Catch author Jeff Yang in conversation with RepresentASIAN Project's EIC and founder Madelyn Chung about his new book, THE GOLDEN SCREEN. Purchase a copy and get it signed!
12 Nov. 2:00 pm | Festival Lounge
Unaware it's her dementia-ridden grandmother’s final months, a filmmaker documents her grandmother's physical changes.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Following an exchange of text messages with her mother about her newly adopted dog Abby, a young woman sees her experience as a transracial adoptee reflected in this adoption.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
One night, a person brushes the teeth of a dog and turns into a bus.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Directed by Emma Zuck. Faye, a 16-year-old ballet dancer, prepares for her final solo.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
When Anu, a recent widow, moves to New Zealand from India, she's forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual in an extraordinary circumstance: quarantine.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
In this complex family thriller, Gian has been plotting revenge since the day Janine, his mother, was sent away.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
At the heart of Baby Queen is a tender and joyful relationship between Singaporean drag queen Opera Tang and her 90-year-old grandmother, who makes many of her performance costumes.
15 Nov. 7:00 pm | Innis Town Hall
The formation and history of Lake Baikal in Siberia are re-imagined with handmade animation.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
In this charming and meditative documentary, Jackie, Nora and Gayle are three Hakka Chinese women from Victoria, B.C. who unite to save Canada's oldest Chinese temple from crumbling.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Blue Ant Media is looking for its next hit factual paranormal series with T&E and HauntTV's global free streaming channel. Join us for a spooky information session with Blue Ant Media's Sam Linton, VP Production and Development and Julie Chang, EVP Business Strategy and Co-productions, to get all of your questions answered.
14 Nov. 3:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Working as a fisherman to support his small family, Ucup is used to consuming his catch from the sea until one day something strange happens that makes him realize something about his daily meal.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Last fall, the DOC Institute invited creative producers to reimagine a documentary ecosystem that recognizes the needs of BIPOC producers with critically acclaimed projects, and published their thoughts in the “Creative Producer Think Tank Report.” A key point highlighted was producer/director relationships—listen as panelists delve into the critical and vital collaboration that underpins any successful film.
14 Nov. 4:00 pm | Festival Lounge
After a coven of witches is discovered in the mountains, the government conducts an experiment attempting to mix magic and technology.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
In our inaugural First Films event, award-winning Asian Canadian filmmakers show the first films they’ve ever made. They will reveal their origin stories—that time they caught the movie bug; the place their creative voices first started cracking.
18 Nov. 7:00 pm | CSI Annex
When 13-year-old Ilyas’s parents yank him out of his comfortable Islamic private school and force him to adjust to life in public school, he develops a plan to change their minds. After a staged fondness for non-halal food and explicit music fails to sufficiently scandalize his parents, Ilyas asks his whip-smart former classmate, Yasmeen, to help devise a more foolproof plan.
12 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C2
Two crocodilian men go to a swimming pool to cool off. One of them is seemingly of a different and special kind; the other is unable to control his desire.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
9 Nov. 4:00 pm | Commons Lobby at 401 Richmond Street
Directed by Aldina Lydia Nabilah Azani. A religious officer and a journalist embark on a close-proximity case in a house that seems to have other plans.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Andrew and Nina reunite when Andrew moves into a new place in the city. As the day passes, they mould the empty apartment into a home, awakening dormant feelings from their past.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Nonoko the cat and Haro the rabbit dance to share a bittersweet goodbye on their graduation day.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Filmmakers Njo Kong Kie and John Greyson have created an original short opera about the last day on Earth for Li Shiu Tong, the lover of Berlin sexologist and legendary gay-rights pioneer Magnus Hirschfeld.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
A tender short film about a daughter who attempts to chop a coconut for her dying father.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Iman, a privileged six-year-old Pakistani girl, embarks on a mission to save her beloved pet goat from being eaten on the Muslim holiday of Eid al-Adha.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Explore this app for mobile devices that shares the journey of a child refugee, activated by the steps you take.
