IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
ASL interpretation will be provided for this programme. Please click here to read about how we provide access.
Canada, China, India, Pakistan, USA2024–202670 MIN 41 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Live ASL Interpretation, Open Captions
Consider the rhythms of labour: in the home, at the workplace, and on the streets. These films capture the stories of those who power our cities and ask, "How do we better meet each other where we are at?"
For: those looking to connect the rapid pulse of the city with compassionate peer support
China202512 MIN 51 SChinese with English SubtitlesAboriginal + Indigenous, Docu-fiction, Documentary, First Feature, Open Captions
In the mountain city of Chongqing, the "Bangbang Army" – pole-bearing labourers averaging 62 years of age – navigate the vertical labyrinth of this metropolis with bamboo poles slung across their weathered shoulders.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
You Li
You Li’s short films have been officially selected for the Beijing International Film Festival, the One Shot Film Festival, and the International Folklore Film Festival.
Canada20245 MIN 33 SNo DialogueAnimation, Experimental, Open Captions
A dreamlike parable about immigration, Permit Garden follows a nameless child who toils to exit the garden. But as time goes on, they wonder if escape is even possible.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Yujia Shi*
Yujia Shi 施雨迦 is an animation filmmaker and visual artist based in Nova Scotia. Shi has directed animated shorts independently and with the National Film Board of Canada.
*In attendance
Canada202612 MIN 40 SEnglish with English SubtitlesAnimation, Documentary, Open Captions
Interwoven with animation, observational footage, and shadow puppetry, Landlines follows migrant truck drivers living in the Greater Toronto Area as they navigate the unjust realities of their industry.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Miru Yogarajah*, Jay Aramboo*
Miru Yogarajah (they/them) is a doc filmmaker and multidisciplinary creator.
Jay Aramboo (they/them) is a queer and Tamil, self-taught animator, video editor, and music producer.
*In attendance
USA202510 minMandarin with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Documentary, Family-friendly, Open Captions
In a dark preservation lab in New York City, international student Ting Su works to digitize archival film negatives from the Daily Worker, a union newspaper that began in Chicago in 1924.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ting Su
Ting Su is a Chinese filmmaker and sound designer based between New York and Shenzhen. Her diaristic work crawls between themes of migration, archive, and queer identity through hybrid non-fiction forms.
India202614 minKannada, Telugu with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
The story follows Pankaja, a woman who, along with her daughter Lalli, desperately navigates the city slums and bureaucracy of Bangalore in a quest to find her missing husband.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Anooya Swamy
Anooya Swamy is a New York–based Indian filmmaker at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts pursuing an MFA in film and TV production. She is a Sundance Ignite x Adobe fellow.
Canada202611 min 30 sEnglish with English SubtitlesComedy, Drama, Open Captions
Struggling actress Devin and sound mixer Tom share an unlikely behind-the-scenes moment of connection, leads to an outpouring of emotion that neither of them expected.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Hiromu Yamawaki*
Hiromu Yamawaki (he/him) is a Vancouver-based writer and director from Tottori, Japan.
*In attendance
Pakistan20244 MIN 7 SPashto with English SubtitlesAnimation, Open Captions
A young delivery rider navigates a tough day in Lahore, away from home.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Mian Ijlal Ahmad
Mian Ijlal Ahmad is a graduate from the National College of Arts in Lahore. Ahmad makes films rooted in the culture of the city in which he was born and raised, Peshawar.
12 Nov, 2026 5:30 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
ASL interpretation will be provided for this programme. Please click here to read about how we provide access.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme!
This past summer, six emerging filmmakers embarked on a months-long filmmaking workshop. We’re proud to present their world premieres here in the 15th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking programme.
15 Nov. 1:00 pm
With a strong belief in mythmaking to process realities, director Julien Chheng and co-writer Sujuan Xu transport us into the lush and exhaustive world of Muyi, a spunky girl who is raised in a secluded village on a mountaintop where men are forbidden.
14 Nov. 10:00 am
Directed by renowned American filmmaker Rea Tajiri and co-written by award-winning Canadian author Kerri Sakamoto, Strawberry Fields is a daring dive into the traumas of the Sansei generation. This narrative feature film is as daring today as it was 30 years ago in 1997, when it had its Canadian premiere at the first Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
17 Nov. 7:30 pm
Canada, India, Singapore, UK, USA2025–202691 MIN 15 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Open Captions
One day, you choose to look beyond the stadium show and find yourself in the cracks of the stage. There, you encounter charm, playfulness, and invention beyond imagination. Do you venture in?
For: zinesters • DIY aficionados • lovers of camp, melodrama, wigs
Canada20256 MIN 56 SEnglish with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Comedy, Drama, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Romance
A violinist and a violin fall in love. When the violinist is spotted with another instrument, drama ensues.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Gavin Baird*
Gavin Baird is a Métis artist born in Prince Albert, Sask. His projects have screened at the Festival du Nouveau Cinema, International Film Festival Rotterdam, Fantaspoa, and the Toronto International Film Festival.
