Canada199487 minEnglish, Hindi, Bhilali, Marathi, GujaratiAvailable Online

Director's Note
Narmada: A Valley Rises launched my career as a documentary filmmaker — but more importantly, it was the film that transformed the way I see the world. Made against all odds, the film stands as a testament of endurance and persistence.

Researching, shooting, and completing this film fundamentally changed my point of view as a socially committed filmmaker. It took me into the heart of a people’s struggle and forced me to reckon with the realities and brutalities of large-scale development projects in India. It taught me that filmmaking can be an act of solidarity, not just observation. And yet it is also a film that could only have been made in Canada, and one that was also informed by my engagement with Indigenous issues as a diasporic filmmaker.
– Ali Kazimi

Vietnam202563 minVietnameseNorth American PremiereAvailable Online

A man's attempt at burglary goes wrong when he’s overpowered and captured by the apartment’s elderly owner. Things take a turn for the curiouser when it’s revealed there is a human-sized plaster cast in which the old man has encased his dead wife. To win his freedom, the burglar merely has to accompany the owner to the desert to bury him along with his wife.

Macabre, peculiar, and lensed with visual flair in two distinct sections, Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc’s Bury Us In A Lone Desert remarkably peels away at its grisly premise to satisfy our hearts’ need for unique bonds and timeless relationships in unexpected places.

– Aram Siu Wai Collier

Directors Bio

Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc

Nguyễn Lê Hoàng Phúc is a Saigon-based filmmaker and editor whose works blend humor, sincerity, and genre play to create films that are witty yet profound.

Pakistan202467 minUrdu, Pashto, Hazaragi with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereAvailable Online

Situated in a modest retail complex in Quetta, Pakistan, is a small photo studio plastered with framed images of clients posing with women they don't know, guns they don’t own, and motorcycles they’ve never ridden. “Make it look real” is the instruction given to the photo studio owner, Muhammad Sakhi, who earnestly captures his clients’ desires and ambitions through staged, saturated, and heavily doctored photographs. Conversations between customers and Sakhi reveal that, although the photos may be fake, the desire and delight behind them are very real.

Serving as a portal to imagined realities, each photograph emerges as a reflection on ideas of gender expression, power, and success, revealing the delicate interplay between identity and longing. As documentary director Danial Shah builds an effortless bond with Sakhi, we’re invited into a welcoming space that offers a compelling observation of the empowerment and sense of freedom possible when identities are allowed to be constructed and reworked.

- Mariam Zaidi

USA202593 minEnglishOntario PremiereAvailable Online

Robert A. Nakamura a.k.a. Bob is a legend of Asian American media as an educator, activist, and filmmaker. His frequent collaborator, Tadashi Nakamura, or Tad, has always known he wanted to make a film about his dad’s life. But when Bob is diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease, the urgency to make the film becomes more pronounced.

As Tad digs deeper into the documentary, they process the ghosts of his father's past — his incarceration during the Second World War, the traumatic catalyst that drove him to success in his career, but also Bob's depression, personal failings and self hatred, for which only film and community could serve as a salve.

A lovingly honest tribute, Third Act continues Tad’s commitment to community storytelling, this time from the inside out, making this his most personal and challenging film thus far. It is another reminder of the power of our elders and ancestors, that we may move forward, carrying them with us, bravely.

– Aram Siu Wai Collier

South Korea2025122 minKorean with English subtitlesCanadian Premiere2slgbtq+, Available Online

Pride celebrations are coming up, and Manok, the feisty owner of a venerable lesbian bar in Seoul, is preparing for the annual party. Except the younger organizers want a new vibe, leaving Manok’s bar on the fringes. Irritated at her obsolescence, Manok closes the bar out of spite and moves back to her rural hometown with a fresh start on her mind. But is that possible in a town run by her ex-husband? If anybody can do it, Manok can.

Featuring an endearing ensemble of country characters led by Mal-bok Yang as Manok, Manok is a chaotic fish-out-of-water comedy with musical numbers, political campaigns, and a little romance. As zany as it sounds, it never strays from its heartfelt journey of redefining oneself through life’s challenges, and of finding (and keeping) friends and lovers along the way.
– Aram Siu Wai Collier

Japan, Philippines2024102:00Tagalog, JapaneseNorth American PremiereAvailable Online, Drama, First Feature

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 shocking experience forces him to face his solitude, deepened by his own mother’s ageing. Seeking escape and connection, he follows a caretaker to Manila, where his choice takes an unexpected turn.

Diamonds in the Sand explores the contrasts between two distinct Asian cultures. While reflecting on the isolation faced by many people in modern society, the film also captures the warmth, vitality, and complexity of family life in the Philippines. Within this vibrant setting, bonds bring both joy and hardship, connection and obligation. This is a bittersweet story of acceptance, the courage and impact of our personal choices, and the search for meaning within oneself and community alike.

– Rolando Basmayor

India202472 minHindi, KurukhCanadian PremiereAvailable Online

Nehma belongs to the Oraon tribe and lives with her children on the outskirts of Jharkhand, India. Embroiled in a custody battle and a messy divorce, she secures a job at an AI data-labelling centre under the supervision of a stern manager. As we watch her navigate the steep learning curve of her new job and quickly confront the stark realities of biased data, the distortions in the very systems designed to help us become impossible to ignore.

In this remarkably fresh and timely narrative, director Aranya Sahay invites us to consider the volume of marginalized labour and detailed proficiency required to uphold the current growth of AI and our reliance on it. Serving as a cautionary reminder that technology may never replace human wisdom and indigenous knowledge systems, Humans in the Loop is as bold as it is urgent in its depiction of the cracks in widely held perceptions of progress and modernity.

– Mariam Zaidi

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).

Directors Bio

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.

South Korea20203 minKorean with English subtitlesAnimation, Available Online

One night, while Seolgi is lying on a grass field with friends, a shooting star falls and dark intrusive thoughts hit her, bursting with movement and blooming bright colours.

 IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).

Directors Bio

Sasha Lee

Sasha Lee is an animator who likes plants and animals.

Taiwan, U.K.20246 minMandarin with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Animation, Available Online

I’ve practised these words for 20 years now, but maybe being candid isn’t the best idea. I’m starting my countdown again — another 20 years. Maybe it will be the right time by then.

 IN PERSON & ONLINE: This film is being presented with English subtitles for all spoken dialogue (no sound cues indicated).

Directors Bio

WeiFan Wang

WeiFan Wang is an animation director based in Taipei and London. His practice consists of self-reflective animations that explore intimate and unspoken emotions.