16 Nov. 4:00 pm | Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
Grinding away at the inherited family business, Mohamed works tirelessly making sales of knock-off perfume, while living as a knock-off version of his true self.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Out of work and forced to marry a man she dislikes, young San Kyi plans to run away with her best friend, but complications unfold.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Things that we thought were gone may not truly leave us—perhaps they are still with us somehow.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Hang out with us for Festival Happy Hour, open to the public! Grab a drink and join in on the casual activities each day.
9 Nov. - 12 Nov. | Commons Lobby at 401 Richmond Street
We are kicking off the 27th edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival with a night to remember! Celebrate with us at our Festival Launch Party, co-hosted by New Ho Queen!
2 Nov. 8:00 pm | Commons Lobby at 401 Richmond Street
On her 21st birthday, A Xin, who studied abroad in Taiwan, meets her brother who came from Malaysia.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
Two sisters who have chosen different paths are reunited while preparing for a wedding, forcing them to face their differences, whether they are ready or not.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Daigoro, a baby thunder god, dreams of being as powerful as his father.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
A grieving boy finds his late mother’s hair caught in the shower drainage hole and gets swept into the “Hair Universe,” an unknown world underneath the bathtub.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Between nuclear reactors and military curfews, 14-year-old Jani lives in a dystopian world oppressively devoid of empathy. Together, she and her slippery new friend Kiefer the talking catfish gear up to strike a surreal blow for freedom.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Flaming lobsters and menstruation woes plague 12-year-old Yuki’s doomed Hawai'ian beach vacation.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
In the strange, polarized world of Hands and Butts, a single act of violence toward an oppressed Butt sets the mediaverse ablaze.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Discover the comedically honest and heartwarming story of the CBC Gem original short-form series How to Fail as a Popstar in our screening of the first three episodes followed by a panel discussion, "The Clumsy Art of Finding Yourself."
16 Nov. 7:00 pm | Hot Docs Ted Rogers
Unable to find the presence of women in the artwork of Lee Jung-seob, I am a Horse spins an imaginative tale inspired by tae-mong (Korean birth dreams) of women born with half of their bodies, being a horse and a tiger.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Sujin, who was recently fired and is planning to go to Canada on a working holiday, lives with her family after her parents’ return.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Mariam, a medical student, is dealing with her grandfather’s passing, her grieving mother, and preparing for upcoming exams. When an estranged and suspiciously helpful uncle re-enters their lives and promises support with their property and finances, Mariam senses trouble.
10 Nov. 8:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
In the height of the Iran–Iraq war, Caroline takes the final car ride with her father through the Iranian countryside.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Maggie, a young Asian American sound artist, grapples with her imposter syndrome as it takes on new extremes at her first artist's residency.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Delve into the profound connections filmmakers Fawzia Mirza (The Queen of My Dreams) and Zarrar Kahn (In Flames) forge when revisiting their roots in Pakistan, through a cinematic lens. This in-depth conversation explores how filmmakers turn place into its own dynamic character, and unpacks the emotive pull of returning, despite its tensions and contradictions. Join us as they showcase how "home" can transcend geographical boundaries, ignite stories with new interpretations of place, and animate narratives with the rich tapestry of personal heritage.
9 Nov. 2:30 pm | Festival Lounge
In a small village in northern Sri Lanka, a young girl is forced to confront the consequences of a deadly civil war as a wounded freedom fighter is brought into their home.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
A lonely traveller plans to explore a small town, when a stranger suddenly joins him.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
A beloved horror actress questions the triviality of her career starring in Pontianak films, all the while being filmed by a group of documentary filmmakers.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Back-and-forth movement blends discrete pictures into each other, contrasting the memory of innocent childhood life in a remote, peaceful environment against the surrounding political affairs of post-revolutionary Iran.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
You rarely couple poop and romance together, but Okiku and the World does it effortlessly in the most genuine and adorable way.