*In attendance
U.K.202529 MIN 51 SEnglish, Mandarin with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Comedy, Documentary, Experimental, Open Captions
A surreal and kitschy drag performance is mixed with prerecorded, lip-sync-style interviews based on the stories of East and Southeast Asian self-publishing underground heroes.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Oyester
Oyester is a Chinese artist and filmmaker exploring feminism, queer culture, self-publishing, and collective identity through moving image, performance, and participatory art.
Canada20252 MINCantonese with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Experimental, Open Captions
At a dim sum table where food meets kink, three friends push playfulness and intimacy to its sticky, steamy edges — until a sudden interruption challenges who gets to claim pleasure.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Soya Wu*
Soya Wu is an ecoqueer artist and sex educator whose practice explores the mycelium-like interconnections between human and nonhuman beings, and collective liberation. Tropical Canton-raised, Coast Salish-based.
*In attendance
USA20259 MIN 42 SEnglish with English SubtitlesAnimation, Comedy, Drama, Experimental, Family-friendly, Open Captions
Klora and Minky work together to solve a very, very "important" equation.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Noopur Dayal*
Noopur Dayal is an animator and writer based in Brooklyn. She uses glitter to explore semantics, semantics to model math, and math to fathom the space between cyberbullying and kindness.
*In attendance
Singapore20258 MIN 24 Sn/aAnimation, Docu-fiction, Documentary, Experimental, Open Captions
This film was shot in the Dirt Palace, a feminist-artist-run space project founded in 2000 in an abandoned library building in the commercial corridor of Olneyville in Providence, R.I.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
EXYL*
EXYL is a filmmaker working under the umbrella of experimental animation. They love cheap work and they care about being honest. They currently live and work in Singapore, helping organize underground cinema screenings and spaces.
*In attendance
India202623 MINEnglish, Hindi with English SubtitlesWorld Premiere Comedy, Documentary, Experimental, Family-friendly, Open Captions
In the intimate oasis of a tiny women’s-only beauty parlour, generations of devoted customers, including the filmmaker’s family, reflect on letting their hair go grey.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Revantika Gupta*
Revantika Gupta is a PhD candidate in the cinema studies department at the NYU Tisch School of the Arts. She is currently thinking about Delhi films, women loitering, garbage, and hip-hop.
*In attendance
Canada202611 MIN 22 SEnglish with English SubtitlesAnimation, Documentary, Experimental, Open Captions
Letter to Celestial is a reanimation and reimagination of archival documents found in the search for Asian sex workers in Montreal's Chinatown and historic red light district.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Wawa Li*, Sinéad O'Halloran*
Wawa Li and Sinéad O’Halloran are historical researchers, artists, and activists engaged in discovering and honouring the invisibilized histories of sex workers in Montreal through creative and coded storytelling tactics.
*In attendance
13 Nov, 2026 6:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme moderated by Khanh Tudo!
Nestled in the lively, bustling neighbourhood of Karachi’s Machar Colony (also known as Fisherman Colony) is a school for girls, where they learn to read, write, and — on their own insistence — learn gymnastics.
15 Nov. 4:15 pm
Drop by for the Means to Enfold opening reception featuring live music and refreshments and bring your infectious energies to the SSX Sing-Along Karaoketo to end the evening at a high note (all singing styles and music genres welcome!).
13 Nov. 7:30 pm - 13 Nov. 11:00 pm
In the spirit of Reel Asian’s 30th anniversary, the extended reality (XR) programme this year is both a retrospective celebrating the breadth of work in immersive media and an opening for playful explorations of how established and emerging artists are exercising their right to speak their truth into reality. Explore and take a step into the many projects and events in the world of Expanded Dis/Closures.
11 Nov.
Canada, China, France, India, Iran, Switzerland, UK, USA2025–202689 MIN 20 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online
We are all guided by desires — some physical, some emotional, some impossible to name. These films explore the tender spaces where craving becomes intimacy, curiosity becomes discovery, and desire leaves a trace.
For: those curious about what draws us closer, what opens within us, what lingers
UK202522 MIN 52 SEnglish with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Romance
A chance encounter at a laundromat sparks a meaningful connection between Vinnie and Ryan. As closeness blurs into desire, they are forced to confront what love demands.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with subtitles for all dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Darius Shu
Darius Shu is a British writer-director and cinematographer drawn to humanistic, emotionally resonant stories told through a visually poetic lens. His work often centres on underrepresented voices and overlooked narratives.
India202520 MinHindi with English SubtitlesDrama
This coming-of-age tale follows Chanda, who unexpectedly discovers masturbation on an otherwise ordinary day — set off by nothing more than the whirl of a washing machine.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with subtitles for all dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Vaidaangi Sharma
Vaidaangi Sharma is an independent filmmaker based in Mumbai. Her work explores gender and interpersonal dynamics, often through female protagonists who exist outside prescribed roles.
Iran202614 MIN 10 SPersian with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Open Captions, Romance
Mr. Monzavi, a reclusive man, lives in an ice shop alongside a mysterious block of ice that never melts. Their quiet, intimate bond is threatened when a group of strangers arrive.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Barbod Ataie
Barbod Ataei is an emerging filmmaker and cinema student. His work explores intimate human experiences through a distinctive cinematic perspective, with two films selected for international festivals.
