Hong Kong, USA2020 14 minCantonese, Mandarin with English SubtitlesToronto PremiereDrama, Open Captions

Rated 14A
CW: Guns

Our focus shifts from the oversaturated cityscape of Hong Kong to the mundane, yet peaceful fisherman’s life of a retired hitman. When his apprentice arrives unannounced, will the tranquility last?

Canada2020 15 minEnglish with English Subtitles World PremiereClosed Captions, Descriptive Captions, Horror, Reel Asian Award Winner, Thriller

Rating 14A
CW: Psychological horror, Manipulation

Addressing the harm racialized women as professional and informal caregivers face and can internalize, Tahirih Vejdani delivers a resonating performance as Sriyani, an overtaxed social care worker.

Indonesia2019 13 minIndonesian with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereFantasy, Horror, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner, Thriller, Women Filmmakers

Rating 18A
CW: Sexual assault and violence, Genital mutilation

Blending Indonesian tradition and culture with fantasy and mysticism, RONG is a terrifying yet satisfying take on a girl who walks home alone at night as the hunted becomes the hunter.

South Korea2019 22 minKorean with English SubtitlesInternational PremiereComedy, Drama, Experimental, Fantasy, Open Captions

Rated PG

If three dogs who dabble with dog-ception to save their fellow four-legged friend isn’t enticing enough, it’s also a musical with some animation and features Donggyu Lee, the Korean Benedict Cumberbatch.

Canada2019 6 minEnglishAnimation, Experimental, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG

With pulsating neon-light animation, Reviving the Roost is about community complexity and longing—an elegy to a lost space as much as it is director Vivek Shraya’s ode to a closed popular Edmonton gay bar.

USA2019 3 minEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitlesInternational Premiere Drama, Family, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers

Rated PG

Though brief and contained, Bind provides an extensive glimpse into the trans Asian diaspora when Jules is confronted by a surprise visit from their mother with their chest binder.

Canada20203 minEnglishDocumentary, Experimental, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG-13

An unapologetic statement about queer joy, resistance, and resilience in the face of abuse, trauma, and transphobia.

Canada20187 minEnglishAction, Comedy, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG-13

This action-comedy short features Sedina Fiati as Super Zee, a kickbutt queer Black superhero who swoops in to save her crush from the microaggressions at the office.

USA20199 minEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitlesDrama, Experimental, Family, Fantasy, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner, Sci-fi

Rated 14A

Filled with evocative imagery, this queer futuristic short follows Jia, who develops the ability to teleport when she dissociates and must learn how to control her powers.

South Korea202025 minKorean with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDance, Drama, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner

Rated 14A
CW: Transphobic comments

Shin-mi, a dancer, bravely faces forward with grace and style as she takes the physical examination at the Military Manpower Administration.

USA202015 minEnglish, Pashto with English SubtitlesInternational Premiere Drama, Family, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG

Beautifully shot against visceral landscapes of New Mexico, Ayah is a 10-year-old refugee on her first camping trip who ends up finding connection to ancestral memory even in the most unfamiliar of places.

Canada202015 minEnglish, Tagalog with English Subtitles World PremiereDrama, Family, Family-friendly, Open Captions

Rated PG

Meticulously detailed and choreographed, director Kyle Credo delivers an authentic snapshot into Justin, a timid Filipino boy, and his afternoon.

Canada, China20203 minCantonese, Mandarin with English SubtitlesDocumentary, Family, Family-friendly, Open Captions

Rated G

In this light, yet deeply moving short, Dva Liu returns home to Shaoguan with the wish of taking “couple portraits” with her aging grandfather.

Canada2019 10 minEnglish, Tagalog with English SubtitlesWorld PremiereDrama, Family, Fantasy, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG-13

Joelle is determined to uphold a Filipino tradition even if it means spending the night in a funeral home. Loosely based on the director’s own experiences.

Canada2019 15 minEnglish, Cantonese, Mandarin with English SubtitlesToronto Premiere Drama, Family, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG

Accurately awkward, Rose attends a karaoke party and hears a voice louder than her own in this subtly nuanced take on navigating adulthood and finding independence.

Canada, Germany20207 minMongolian with English subtitlesAnimation, Documentary, Family, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Rated G

Steadily narrated by the director’s grandmother, The Fourfold imbues an indigenous worldview and wisdom based on the ancient shamanic rituals and animistic beliefs in Mongolia and Siberia.

India, Singapore2019 9 minEnglish and Punjabi with English subtitlesWorld PremiereDocumentary, Family, Open Captions

Rated PG

At 62, Samriti visits her late father’s home in Amritsar, India - a place that only existed in retellings of the past - for the very first time.

USA2019 5 min English and Vietnamese with English SubtitlesInternational Premiere Documentary, Experimental, Family, Open Captions

Rated PG

“Where do you want to start?” The relationship between mother and son, uttered and silent, what’s known and forgotten, archival footage and public spaces are strewn into this affecting elliptical portrait of Orange County’s Little Saigon touching upon the history of war, displacement, and colonialism.

South Korea, USA202015 minEnglish and Korean with English subtitlesToronto Premiere Documentary, Family, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Rated PG

What does it take to open conversation and unpack your family’s past? Playful and unabashed, director Yeon Park sets off to do so by purchasing a time machine off eBay.

Canada20207 minEnglishDocumentary, Experimental, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner

Rated PG

I Dream of Vancouver interrogates alienation from the lived experience of spaces as they are subsumed by algorithms and mediated images, linking corporate technologies and gentrification with the erasure of populations that don’t fit Google’s agenda.

USA2019 8 minEnglishInternational Premiere Documentary, Family-friendly

Rated G

Learning from and caring for the land she farms on, Catherine Nguyen owns two-thirds of an acre by herself growing and selling annual vegetables while challenging the industrialization of food in Portland, Oregon.

Japan, U.K.2019 15 minEnglish and Japanese with English SubtitlesCanadian PremiereDocumentary, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Rated G

A breathtaking and touching documentary alerting the urgency to care for our habitats and preserve the incredible knowledge of the Ama, a tradition of women divers spanning over thousands of years in Japan, weaving the director’s personal connection to it all.