9 Nov. 8:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
When Azra, a queer Muslim grad student, hears of her father’s sudden death, she flies back to her ancestral home in Karachi, Pakistan for the funeral, where she is received by her conservative mother, Mariam, perpetually disappointed by Azra’s choices. As a self-assured Azra wrestles with Karachi’s customs and norms, we time travel back to Mariam’s own life in the city 30 years ago, a remarkably different era in Pakistan’s political and cultural history.
8 Nov. 7:30 pm | Hot Docs Ted Rogers
Kyu-ho, an ordinary office worker, receives an interview request from a famous writer and agrees to talk to her.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Visit the PIGEONHOLE, nest and rest from the festival chaos, listen to collaborative pigeon music, watch raw footage, compose your own ditties, and collage a flock of desired futures together with other attendees. Check the festival website or rarara.ca for a full program schedule including artist talks and facilitated collage sessions.
8 Nov. - 19 Nov. | Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
Pixels of the Orient appropriates Western media depictions of East Asia for a psychedelic and comedic exploration of ahistorical East Asian aesthetics and identity.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Directed by Sonny Calvento. The audition process for an exploitative game show becomes the latest test of a long-suffering mother’s fortitude and tenacity.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Jude Chehab, a Lebanese American cinematographer and filmmaker, has always known her mother and grandmother to be women devoted to their Muslim faith. During a trip to Lebanon, Chehab is propelled by a curiosity to understand the quest for love, acceptance, and meaning that brought three generations of women in her family to pledge loyalty to a secretive matriarchal religious order operating clandestinely in the country.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Some family stories are so epic they demand telling. Some moments in history require the intimate and inside knowledge of community storytellers. The venerated Chinese Canadian filmmaker Keith Lock narrates the story of how his mother married his father in Australia, who was training with other Chinese Canadian veteran volunteers for the top secret suicide mission, Operation Oblivion.
14 Nov. 7:00 pm | Innis Town Hall
From the team behind Beyond the Infinite Two Minutes (Reel Asian Official Selection, 2021) comes Junta Yamaguchi’s latest time loop comedy, River. Set in a quaint inn along the Kibune river near Kyoto—a one-street village wedged between a riverbed on one side and mountains on the other—staff and guests find themselves stuck in a continuous two-minute time loop.
10 Nov. 8:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
In a post-New Order Jakarta, native Indonesians (Pribumi) are legalized to perform the black magic ritual babi ngepet to balance their economy against Chinese Indonesians.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Directed by Meredith Hama-Brown. Judith, a Japanese Canadian woman, and her reluctant white husband attend a week-long couple’s retreat on a coastal British Columbia island, their two daughters in tow. With Judith grieving the recent loss of her mother, and her connection to her Japanese Canadian identity, the couple’s disconnect grows as she finds herself infatuated with another, seemingly perfect, interracial couple at the retreat.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
There’s no need to be certain about what’s next as this collection of shorts places us in a position to face specific pivotal moments of reckoning. Whether we’re feeling stuck or turbulent in the chaos of transition, can we remain gentle to ourselves?
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Societal, political, and magical forces at play beyond our control, this programme brings together a variety of filmmaking approaches to reflect on what can remain in troubling times, and along with it, agency to construct the narrative.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
These shorts look at the soft to even slightly off-kilter bonds we find in one another, the realms we exist in, and ultimately, ourselves, despite ongoing change—no friendship bracelets required.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox 4
Initiated in 2002 by Yuni Hadi (Singapore), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Chalida Uabumrungjit (Thailand), S-Express has become an annual showcase of programming from Southeast Asia, spotlighting the abundant filmmaking talent and a nuanced insight into the stories of each participating region. This year, Reel Asian presents S-Express Malaysia, programmed by Chong Lee Yow of Mini Film Festival, featuring five films depicting one's ability to (un)trap themselves from limitations set upon them, be it bodily, mind, or soul, to achieve relief and victory.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Hmm … this doesn’t seem right?! This programme asks us to sit with the discomforting feelings that arise when we begin to confront the unknown in what we believe to know.