China202613 MIN 29 SChinese (Chaozhou/Teochew Dialect) with English SubtitlesDrama, Family-friendly, Open Captions
A boy’s breaking voice derails his dream of reunion, forcing him to confront the irreversible passage into adulthood.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Lam Can-zhao
Lam Can-zhao is a Chinese filmmaker whose works include A Bright Sunny Day (La Cinef, Cannes Film Festival, 2023) and A Summer’s End Poem (Generation Kplus, Berlinale, 2024).
Canada20255 MIN 3 SNo Dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Experimental, First Feature, Open Captions
Using cyanotype animation, feelings of desire, romance, and melancholy are drawn from the lingering memory of a young man who falls in love with a statue.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ron Siu*
Ron Siu is a Toronto-based artist working across animation, painting, and print media. He is currently pursuing his MFA in visual arts at the University of Guelph.
*In attendance
USA202612 MIN 56 SEnglish, Japanese with English SubtitlesAction, Drama, Open Captions
Ashima Shiraishi, a former child prodigy climber, and their Butoh dancer father offer a ceremony of climbing and dance to invite healing to both their fractured relationship and the land of Paiute.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ashima Shiraishi, Jess X. Snow
Ashima Shiraishi was born to Japanese immigrants in New York City. Shiraishi is focused on storytelling, and exploring the intersection of climbing, art, culture, ecology, and social justice.
Jess X. Snow is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker and multidisciplinary artist committed to bringing the healing journeys of queer diasporic people to the big screen.
13 Nov, 2026 8:45 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, and English subtitles.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme moderated by Kelvin Rabella!
Consider the rhythms of labour: in the home, at the workplace, and on the streets. These films capture the stories of those who power our cities and ask, "How do we better meet each other where we are at?"
12 Nov. 5:30 pm
Nestled in the lively, bustling neighbourhood of Karachi’s Machar Colony (also known as Fisherman Colony) is a school for girls, where they learn to read, write, and — on their own insistence — learn gymnastics.
15 Nov. 4:15 pm
Join a multi-user VR journey set in Korea's iconic Gyeongbokgung Palace, where the grandeur of the Joseon Dynasty’s last unrealized royal banquet comes to life. More than a spectator, you are a part of the celebration in this cutting-edge, location-based entertainment experience that seamlessly blends history, culture, and technology in real time.
12 Nov. - 21 Nov.
Canada, France, Indonesia, Singapore, Switzerland, Thailand, USA2023–202481 MIN 31 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Live ASL Interpretation, Open Captions
Perhaps it’s time to reconcile your version of reality with the world that's in front of you. It may be more distant than you’d care to admit.
For: miscommunicators, careful optimists, doubtful yearners
Canada202612 MIN 10 SEnglish, Urdu with English SubtitlesDrama, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Romance
Fatima gets invited to her first husband's chaliswa, the 40th-day-after-death commemoration. She comes face to face with his widow, Safeena, and the memories they have both carried for decades.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Haaris Qadri*
Haaris Qadri makes films that blend the authenticity of naturalism with the vividness of a painter’s realism. His works delve into the essence of everyday life, capturing moments that evoke deep emotions.
*In attendance
Indonesia202622 MIN 28 SPapuan, Indonesian, Javanese with English SubtitlesComedy, Docu-fiction, Experimental, Open Captions
Videographers Arief and Edi exchange memories and imaginations about Papua based on the footage they captured during their time there.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Arief Budiman
Arief Budiman is an artist-filmmaker based in Yogyakarta, Indonesia, working with sonic traces, distorted histories, fabricated realities, desktop cinema, collage film, and media installations.
Canada20254 MIN 20 Sn/aAnimation, Disability, Experimental, Open Captions
Intuitively layered, textual animation is used as a tool to describe and come to terms with hallucinations as a part of sight.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Penakee Das
Penakee Das is a multidisciplinary artist focusing on the combination of animation and real-world materials. He is currently studying at OCAD University for an MDes in inclusive design.
France, Switzerland, Thailand202623 MIN 30 SThai with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
Rusmee keeps interacting with her dead husband Chalerm, in the form of an AI chatbot. It is only with the arrival of Fa, Chalerm’s former caretaker, that the memories inhabiting the house are released.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Domenico Singha Pedroli
Domenico Singha Pedroli is a Swiss Thai filmmaker based between Paris and Bangkok. His works articulate complex narratives that explore memory, identity, and diaspora, in all their mutability.
USA20258 MIN 10 SChinese with English SubtitlesAnimation, Drama, Experimental, Open Captions
MiaoMiao receives a box of chocolate balls. As she clings to this small treasure, a mix of doubt and quiet rebellion begins to blur the boundaries between order and desire.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Yingdan Lai
Yingdan Lai is an animation director originally from China and currently based in Los Angeles. Working with hand-drawn 2D animation, she wraps discomfort, unease, and the unspeakable in deceptively childlike lines.
