CONTENT ADVISORY
Flashing, strobe lights
Arabia, Cambodia, France, Indonesia, Norway, Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam2026128 minVietnamese with English Subtitles Toronto PremiereAvailable Online, Drama, Romance
In an exquisite pairing of sight and sound, Bảo Lê lures us into his sophomore feature, where vibrations define the existential rhythm of a rural Vietnamese outpost. Ninh, a mechanic who installs decibel meters across public and private spaces, is trapped in his own personal silence, caring for his ailing mother while estranged from his wife and children.
Integrating an impressionistic soundscape and a non-linear, liminal arrangement of multi-timeline vignettes, Hearing explores the profound, immeasurable qualities of emotional isolation and the quiet buildup of human resentment. Sharing the same cinematic DNA as the distinct tradition of Southeast Asian slow cinema, the film will transport audiences into a contemplative experience where memory and reality share a porous divide, and the distinctions among our senses begin to dissolve.
– Roland Basmayor
Quốc Tuấn Nguyễn
Tản NgọcKey
Công Uẩn Nguyễn
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Locarno Film Festival, 2026
Bảo Lê
In Bảo Lê’s youth, his interest in cinema began when he watched foreign films on his computer and became a self-trained filmmaker, making his first short film with a borrowed camera. His short films and his debut feature, Taste (2021), were shot with non-professional actors in the places he has known all his life.
12 Nov, 2026 7:45 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
Flashing, strobe lights
IN PERSON ACCESSIBILITY
This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the screening with Producers Elizabeth Wijaya and Weijie Lai moderated by Reel Asian Screening Committee member Roland Basmayor
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
Means to Enfold is an embrace, a remembrance, and a suggestion towards the ways we hold each other together through collective expression. In bringing together interactive installations, a travelling exhibit of works developed at the SSX x InterAccess AR residency, a curated section of student works created in Tech Jams and invited artworks by artists part of the inaugural SSX Artist Residency, this community showcase highlights how collaboration can be a potent means to enfold the meanings in all our relations.
13 Nov. 12:00 pm - 19 Nov. 5:00 pm
As the sole camerawoman at Kabul’s state television network, Naru navigates a daily battleground of misogyny just to hold her rightful place. She is hardened by her realities and her worldview is absolute: There are no good men left.
14 Nov. 8:45 pm
Germany202413 minEnglishAnimation, Available Online
Sam, a deviant artist and proud flower person, is spending one last day in a flower spa with his mother before his final performance act.
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).
Ariel Victor Arthanto
Ariel Victor Arthanto is an Indonesian-born animation filmmaker and illustrator based in Berlin, crafting vibrant 2D worlds that mix playful compositions, bold figures, and character-driven storytelling across film and illustration.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation
This film also screens as part of the Let’s do the Time Warp Again! Shorts Presentation
15 Nov, 2025 10:00 am
Innis Town HallPG
Canada20258 minEnglish2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online, Comedy, Drama, Experimental, Horror, Romance
After Bug’s ex-girlfriend June calls to pick up her stuff from their apartment, he makes his best attempt to win her back.
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).
*Silverfish Pictures
Silverfish Pictures, a 13-member stop-motion studio, thrives on pushing the boundaries of stop-motion filmmaking and creating fun and thoughtful stories.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation
This film also screens as part of the Unquenchable Shorts Presentation
15 Nov, 2025 10:00 am
Innis Town HallPG
Canada20259 minEnglish, Korean, Italian with English subtitlesAvailable Online, Comedy
A mixed-race student meets the full Asian and full white versions of himself from parallel universes. Together, they must find a way to get back to their own realities.
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).
Devin Lee
Devin Lee is a Korean Italian actor and filmmaker. A graduate of NYU Tisch School of Arts, he received the Panavision New Filmmaker Grant and was part of Reel Asian’s Unsung Voices program.
9 Nov, 2025 1:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C2PG
India202510 minHindi with English subtitlesAvailable Online
On a rainy afternoon, somewhere between innocence and awareness, three adolescent girls find themselves in the middle of a dance that takes on a life of its own.
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).
*Rhea Shukla
Rhea Shukla is an award-winning writer and director based between New York and India. Studying at Columbia University, Shukla’s debut short, Ruse, premiered at the 75th Berlin International Film Festival.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
USA202412 minEnglishAvailable Online, Comedy, Family-friendly, Romance
Set in 2005, a driven high school student obsessively studies Spanish all year so she can test up a level into her crush’s class.
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).
Nicholas Luciano
Nicholas Luciano is a comedy director, editor, sometimes writer, and improviser based in L.A.
Joy Regullano is a writer-actor-comedian based in L.A. whose TV writing credits include Monsters at Work (2021), based on Monsters Inc (2001), on Disney+.
Te Seguiré a la Oscuridad is directed by Nicholas Luciano and created by Joy Regullano.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4GA
USA20253 minNo dialogue2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online
Two dogs timidly try to seek intimacy.
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).
Jin Lim
Jin Lim is a queer, non-binary Korean American animation filmmaker. Their award-winning short films explore the intricacies of gender identity and human interconnections.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
animated depictions of nudity
Canada202513 minEnglish2slgbtq+, Available Online, Documentary, Experimental
Merging reality and staging scenes to develop settings of fantasy where subjects play, each person explores the longing for one’s softness and roughness, and what it means to hold both at the same time.
IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is scheduled to be presented fully captioned (all dialogue subtitled + sound cues indicated).
*Emma Zuck
Emma Zuck is a filmmaker and writer exploring the in-betweens. She sees poetry all around her and hopes to nurture community both on set and in theatres.
8 Nov, 2025 9:00 pm
TIFF Lightbox C4PG
CONTENT ADVISORY
depictions of nudity
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
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