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
More to the situation than what it seems, these shorts choose to examine, tease, and redefine the forces that pull us to make a decision.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Six fearless emerging filmmakers embarked on a summer-long filmmaking journey online. We’re proud to present their world premiere here in the 12th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking program.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Ho-jun, a flailing actor, has found relative success as a social media influencer, hawking fishing hacks. He preps his live stream at his preferred fishing spot, only to be disrupted by an obnoxious stranger whose bad vibes are ruining the morning.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
For our Closing Night Event, come celebrate the live So You Think You Can Pitch competition at the 27th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Reception to follow.
19 Nov. 5:00 pm | CSI Annex
A little girl stumbles into a sacred grove near her village in south India.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Starring Jerry as Himself shakes up notions of traditional storytelling in a genre-bending mystery that centres on Jerry Hsu. Jerry is a loving father of three, a recent divorcé, and has been keeping a secret.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
In the peripheries of near-future Tokyo, high schoolers Kou and Yuta practice a prank that begins as a faux argument and involves a prop glass bottle stolen from their theater department.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Anna, a cognitively disabled woman, and her estranged sister, Emily, must learn to communicate after their mother’s death in order to move forward.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
A job interview, a children’s clothing store, a government registry office. These are just some of the everyday sites for which the characters of Terrestrial Verses must navigate cultural, religious, and institutional constraints imposed on them.
12 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
A boy longs for his father's affection, but he is only interested in fishing.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
A lifetime of abusing his natural talent for making up stories has led an arrogant serial liar to quit his deceiving ways forever.
11 Nov. 2:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Mehrdad, an Iranian boy, befriends an old Japanese woman in a graveyard in Tokyo.
18 Nov. 10:30 am | Innis Town Hall
Kathy Tran and Agnès Gaudreau work as auto mechanics at Bâtiment 7, a collective-run space where they can truly be themselves.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
The Sari-Sari Xchange is a project that seeks to amplify Asian representation in the creative emerging media industries in Canada, particularly through a community-building residency program that engages artists with digital and extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 360 cinema, game-engine animation, and 3D scanning.
17 Nov. 1:30 pm | Festival Lounge
Directed by Ji-won Han. Sejin once had the power to have anything she wanted just by thinking about it. But now she has lost her magic.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Two sisters seeking revenge for the murder of their sister, Isabel.
10 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
9 Nov. 5:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Free-spirited 12-year-old Zaffan is the first of her friends to get her period and experience the body-changing horrors that come with puberty and menstruation.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
A mad clock takes the viewer on a time trip to a random planet where the concept of time is experienced differently from the one we know...
12 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Step into the thrilling world of TV writing with a range of talented writers as they share their insights into crafting a successful TV series, advancing careers in the writers' room, and promoting diversity in showrunning.
15 Nov. 4:30 pm | YouTube
An Iranian Canadian girl reluctantly makes a new friend when the new student from Iran offers to help fix her ruined unibrow — for her, a symbol of the Iranian heritage she tries desperately to hide from the world.
11 Nov. 7:30 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
The Good Guise is an artist collective in Toronto formed to spark conversations around healthy masculinity.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C3
Be warmed by friendship and held by the depth of feelings in this collection of wholesome shorts for all ages in a relaxed screening environment. Stick around to participate in fun and simple art activities post-screening.
18 Nov. 11:00 am - 18 Nov. 3:00 pm | Innis Town Hall
Following our Building Forces: The Director Producer Relationship panel, stay for a reception with Canadian Media Producers Association, a chance to network, ask questions, and enjoy snacks and refreshments. Especially good for Producers!
14 Nov. 6:00 pm | Festival Lounge
Teenager Ly and her cousins get high before a boisterous family Thanksgiving at their auntie’s house in southeast San Diego in 2006.
11 Nov. 12:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Opaque memories seep into a quotidian flow despite efforts to move onward.
11 Nov. 5:00 pm | TIFF Bell Lightbox C4
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from Asia and the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
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