Canada202510 MIN 53 SKorean, Mandarin, English with English SubtitlesComedy, Drama, Family-friendly, Open Captions
Two lonely grandmas from different cultures connect through daily walks around the neighbourhood. Today is their last walk before one of them flies back home to South Korea.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Andrea Bang*, Diana Bang
Andrea Bang and Diana Bang are Korean Canadian actors, writers, directors, and sisters based out of Vancouver on the traditional unceded territories of the Musqueam, Squamish, and Tsleil-Waututh Nations.
*In attendance
14 Nov, 2026 2:45 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
ASL interpretation will be provided for this session. Please click here to read about how we provide access.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme moderated by Khanh Tudo!
How do cinematographers build sustainable careers while developing their craft across different formats, genres, and production models? This all-cinematographer conversation explores the paths that led them to television and film, and how they continue to build their craft and sustain themselves.
18 Nov. 6:00 pm
RENT A PLUS-ONE, offers a case study in what happens when filmmakers build for a vertical frame. Its creators unpack their journey from traditional web series to vertical.
16 Nov. 6:30 pm
Reel Asian’s XR Summit is a space for dialogue between emerging and established artists and studios, professionals from the industry, media scholars, and the wider communities who will connect and explore the state of the creative industries and the market trends leading innovation within the domains of XR and spatial media, both globally and locally.
16 Nov. 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Canada, China, Iran, Singapore, Taiwan, UK2025–202674 MIN 28 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Open Captions
Under suspicious circumstances, you wonder if the entities around you are withholding your full autonomy. Do you fight back?
For: those feeling suffocated, unheard, vengeful
China202618 MINChinese with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
A portrait of an ordinary “one-child” Chinese family in their habitat in an ordinary apartment.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Dean Wei
Born in Cologne, Germany, Dean Wei is a graduate of Beijing Film Academy. Wei is currently based in Beijing as a director, composer, and cinematographer.
UK20253 MIN 30 SNo Dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Horror, Open Captions
A simple itch spirals into an outbreak with many legs. Certain things will always find their way to the surface.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Lysander Wong
Lysander Wong is a Hong Kong animator and artist based in London and creating playful and tactile work.
Iran202515 MINPersian with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
In a photography studio, a woman and a photographer struggle to capture an innocent portrait of the woman.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Farzam Tabibi
Farzam Tabibi (b. 1997) is an Iranian filmmaker whose journey in cinema began in 2020 through experimental, low-budget student films. His second short, Portrait, was made with support from Tehran’s underground cinema.
Canada202612 MIN 50 SEnglish, Tagalog with English SubtitlesAnimation, Drama, Experimental, Horror, Open Captions
In a rural Philippine market, a street dog scavenges for scraps while a mother and son, fleeing Canada, search for a fresh start.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
NOFAC3
Khrysta Lloren (NOFAC3) is a Filipino stop-motion animator and visual artist in Vancouver. Their multidisciplinary practice explores surrealism, psychological horror, memory, identity, and transformation.
Canada20266 MINEnglish with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Horror, Open Captions
A teenage girl must come to terms with her tense relationship with her mother while reckoning with the suspicion that she may be eating far more than just fruits from their garden.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Chantal Leong*
Chantal Leong is a writer, director, and arts worker based in Toronto. She is drawn to dissecting Chinese diaspora culture, imagining self-contained worlds drenched in vibrant and gothic atmospheres.
*In attendance
Taiwan20254 MIN 33 SMandarin with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Experimental, Horror, Open Captions
Ping faces conflict with her girlfriend's homophobic and aggressive father. As tensions escalate, Ping is forced to take drastic action to save herself.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ting-Jui Chen
Ting-Jui Chen is an animator from Taiwan, based in London. Blending heavy subjects with a touch of humour, she uses mixed media to evoke feelings that are as strange as they are familiar.
Singapore202514 MIN 35 SMalay with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Horror, Open Captions
In a time and place where abortion is illegal, a woman’s repeated attempts to end her pregnancy fail, until she crosses paths with a strange bus driver.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Jen Nee Lim
After 15 years as producer-writer, Jen Nee Lim pivoted to directing in 2019. Her latest short, award-winning Fruit (Buah), competed in the Busan International Film Festival, the Sundance Film Festival, the Clermont-Ferrand International Short Film Festival, and South by Southwest, among others.
14 Nov, 2026 8:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4AA
CONTENT ADVISORY
Blood; abortion; homophobia; formication; sexual content
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme moderated by Khanh Tudo!
We are all guided by desires — some physical, some emotional, some impossible to name. These films explore the tender spaces where craving becomes intimacy, curiosity becomes discovery, and desire leaves a trace.
13 Nov. 8:45 pm
11-year-old Cyrus Sundar Singh joined an after-school film club whose members all happened to be the children of immigrants. While learning to love film, they also grappled with their identities — were they Chinese, Indian, or Italian? Were they Canadian? Together, they made a short film that explored these ideas and more.
