Canada, Hong Kong, Indonesia, South Korea, USA64 minEnglish and various languages with English subtitlesAction, Closed Captions, Comedy, Descriptive Captions, Drama, Experimental, Fantasy, Horror, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner, Thriller, Women Filmmakers
A retired hitman, telephone counselor, Ronggeng dancer, and pug take the lead in these four cult-worthy shorts that are bound to make you question everything you thought you knew. Includes winners of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020 RECEIVER and RONG.
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?
Tai Bo 太保
Wang Yang 汪洋
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Tribeca Film Festival, 2020
Cannes Cinéfondation, 2020
Palm Springs Shorts Fest, 2020
Calgary International Film Festival, 2020
Linhan Zhang 張林翰
Linhan Zhang 張林翰 is a film and television undergraduate at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, a 2017-2018 Sundance Ignite Fellow, and a recipient of the 2019 Adobe Creativity Scholarship.
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.
Tahirih Vejdani
David Tompa
AWARDS
Winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020
Cavan Campbell
Raised on Prince Edward Island by his Island father, a painter, and his Sri Lankan mother, a writer, Cavan Campbell has worked on It, xXx: Return of Xander Cage, and Star Trek: Discovery.
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.
Maryam Supraba
Ancoeamar
AWARDS
Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020
Indira Iman
Indira Iman is a director and writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia, who believes film can inspire social change.
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.
Kang Chan
Lee Donggyu
Park Shinyoung
Ko Hyungkyung
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Chungmuro International Musical Film Festival, 2020
Hyungnam Pak 박형남
Born in 1990, Hyungnam Pak is a film major at the Korea National University of Arts. His previous films include Sailing A Paper Boat and When We Meet Us.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Join us in conversation with directors and special guests in attendance! ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 15, 2020 at 10am
This panel considers how digital tools have been mobilized through varying methods to adapt, respond and address changing socio-cultural contexts, and engage with communities. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
17 Nov. 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Catch Howie Tsui's GIF Roulette this year at the festival, featuring a grid of GIFs in a digital installation, and an artist talk.
1 Nov. 12:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Join the CBC as they discuss new opportunities and methods for pitching digital content. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
16 Nov. 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Japan2019179 minJapanese with English subtitlesClosed Captions, Drama, Fantasy
Rated 18A
CW: war, sex, physical violence (beatings, executions), sexual violence (rape), attempted suicide
In the port town of Onomichi, Japan, the only movie theatre is bidding goodbye to its local audiences. The owners organize a nightlong screening devoted to historical Japanese war films. Noriko, a teenager who regularly helps in the theatre, walks toward the stage and astonishes the audience as suddenly, she mystically projects herself into an old musical. Film buff Mario, film-history nerd Hosuke, and aspiring yakuza Shigeru are also warped into the cinema screen in sequences that represent the second Sino-Japanese War, Boshin War and Hiroshima bombing. The four embark on an immersive, surreal and vicious cycle of damnation and salvation in the face of war's savagery.
Nobuhiko Obayashi's swan song Labyrinth of Cinema dives into the senselessness of wars, wrapped in cinematic oddities. His abstracted reconstruction of Japan’s darkest events points out that movies, though a fabrication of reality, epitomize suffering as universal truth.
– Rolando Basmayor
Rei Yoshida
Yoshihiko Hosoda
Hirona Yamazaki
Riko Narumi
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Tokyo International Film Festival, 2019
International Film Festival Rotterdam, 2020
Fantasia International Film Festival, 2020
Nobuhiko Obayashi 大林 宣彦
Nobuhiko Obayashi (9 January 1938 – 10 April 2020) was a Japanese director, screenwriter, and editor of films and television advertisements. He began his filmmaking career as a pioneer of Japanese experimental films before transitioning to directing more mainstream media, and his resulting filmography as a director spanned almost 60 years
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Unpack the layers of this film with our special guests Rob Buscher of Philly Asian American Film Festival and Daisuke Miyao of University of California San Diego. ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 18, 2020 at 6:30PM
Rob Buscher
Board Chair of the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival
Rob Buscher is a film and media specialist, educator, arts administrator, and published author who has worked in non profit arts organizations for over a decade. Buscherʼs expertise is Japanese and Asian American & Pacific Islander Cinema although he has worked as a professional film programmer, critic, and lecturer across a variety of fields. He currently lectures at University of Pennsylvania, and is a contributing writer at Pacific Citizen and Broad Street Review. Buscher also serves as President of the Philadelphia Chapter of civil rights group Japanese American Citizens League and chairs the editorial board of Pacific Citizen, the organization’s national newspaper.
