl named Ming has her sexual awakening through celluloid fantasies, while drinking watermelon juice.
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
Birdy Wei-Ting Hung
Birdy Wei-Ting Hung holds an MFA from San Francisco State University’s School of Cinema. Her work explores historical trauma, the abject, and pleasures. She is a Student Academy Awards winner.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
depictions of violence and blood
Canada2025 18:00French, Mandarin with English subtitlesAvailable Online
In Gaspésie in rural Quebec, a quirky Chinese motel owner navigates his quiet routine between fixing rooms and casting lines into the sea — until his filmmaker son visits for a week.
IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
*Calvin Liu
Calvin Liu is a Montreal-based Chinese Canadian filmmaker and cinematographer. He explores themes of family, diaspora, and memory through documentary and narrative work.
9 Nov, 2025 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
Canada20258 minEnglishAvailable Online
An exploration of past choices and the enduring burden of regret expressed through drums and dance, where movement echoes memory and the weight we must carry.
IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
*Jordan Tsering
Jordan Tsering is a Tibetan multidisciplinary artist based in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal, exploring death and dharma, and writing stories of love and regret through narratives rooted in memory and emotion.
9 Nov, 2025 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
Canada20259 minEnglish
A chronically single young woman finds the courage to go on a first date with the help of some unusual friends.
IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
ONLINE: This film is fully captioned in closed captions (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
*Ash Yee
Ash Yee (she/they) is an emerging Chinese Canadian writer and filmmaker based in Toronto. A self-proclaimed nerd and fangirl, their work explores identity, belonging, and the magic within everyday life.
9 Nov, 2025 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
Canada2025 12:00Vietnamese, English, American Sign Language
After years of isolation in the hearing world, a mainstreamed Deaf adult learns sign language for the first time.
IN PERSON & ONLINE ACCESSIBILITY
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
*Anh (Autumn) Pham
Anh (Autumn) Pham is a Vietnamese Canadian Deaf Queer tech worker and writer. They are passionate about the intersection of art and technology, and advocate for accessibility.
9 Nov, 2025 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
Reel Asian and the Writers Guild of Canada present a candid conversation on the pathways and pitfalls of building a sustainable career in screenwriting. With Asian Canadian writers at the forefront, this session will explore the realities of navigating writers' rooms, landing representation, and making sense of the business side of TV and film.
Panellists will reflect on their own journeys — from making an impression to handling notes and rewrites — while demystifying the structures of television writing. Beyond the craft, this discussion will explore strategies for self-promotion, building meaningful industry relationships, and understanding what producers and commissioning editors are really looking for. The conversation will also address larger systemic barriers writers face, and how community and resilience play a vital role in sustaining long-term careers.
Nathalie Younglai
Writer-Director
Lakna Edirisinghe
Writer/Producer
Lakna Edirisinghe is a Sri Lankan-Canadian writer/producer based in Toronto. She’s written for a wide variety of shows, including hour-long dramas like Diggstown (CBC), half-hour comedies like Late Bloomer (Bell/Crave), and kid’s comedies like Odd Squad (PBS), for which she was nominated for an Emmy. She’s won a WGC Award and a Canadian Screen Award.
Romeo Candido
Director, writer, composer, and producer
Romeo Candido is an Emmy-nominated director, writer, composer, and CSA-winning producer whose dynamic career spans film, television, theatre, and music. He was the showrunner and series director for Gangnam Project S1(CBC/BBC) and co-showrunner for The Next Step (BBC). His directing credits include Workin’ Moms (Netflix/CBC), This Hour Has 22 Minutes (CBC), Popularity Papers (YTV), Second Jen (Rogers), and the Emmy-nominated Circuit Breakers(Apple TV). As a writer, he has contributed to Son of a Critch (CBC/CW) and Another Life (Netflix). He is the creator and showrunner of the CSA-nominated Topline for CBC Gem, and the writer-composer of the Sterling Award–winning theatrical musical Prison Dancer which enjoyed sold out runs at the Citadel Theatre in Edmonton and the National Arts Centre in Ottawa.
JP Larocque
Screenwriter and Producer
JP Larocque is an award-winning screenwriter and producer with experience in comedy (CBC’s Sort Of and North of North, CTV’s JANN), drama (CBC’s Allegiance, SkyMed, Dig
They are creator and executive producer of the digital comedy series Gay Nerds on OUTtv. In 2024, The Globe and Mail listed them among “the 25 most influential people in Canadian television.”
As a journalist, JP has bylines in Maclean’s, The Walrus, The Toronto Star, Flare, This Magazine, Xtra, and The Beaverton, with additional work in the anthologies City Voices: A Book of Monologues by Toronto Artists (2012), and The Secret Loves of Geeks (2018).
12 Nov, 2025 2:30 pm
CineCycle129 Spadina Avenue (coach-house down the lane behind), Toronto, ON M5A 1J7
This venue is not accessible to people using wheelchairs, and would present significant challenges to people with moderate to severe mobility difficulties. This venue is not suitable for those with low vision.