14 Nov. 10:00 am
In celebration of the pioneering Kaohsiung VR Film Lab, established in 2017 to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling, Views from the Pier presents selected works supported by the Kaohsiung Film Festival over the past decade. These works explore how histories and memories can be told, revealed, and expressed through expanded forms of narrative.
12 Nov. - 21 Nov.
Canada202662 MIN 49 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Live ASL Interpretation, Open Captions
This past summer, six emerging filmmakers embarked on a months-long filmmaking workshop. We’re proud to present their world premieres here in the 15th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking programme.
Canada202612 MIN 49 SKorean with English SubtitlesComedy, Drama, Open Captions
A tick infestation drives a group of campers out of their tent as their only light source slowly loses power. Their conflicting instincts pit them against one another.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Minjae Kwak*
Minjae Kwak is a Korean Canadian filmmaker based in Toronto. He is drawn to stories that truthfully explore the human condition; his perspective is shaped by his experiences living in both countries.
*In attendance
Canada20269 MIN 40 SEnglish, Tagalog with English SubtitlesComedy, Drama, Family-friendly, Open Captions
Ira reluctantly takes the bus to meet up with a guy from online, but when her date cancels mid-ride, she decides to join the middle-aged bus driver on his smoke break.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Angeline Javier*
Angeline Javier is a photographer and filmmaker based in Winnipeg. Drawing from stories from the Filipino diaspora, her films aim to explore relationships, culture, and the politics that shape identity.
*In attendance
Canada202611 MIN 45 SHindi with English SubtitlesComedy, Family-friendly, Open Captions
A middle-aged Indian mother is faced with the dilemma of a lifetime when her yesteryear Bollywood crush arrives at her door with just one request for her husband and kids — to marry her.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Nidhil Vohra*
Nidhil Vohra is a writer, filmmaker, and film critic. His work seeks to amplify the voices of minoritized communities, often using humour to explore identity, class, religion, and belonging.
*In attendance
Canada202610 MIN 50 SEnglish, Cantonese with English SubtitlesDrama, Open Captions
In a home where fights erupt and everything is quietly reset by morning, two young sisters begin secretly plotting their parents’ divorce, believing it’s the only way to save their family.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Yasmin Lau*
Yasmin Lau is a Chinese Canadian filmmaker and actor. She is drawn to intimate storytelling that explores family, cultural identity, and the moments that reveal what words often don’t.
*In attendance
Canada20266 MIN 30 SEnglish with English Subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Experimental, Horror, Open Captions, Romance
Cabbageworm is a horror stop-motion animation film, exploring queer desire and emancipation after the death of Michelle's abusive and homophobic mother.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
院 Fanny Lord-Bourcier*
院 Fanny Lord-Bourcier is an animator and artist, based in Tio’tia:ke. Lord-Bourcier uses animation to bring to life playful interpretations of reality, with a particular interest in dream, memory, and diaspora.
*In attendance
Canada202611 MIN 15 SEnglish with English SubtitlesComedy, Drama, Open Captions
A 45-year-old corporate worker befriends a group of young skaters and secretly begins learning to skateboard during his lunch breaks. When doubt and judgment creep in, he must decide whether to abandon the joy he’s found or embrace the risk of starting over.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Nick Patel*
Nick Patel is a Toronto-based filmmaker, actor, writer, and producer making his directorial debut. His work explores growing up, identity, and the diverse experiences of Asian voices through storytelling.
*In attendance
15 Nov, 2026 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
ASL interpretation will be provided for this session. Please click here to read about how we provide access.
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme!
Join us at the The Commons Lobby for a reception after the screening of UNSUNG VOICES 15
3-4:30PM at The Commons Lobby, 401 richmond
Ashley Duong’s BA'S BOOK, Reel Asian’s opening night film, begins with her father’s memoir and unfolds with the process of recreating her family’s history of war, displacement, and migration from Vietnam.
12 Nov. 2:00 pm
In celebration of the pioneering Kaohsiung VR Film Lab, established in 2017 to push the boundaries of immersive storytelling, Views from the Pier presents selected works supported by the Kaohsiung Film Festival over the past decade. These works explore how histories and memories can be told, revealed, and expressed through expanded forms of narrative.
12 Nov. - 21 Nov.
Sunny Park’s world is … complicated. She discovers her life partner is cheating on her, and leaves both him and her job. With more time on her hands, Sunny is challenged by her hyper-critical mother to take over the cooking for her family’s upcoming CHUSEOK celebration — and the family restaurant.
13 Nov. 5:15 pm
Canada, India, Japan1970–202645 MIN 14 SVarious languages with English SubtitlesAvailable Online
Turning 10 this year, Wee Asian cultivates a place for all ages and generations to experience the festival together. Come and join our free drop-in programming, featuring relaxed film screenings, storytelling, arts and crafts, and time for play or rest!
Remixing Wee Asian with archival short films, this edition reframes what might be discovered in the programme through craft, narratives, and sensory experiences.
