Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family

Due to popular demand, we're screening ISLANDS once again, for free on the last night of our 25th anniversary festival at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema at 4PM ET. Tickets must be reserved in advance with a limit of 2 per person. The screening will be followed by a Q&A with director Martin Edralin, producer Priscilla Galvez, and actors from the film.

Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.

On the surface, Joshua’s anxieties around loneliness may seem bleak, but writer and director Martin Edralin treats him with a warm affection, showing the challenges and humour imbued in everyday life, as he learns to take new chances. Cutting vegetables, taking a shower, and walking down the stairs all take on new meaning through finely tuned performances, and Edralin’s observant eye toward everyday life at home. And amid a year-plus of our collective pandemic-induced isolation, Islands is a hopeful and humanist story that reminds us the importance of stepping outside.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family

Our Opening Night presentation is the in-person screening of ISLANDS on November 10 at 7:30pm at the Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Guests in attendance include director Martin Edralin, and cast members Sheila Lotuaco and Esteban Comilang. Vangie Alcasid and Pablo S.J. Quiogue will be available for the media call and will participate in the Q&A.

Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.

On the surface, Joshua’s anxieties around loneliness may seem bleak, but writer and director Martin Edralin treats him with a warm affection, showing the challenges and humour imbued in everyday life, as he learns to take new chances. Cutting vegetables, taking a shower, and walking down the stairs all take on new meaning through finely tuned performances, and Edralin’s observant eye toward everyday life at home. And amid a year-plus of our collective pandemic-induced isolation, Islands is a hopeful and humanist story that reminds us the importance of stepping outside.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

Canada202194 minTagalog, English with English subtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family

Shy, sheltered, middle-aged Joshua lives with his elderly parents and is desperately lonely as he longs for a wife. When he’s suddenly forced into a caretaking role for his family, Joshua goes further adrift into isolation, and his Scarborough bungalow feels like a prison. Help arrives unexpectedly when his cousin Marisol flies in from overseas to help—except now, Joshua finds himself confronted with emotions and experiences he’s never had before.

On the surface, Joshua’s anxieties around loneliness may seem bleak, but writer and director Martin Edralin treats him with a warm affection, showing the challenges and humour imbued in everyday life, as he learns to take new chances. Cutting vegetables, taking a shower, and walking down the stairs all take on new meaning through finely tuned performances, and Edralin’s observant eye toward everyday life at home. And amid a year-plus of our collective pandemic-induced isolation, Islands is a hopeful and humanist story that reminds us the importance of stepping outside.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

A live Q&A from the Opening Night screening will be simulcast online at 9:45PM on November 10. A recording will be available afterwards with the online screening of Islands.

Canada, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, South Korea, USA202181 minEnglish and various languages with English subtitles Animation, Drama, Family, Fantasy, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers

Sing along to this collection of short films featuring characters who find themselves confronting systemic, structural, and personal challenges, all while defying conventional narratives and reconstructing alternative possibilities of storytelling.

Japan202110 min Japanese with English subtitlesAnimation, Family, Women Filmmakers

Painstakingly detailed, director Honami Yano tells the story of a little girl who reflects on the last summer with her father.

Accessibility

This presentation has English subtitles.

Directors Bio

Honami Yano

Honami Yano was born on a small island in Japan. Besides attending an exchange program at the Rhode Island School of Design, Yano received a master’s degree at the Tokyo University of the Arts’s Graduate School of Film and New Media.

Canada, Malaysia, USA202182 minEnglish and various languages with English subtitlesComedy, Dance, Documentary, Drama, Family, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Sci-fi, Women Filmmakers

Amid the abundance of narratives revolving around kin, this presentation of shorts brings refreshing and surprising takes into the un/intentional family-centric storytelling landscape, offering room for possibilities and reimaginings.

Canada202011 minNo dialogueAnimation, Family, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

Oscillating between the past and the present, a woman sits in a hospital room, alone with her dying father.

Directors Bio

Jordan Canning, Howie Shia

Jordan Canning, a graduate of the Directors’ Lab at the Canadian Film Centre, has made more than a dozen short films.

Howie Shia is an illustrator, animator, writer, and director whose work combines a love for ancient mythologies with a fascination for modern urban environments.

Malaysia202110 minTeochew, Mandarin with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDrama, Family, Women Filmmakers

While offering a proper funeral to a severed bird’s head, Ah Ger is unexpectedly visited by the ghost of her grandmother, who urges her to help find and care for her egg.

Accessibility

This presentation has English subtitles.

 An Active Listener will be available to offer one-on-one peer support for viewers who may find the content of this presentation triggering. More info on how to access here.

Content Warning:

This film contains the potentially triggering topic of domestic aggression.

Directors Bio

Audrie Yeo

Audrie Yeo is a Malaysian Chinese filmmaker of Teochew descent who graduated from the National Academy of Arts Culture and Heritage with a major in film and video directing.

Canada202113 minEnglish, Chinese with English subtitles World PremiereDrama, Family, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

Struggling with finding her artistic voice, Jessie is an aspiring photographer and art student trying to balance her role as a daughter in her larger family.

Directors Bio

Alice Charlie Liu

Alice Charlie Liu is a photographer, designer, and director based in Toronto and New York City. She is an alumni of TIFF Next Wave, Telluride Film Festival’s Student Symposium, and a Tribeca Film Institute Film Fellow.

Canada20203 minEnglishFamily

An endearing portrait of director Ian Bawa’s father as he attempts to give life and marital advice to his bodybuilding and image-obsessed son in this hybrid semi-autobiographical short.

Accessibility

  This presentation has no captions.

Directors Bio

Ian Bawa

Ian Bawa is a filmmaker from Winnipeg. Bawa is currently adapting Strong Son into a feature film, set to shoot in 2022.