Daisuke Miyao
Professor in Department of Literature, University of California at San Diego
Considering cinema to be a transnational cultural form from the beginning of its history and simultaneously to be a national entity, formed by specific discourses on nationalism and modernization, Daisuke Miyao has been conducting research on film history. His interdisciplinary training in cinema studies, East Asian studies, and American studies, combined with his bicultural background, living and studying both in Japanese and North American academia, made it possible for him to recognize that the study of film could benefit from cross-cultural and interdisciplinary perspectives.
Catch Howie Tsui's GIF Roulette this year at the festival, featuring a grid of GIFs in a digital installation, and an artist talk.
1 Nov. 12:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Broke and evicted from their basement apartment in Seoul, teenager Okju, her little brother Dongju, and their divorced father must move in with their ailing grandfather at the city’s outskirts. Soon joined by an aunt reeling from her own failed marriage, they spend the summer getting reacquainted with each other as an ad hoc multigenerational family unit, which was the norm just a generation ago. Recently awarded winner of the Osler Best Feature Film Award, Reel Asian 2020.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Students at the Afghanistan National Institute of Music gather for the start of the school day. They laugh, practice, and take tests while preparing for a concert celebrating 100 years of Afghanistan's independence. Ranging from five-year-olds to young adults, some are middle-class kids and others are orphans, and they come from Afghanistan's many ethnic groups.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Canada, China, South Korea, USA202055 minutesEnglish and various languages with English SubtitlesAction, Animation, Comedy, Dance, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family, Fantasy, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner, Sci-fi, Women Filmmakers
Abundant with hope, desire, and resiliency, all six of these films make a statement to queer histories, presents, and futures—in front of and behind the screen.
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.
Vivek Shraya
Vivek Shraya is an artist whose body of work crosses the boundaries of music, literature, visual art, theatre, and film. She is also the founder of the publishing imprint VS. Books.
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.
Hua Chai
Kate Chang
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Frameline, 2020
NewFilmmakers LA, 2020
Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2020
Emory Chao Johnson
Emory Chao Johnson is a MFA film student at the University of California. They were a Trans Filmmaking Fellow on director Sam Feder’s Disclosure: Trans Lives on Screen in 2018 and an intern on director Lisa Leeman’s Trans*Formed in 2019.
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.
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Fairy Tales Queer Film Festival, 2020
Social Justice Film Festival, 2020
Asian American International Film Festival, 2020
Jordana Valerie Allen-Shim
“Mamma Mia! Here We Go Again is my favorite movie. Fight me.” Jordana Valerie Allen-Shim is a Toronto-born, U.S.-raised filmmaker, dog mom, and aspiring graphic novelist passionate about empowering marginalized communities through art.
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.
Sedina Fiati
Christina Song
Kevan Kase
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Outfest Fusion, 2020
Caribbean Tales International Film Festival, 2020
Women’s International Film & Arts Festival, 2019
Nathalie Younglai
TV writer and director, Trini Chinese provocateur, and founder of BIPOC TV & Film, Nathalie Younglai hauled her parents to the Daytime Emmys after being nominated for her writing on “Dino Dana.” She supports Black Lives Matter.
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.
Poppy Liu
Lea Cai
Vera Lam
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Blackstar Film Festival, 2020
Outfest Fusion, 2020
CAAMfest, 2020
LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2020
AWARD
National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020
Jess X. Snow
Jess X. Snow is a director, artist, poet and community arts educator creating queer Asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries, and time. They are currently a guest on the unceded traditional land of the Lenape people (Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, NY).
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.
Choi Haejun
Kim Wookyum
Lim Hojun
OFFICIAL SELECTION
Mise-en-scène Short Film Festival, 2020
AWARDS
Change Connect Award, Reel Asian 2020
Sungbin Byun 변성빈
Born in 1991, Sungbin Byun studied film, TV & multimedia and eastern philosophy at Sungkyunkwan University. His films Horn (2014), The Chicken of Wuzuh (2015), and Hands and Wings (2018) have screened at festivals internationally.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Join us in conversation with directors and special guests in attendance! ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 13, 2020 at 8PM
Free programming dedicated to sparking joy, creativity, and fun for little ones and families to enjoy together. Includes winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020 ISLE OF CHAIR.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
This panel brings together programmers from festivals and ARCs to discuss the radical possibilities and limitations of arts programming and its relationship and responsibility to socio-political events. This event is part of the Reel Ideas Symposium.
18 Nov. 4:00 pm - 5:30 pm
Four fearless emerging filmmakers embarked on a summer-long filmmaking journey online. We’re proud to present their world premiere here. Includes winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020 일요일 (Sunday).
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
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.