For: anyone with a pen in hand, oddballs, narrators, those following a train of thought
India20257 MIN 51 SHindi, English with English SubtitlesComedy, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Sci-fi
How do you cancel an online order? Filmmaker Ansh Sirohi's grandfather, Nanu, certainly has no idea.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with option captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Ansh Sirohi
Ansh Sirohi is an animation filmmaker and illustrator based in India. Like a bird, she is drawn to all things colourful and bright. She brings fun and life to the personal stories she tells.
Canada19706 MIN 49 SNo Dialogue
Hand-drawn on film by James Anderson, 19, and Keith Lock, 18, this film was inspired by the first Apollo moon landing in 1969 and is critical of Western ideations of advancement.
Keith Lock, James Anderson
Keith Lock is a filmmaker who works across experimental, dramatic, and documentary films. He is Canada’s first Chinese Canadian filmmaker.
James Anderson began making prize-winning films in the 1970s when he was still in high school. In addition, Anderson works as a painter, sculptor, and draughtsman.
Canada20045 MIN 52 SNo DialogueOpen Captions
Traces of birds become calligraphy. Handmade filmmaking creates impressions of flying.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Luo Li
Luo Li is an independent filmmaker. He was born and raised in China. He studied film and obtained his MFA in Canada.
Japan20264 MIN 9 SJapanese with English SubtitlesAnimation, Family-friendly
A girl walking home alone takes to the sky to shake off her loneliness. Her ability to use magic is a secret from her classmates.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with option captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Hana Takubo
Based in Tokyo, Hana Takubo graduated from the Tokyo University of the Arts’ design department in 2025 and then entered its graduate school to major in animation.
Canada200712 MIN 26 SEnglish with English SubtitlesOpen Captions
Wanda and Miles move a lot. Whenever they feel like it, they just put on their shoes and go! But one day, Wanda realizes that moving too much makes Miles’s head hurt.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with option captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Lesley Loksi Chan
Lesley Loksi Chan is an artist and filmmaker. Through experimental, handmade, and process-based filmmaking, she creates moving-image works as mementos.
Canada20061 MIN 37 SNo DialogueAnimation
A prairie landscape undergoes a metamorphosis from rural idyll to over-urbanized dystopia.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film has no dialogue (no audio + visual descriptions).
Anne Koizumi
Anne Koizumi is an independent filmmaker and media arts educator. In 2006, she participated in the third edition of the National Film Board of Canada’s Hothouse, an intensive for emerging animators, where she completed her first professional film, A Prairie Story.
Canada20266 MIN 30 SNo DialogueAnimation, Comedy, Family-friendly, Open Captions
Ollie wishes to become a kaiju, like the giant lizard monsters he sees at the cinema.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Mari Beatriz Nicole Ramizo
Mari Beatriz Nicole Ramizo is a Filipino Canadian animation student, currently attending Sheridan College. She spent her childhood in the Philippines and has been trying to reconnect to her roots through storytelling and filmmaking.
21 Nov, 2026 10:00 am
Innis Town HallRelaxed Screenings take place
at 10AM and 2:30PM
Drop-in Art Activities are from 11AM–3PM
Wee Asian is free and drop-in.
No tickets required!
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with a mix of open captions, and English subtitles.
From 11am to 3pm, participate in a range of playful and expressive arts activities on a drop-in basis!
Take a seat (or rest) and discover Asian-authored books for children and young adults, provided by Annick Press, Penguin Random House Canada, and NAJC. The Wee Asian BookNook will be open for visitors at the TIFF Lightbox Atrium from Thur, Nov 12 to Sun, Nov 15, and take place in Innis Town Hall for Wee Asian on Sat, Nov 21.
Encapsulate your time at Wee Asian with at the live-portrait booth with local artist Rebecca Hong! Portraits limited per session so make sure to sign-up for a spot on the day-of.
Rebecca Hong
Rebecca Hong is part creative, part momo and part corporate worker. She loves doodling cute things.
Meet our friends at Open Studio and their trusty line-o-scribe printing press by making your own ``colouring sheet`` prints, inspired by images from the short films in the Wee Asian screening. Facilitated by Pudy Tong, Open Studio's Studio & Education Manager.
Pudy Tong
Pudy Tong’s (he/him) print-based art practice draws on elements from journalism as the subject through which our experience of contemporary, media-saturated society is refracted, reinterpreted and re-imagined. He is the Studio & Education Manager at Open Studio.
Open Studio is an artist-run and non-profit centre providing artists with access to specialized printmaking facilities and affordable studio space in downtown Toronto since 1970.
Wee Asian's got a new look! Dream up your own characters, fruits, objects, and more as you colour in this year's special design.
Come and meet the team of Embrace LDC, a community supporter at Wee Asian, to hear about the range of services they provide!
Embrace Learning and Development Centre
Embrace Learning and Development Centre: Embrace, engage, empower.
ABA therapy and personalized support for growth, independence and connection.
Say hi and meet Jeff Chiba Stearns, the author of Ojichan's Dragon who is also a filmmaker, illustrator, and founder of Meditating Bunny Studio.
Jeff Chiba Stearns
Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy-nominated, multi-award-winning filmmaker, author, illustrator, and founder of Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. His 25-year career explores Japanese Canadian history, mixed-race identity, and belonging.