Join us for a special presentation of 18 to 35, a bold new workplace comedy created by Rahul Chaturvedi and executive produced by Andrew Phung.
Filmmaker Ian Tuason’s debut feature The Undertone, recently acquired by A24, transforms the intimacy of caregiving and the eerie power of audio into a chilling, single-location horror story.
This panel will explore how racialized and independent creators bring their films to communities and audiences.
Filmmaker Ian Tuason’s debut feature The Undertone, recently acquired by A24, transforms the intimacy of caregiving and the eerie power of audio into a chilling, single-location horror story. The film traces its origins from an experimental podcast idea. Drawing on his personal experiences and love of the genre, Tuason crafts a work that balances vulnerability, innovation, and fear.
Tuason will join Ana Serrano, to reflect on the creative journey behind The Undertone. Together, they’ll explore the film’s evolution — from its early drafts to its visual and sonic design — while also discussing how collaboration, mentorship, and digital storytelling practices shaped Tuason’s approach. By examining how a deeply personal story can resonate with audiences and attract a major distributor, this session will offer insight into the intersections of craft, risk, and support systems in independent filmmaking.
Ian Tuason
Filmmaker
Ian Tuason is a Toronto-based filmmaker and the writer and director of The Undertone, sold to A24 Films in July 2025 following its premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival where it won Best Canadian Feature. Tuason is currently in development for his next feature, soon to be announced.
Ana Serrano
President and vice-chancellor of OCAD Univerisity
Ana Serrano is an award-winning visionary leader with more than 25 years of experience in transforming organizations and creating cutting-edge programs to strengthen innovation and skills-building in the arts and culture sector and creative industries. Since July 2020, Ms Serrano has been President and Vice-Chancellor of OCAD University, Canada’s largest and oldest art and design university. She was previously Chief Digital Officer of the Canadian Film Centre and founder of the CFC Media Lab.
14 Nov, 2025 7:30 pm
OCADU Auditorium MCA 190No advance ticketing is available for this event. Free same-day tickets will be distributed on a first-come/first-served basis at the venue starting at 7PM on the day of the presentation.
The venue is located on the ground floor with level entry at the entrance. The entrance to the building is accessible from the sidewalk by ramps.
If you require accessibility accommodation for this event, please click the link below.
Join us for a conversation with directors and filmmakers Mayumi Yoshida, Janus Victoria, Timothy Yeung, and Nach Dudsdeemaytha on the creative, logistical, and personal realities of co-producing films across borders. Each filmmaker brings a unique perspective on how shooting overseas shaped their debut features - from financing and creative collaboration to the evolution of personal and cultural perspective.
The discussion will explore how festivals can better support accessibility — from accommodating filmmakers with disabilities and reaching diverse audiences, to guiding creators on inclusive practices like budgeting for captioning.
Join us for a special presentation of 18 to 35, a bold new workplace comedy created by Rahul Chaturvedi and executive produced by Andrew Phung.
This workshop spotlights the Sari-Sari Xchange Assetory, a storytelling-led virtual asset library prototype created with and for the Asian diaspora. Participants will be asked to bring an object with a personal meaning, which they will learn how to scan and create a 3D reproduction of. They will also be able to share what memories, stories, and histories the object holds and contribute to the SSX Assetory if they wish.
The workshop activities are accessible to people using wheelchairs as the object plinths will be at various heights. The workshop will use the Polycam app on smartphones (iPhones, Androids) for scanning purposes. Participants are free to use their own devices, and there will be a couple of iPhones and iPads available for people to use if needed. If the participants have their device set up for low vision accessibility, they could use it to operate the app. Team members will facilitate engagement and guide patrons as needed,
7 Nov, 2025 2:00 pm
to 5:00 pm
OCAD UniversityAsiatic Itineraries Research Centre
205 Richmond St W, Suite 403
Fill out this form to reserve priority for the workshop. Walk-ins are also welcome; however spots will not be guaranteed.
This venue has level-entry access from the sidewalk but the elevator has access limitations due to its dimensions – please visit the intake form by clicking the button below for details and options. Suite 403 has level entry from the hallway and is open-plan in design with no internal barriers.
Celebrate the launch of the Sari-Sari Xchange Assetory, a storytelling-led virtual asset library prototype created with and for the Asian diaspora, and play with mobile resource units designed to facilitate the making and exhibition of XR creative works.
Fri, Nov 14, 6–9PM at Open Space Gallery, 49 McCaul St.
Explore the XR worldbuilding practices of media artists working at the confluence of body, space, and technology.
From augmented reality projects reactivating rural Chinese areas to virtual reality works shaping collective memory, this roundtable opens a dialogue on how emerging media can tell local stories and convey lived experiences.
Render Me in Your Worlds is a multi-day symposium that highlights the Sari-Sari Xchange and Reel Asian's shared mission of amplifying Asian representation in the creative emerging media industries.
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 and Asian diasporic 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