Poppy Liu
Lea Cai
Vera Lam
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Blackstar Film Festival, 2020
Outfest Fusion, 2020
CAAMfest, 2020
LA Asian Pacific Film Festival, 2020
AWARD
National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020
Jess X. Snow
Jess X. Snow is a director, artist, poet and community arts educator creating queer Asian immigrant stories that transcend borders, binaries, and time. They are currently a guest on the unceded traditional land of the Lenape people (Lenapehoking/Brooklyn, NY).
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Canada, China, USA58 minEnglish and various languages with English SubtitlesComedy, Dance, Documentary, Drama, Family, Fantasy, LQBTQ+ Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers
From the mundane to the spectacular, our characters in these five films pave their own paths as some take matters into their own hands, while others come across new points of understanding and acceptance. Includes winner of WIFT-T Film Award, Reel Asian 2020 LOLA'S WAKE.
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.
Huda Wahidy
Hameed Sheikh
Sana A. Malik
Sana A. Malik is a Pakistani-Canadian filmmaker and journalist who has reported on immigration, detention, and gender since 2011. In 2017, she founded This is Worldtown, a platform that supports women of colour visual storytellers.
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.
Daynon Toledo
Kyle Credo
Kyle Credo is a Filipino-Canadian director born and raised in Ontario. He has been practicing his craft since 2012 when he made his first short film, Scum at Centennial College.
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.
Hao Cheng 程顥
Hao Cheng 程顥 is a commercial and documentary director who lives in Toronto. Influenced by his family background, Cheng developed a passion for photography and eventually developed his directing skills.
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.
Gianelle Miranda
Carolyn Fe
Chelsea Muirhead
AWARDS
WIFT-T Film Award, Reel Asian 2020
Tricia Hagoriles
Tricia Hagoriles is an award-winning, Toronto-based filmmaker. Hagoriles was a resident of the 2019 Director’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre and recipient of Inside Out + OUTtv Outspoken Documentary Fund for her upcoming work, The Archivist.
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.
Kimberley Yip
Kimberly Ho
Nan Chen
OFFICIAL SELECTION
San Diego Asian Film Festival, 2020
Natalie Murao
Natalie Murao is an award-winning filmmaker from Vancouver, Canada. Murao’s films draw from her Japanese-Canadian heritage and childhood experiences, which include themes of memory and the mundane.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Join us in conversation with directors and special guests in attendance! ASL interpretation will be made available thanks to Toronto Sign Language Interpreter Services. Ticket holders can watch on the CineSend Reel Asian portal.
November 13, 2020 at 1PM
In a world that feels ever so divisive, these three documentaries take a closer look at what it means to create new pathways for community mobilizing, recognize shortcomings of identity markers, and acknowledge the solidarity work that remains undone.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
These six dynamic films touch upon art not solely as a creative practice for self expression but an integral force in making space, along with the responsibilities that come with it.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
Abundant with hope, desire, and resiliency, all six of these films make a statement to queer histories, presents, and futures—in front of and behind the screen. Includes National Film Board of Canada Best Canadian Short Film Award, Reel Asian 2020 winner SAFE AMONG STARS and winner of Change Connect Award, Reel Asian 2020 GOD'S DAUGHTER DANCES.
12 Nov. 10:00 am - 19 Nov. 11:59 pm
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.
Gianelle Miranda
Carolyn Fe
Chelsea Muirhead
AWARDS
WIFT-T Film Award, Reel Asian 2020
Tricia Hagoriles
Tricia Hagoriles is an award-winning, Toronto-based filmmaker. Hagoriles was a resident of the 2019 Director’s Lab at the Canadian Film Centre and recipient of Inside Out + OUTtv Outspoken Documentary Fund for her upcoming work, The Archivist.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
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.
Maryam Supraba
Ancoeamar
AWARDS
Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020
Indira Iman
Indira Iman is a director and writer based in Jakarta, Indonesia, who believes film can inspire social change.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
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.
Kang Chan
Lee Donggyu
Park Shinyoung
Ko Hyungkyung
OFFICIAL SELECTIONS
Chungmuro International Musical Film Festival, 2020
Hyungnam Pak 박형남
Born in 1990, Hyungnam Pak is a film major at the Korea National University of Arts. His previous films include Sailing A Paper Boat and When We Meet Us.
12 Nov, 2020 10:00 am
to 19 Nov, 2020 11:59 pm
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is a unique showcase of contemporary Asian cinema and work from the Asian diaspora. Works include films and videos by East, South and Southeast Asian artists in Canada, the U.S., Asia and all over the world. As Canada’s largest Asian film festival, Reel Asian provides a public forum for Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.
401 Richmond Street West, The Commons (Suite 448)
Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3A8 Canada
(416) 703 – 9333
info@reelasian.com
Charitable number: 870021383RR0001