Join us for a live story reading session with author Jeff Chiba Stearns with an activity inspired by the graphic novel.
In the shadow of the Second World War and the forced relocation of Japanese Canadians by the Government of Canada, Ojiichan’s Dragon unfolds as a sweeping historical fantasy set in a remote internment camp deep in the heart of British Columbia.
11:45pm to 12:30pm
Jeff Chiba
Jeff Chiba Stearns is an Emmy-nominated, multi-award-winning filmmaker, author, illustrator, and founder of Meditating Bunny Studio Inc. His 25-year career explores Japanese Canadian history, mixed-race identity, and belonging.
1:30PM to 2:15 PM
Sit in on Wee Asian’s first ever part-panel part-jam session between Emmy-nominated Jeff Chiba Stearns in conversation with animators Jones Au-Duke, Sonya Preduta, and Will Alitong who worked on the new Wee Asian animation!
Viewable on Reel Asian’s YouTube channel from Nov 11th, 2026, onwards!
Follow Karel as she introduces three basic moves to belly dancing so you can create your own routine!
Karel Malkoun
From the moving image to the moving body, Karel is an artist who has written and directed internationally screened films and is now exploring different dance styles in search of her own movement language.
Worried you don't have a green thumb? We got you! Bree Jiang, one half of VenusRium, shows us how to make your own hardy and longlasting houseplant using simple arts materials.
Bree Jiang
Bree Jiang (she/they) is a multi-disciplinary artist of Chinese-descent based in Tkaronto/Toronto. Bree alongside collaborator Mina H. founded VenusRium, a collective that provides plants-based and terrarium workshops to foster community connection and dialogue.
Reel Asian’s XR Summit is a space for dialogue between emerging and established artists and studios, professionals from the industry, media scholars, and the wider communities who will connect and explore the state of the creative industries and the market trends leading innovation within the domains of XR and spatial media, both globally and locally.
16 Nov. 10:00 am - 7:00 pm
Harvinder “Harvey” Singh, a former bodybuilder now cares for his aging father. Early on, his father tells him he needs to grow his legs — a seemingly simple piece of advice that carries the weight of a lifetime of ideas about what it means to be a strong man.
14 Nov. 3:30 pm
Drop by for the Means to Enfold opening reception featuring live music and refreshments and bring your infectious energies to the SSX Sing-Along Karaoketo to end the evening at a high note (all singing styles and music genres welcome!).
13 Nov. 7:30 pm - 13 Nov. 11:00 pm
Taiwan2023–202482 MIN 41 SVarious languages with English subtitlesAvailable Online
We present a collection of short films from the Kaohsiung Film Festival. These shorts present a diverse set of perspectives from Taiwan — wistful, ambivalent, and restless connections across generations of people trying to get through this thing called life.
Taiwan202417 MIN 31 SMandarin, Taiwanese with English SubtitlesAnimation, Drama
Daikon and Bean meet at the edge of the world, and then the hot summer turns into spring.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Huang Ping-an
Huang Ping-an (b. 1999) loves to drink Coke.
Taiwan202418 MINMandarin, Taiwanese, Vietnamese, English with English Subtitles
As a night-shift security guard at a factory, A-Bang kind of likes his job. Patrolling, taking photos, signing in — it's all quite easy, but also quite solitary…
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Hsueh Wen-shuo
Hsueh Wen-shuo graduated from the radio, television, and film department at Shih Hsin University. His short film, Lovely Sundays, won the Grand Prize and Best Director Award at the 2019 Golden Harvest Awards.
Taiwan202322 MIN 10 SMandarin, English with English Subtitles2slgbtq+
A casual couple’s outing, a mysterious encounter, and an afternoon thunderstorm.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Chuang Yung-hsiang
Born in Taiwan in 1987, Chuang Yung-hsiang is a filmmaker based in Taipei. As a director, he often sets eyes on the minority while exploring the boundaries of narration.
Taiwan202325 MINMandarin, Taiwanese with English SubtitlesDrama, Family-friendly
Don, in his adolescence, feels low self-esteem due to his awkward gait. The problem now is his father, who is coming home after years of far-sea fishing.
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY: This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue is subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Hsu Sheng-tsung
Born in Kaohsiung in 1999, Hsu Sheng-tsung is currently in the Taipei National University of the Arts’ graduate programme of filmmaking. Focused on his characters’ psychologies, his works depict subtle emotions and relationships with minimal dialogues.
14 Nov, 2026 12:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4AA
CONTENT ADVISORY
Death; nudity
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This programme is presented with subtitles for all dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Drop by for the Means to Enfold opening reception featuring live music and refreshments and bring your infectious energies to the SSX Sing-Along Karaoketo to end the evening at a high note (all singing styles and music genres welcome!).
13 Nov. 7:30 pm - 13 Nov. 11:00 pm
Consider the rhythms of labour: in the home, at the workplace, and on the streets. These films capture the stories of those who power our cities and ask, "How do we better meet each other where we are at?"
12 Nov. 5:30 pm
Remixing Wee Asian with archival short films, this edition reframes what might be discovered in the programme through craft, narratives, and sensory experiences.
21 Nov. 10:00 am
South Korea2026105 minKorean with English Subtitles North American PremiereAvailable Online, Drama, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Romance
Sun-woo and Byung-jin, a couple in their 30s, move to Byung-jin’s hometown in the countryside, hoping it will help Sun-woo’s depression. But a zombie virus disrupts their plans — and Sun-woo gets infected. The two must find a way to evade conspiracy theorists who are trying to expose what they believe are the local government’s efforts to hide the town’s outbreak.
While the premise sounds like a boilerplate zombie thriller, Brunch with a Depressed Zombie flips the genre through a gentle examination of loving relationships. The film asks: How do we care for our loved ones through great life changes? Can we still love them in the same way? Can that care be carried out through an entire community? This love story shows how our answers to these questions make for better lives, no matter the challenges.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Shin Jin-young
Kim Yeon-kyo
Jung Eun-kyoung
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Bucheon International Fantastic Film Festival, 2026
Jecheon International Music & Film Festival, 2026
Kim Eun-young*
Kim Eun-young is a South Korean filmmaker. Her notable works include shorts Where Is My Pepper (2013) and Breath (2022), and her debut feature Will You Please Stop, Please (2023).
*In attendance
14 Nov, 2026 12:15 pm
TIFF Lightbox C3PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
Themes of depression, emotional isolation, bereavement; mild creature, zombie imagery
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with Brunch With a Depressed Zombie Director Eunyoung Kim and Yeongyo Kim moderted by Screening Committee member Tazeen Ahmed!
We present a collection of short films from the Kaohsiung Film Festival. These shorts present a diverse set of perspectives from Taiwan — wistful, ambivalent, and restless connections across generations of people trying to get through this thing called life.
14 Nov. 12:00 pm
Hear from directors, producers, and creatives working across music and visual media about building worlds around songs, collaborating with artists, and finding new ways to connect music and image while navigating tight budgets and production schedules.
20 Nov. 7:30 pm
Consider the rhythms of labour: in the home, at the workplace, and on the streets. These films capture the stories of those who power our cities and ask, "How do we better meet each other where we are at?"
12 Nov. 5:30 pm
USA199790 minEnglish with English Subtitles Available Online
It’s the turbulent 1970s in Chicago, and Irene is burning — burning to get out of town, burning bridges along the way. Haunted by the death of her sister, haunted by the family secrets her parents won’t share, Irene and her naive boyfriend Luke skip town on a journey to San Francisco, meeting the alluring, militant Japanese American activists Aura and Mark along the way. As Irene explores her past, she changes course in order to reveal the truth of her family — and to set it ablaze.
Directed by renowned American filmmaker Rea Tajiri and co-written by award-winning Canadian author Kerri Sakamoto, Strawberry Fields is a daring dive into the traumas of the Sansei generation. Through a brave exploration of the cynical post-'60s era combined with bold flourishes from archival images, this narrative feature film is as daring today as it was 30 years ago in 1997, when it had its Canadian premiere at the first Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier
Suzy Nakamura
James Sie
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Venice Film Festival, 1997
Los Angeles Film Festival, 1997
Seattle International Film Festival, 1997
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, 1997
Rea Tajiri is an award-winning interdisciplinary artist and educator who creates installation, documentary, and experimental films. Her work situates itself in poetic, non-traditional storytelling forms to encourage dialogue and reflection around buried histories. Tajiri is a winner of the 2023 Chicken & Egg Award, a 2022 JustFilms/Ford Foundation grant, and a 2021 Independence Public Media Foundation award.
Kerri Sakamoto is an award-winning writer whose novels have been translated and published internationally, exploring the Asian-diasporic experience. Sakamoto has worked in collaboration with filmmakers as a writer and script consultant and has served on the Toronto International Film Festival jury for the NETPAC Prize and the Best Canadian Feature Film Award.
17 Nov, 2026 7:30 pm
Innis Town HallPG
CONTENT ADVISORY
Nudity, drug use
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions (all dialogue subtitled and sound cues indicated).
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with Strawberry Fields Director and Writer Rea Tajiri (remote) and Co-Writer Kerri Sakamoto moderated by Artist Alison Kobayashi
Remixing Wee Asian with archival short films, this edition reframes what might be discovered in the programme through craft, narratives, and sensory experiences.
21 Nov. 10:00 am
Join this fireside chat with Ana Serrano, president and vice-chancellor of OCAD University and recipient of Reel Asian's 2026 Fire Horse Award, and Romeo Candido, Emmy-nominated director, writer, composer, and Canadian Screen Award-winning producer working across film, television, theatre, and music. They will open our Expanded Dis/Closures exhibition and conference with this fireside chat discussing ever-changing media and the role of creators in the challenges of our time.
13 Nov. 7:00 pm
Nestled in the lively, bustling neighbourhood of Karachi’s Machar Colony (also known as Fisherman Colony) is a school for girls, where they learn to read, write, and — on their own insistence — learn gymnastics.
15 Nov. 4:15 pm
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, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian 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
