This film is part of the WEE ASIAN shorts programme.
Japan, USA202212 minFarsi, Japanese with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Family-friendly, Mystery
Mehrdad, an Iranian boy, befriends an old Japanese woman in a graveyard in Tokyo.
Liam LoPinto
Liam LoPinto is a filmmaker and animator based out of New York City who is an assistant manager at the Moviehouse in Millerton.
We are kicking off the 27th edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival with a night to remember! Celebrate with us at our Festival Launch Party, co-hosted by New Ho Queen!
Discover the comedically honest and heartwarming story of the CBC Gem original short-form series How to Fail as a Popstar in our screening of the first three episodes followed by a panel discussion, "The Clumsy Art of Finding Yourself."
Ho-jun, a flailing actor, has found relative success as a social media influencer, hawking fishing hacks. He preps his live stream at his preferred fishing spot, only to be disrupted by an obnoxious stranger whose bad vibes are ruining the morning.
South Korea202224 minKorean with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Mystery
Kyu-ho, an ordinary office worker, receives an interview request from a famous writer and agrees to talk to her.
*ROH Do-hyeon
Do-hyeon Roh has held various jobs in the field, such as a lighting technician for a commercial film and a web novelist after signing a contract with a publisher.
This film is part of the Shorts Presentation: UNDER THE INFLUENCE shorts programme.
Blue Ant Media is looking for its next hit factual paranormal series with T&E and HauntTV's global free streaming channel. Join us for a spooky information session with Blue Ant Media's Sam Linton, VP Production and Development and Julie Chang, EVP Business Strategy and Co-productions, to get all of your questions answered.
We are kicking off the 27th edition Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival with a night to remember! Celebrate with us at our Festival Launch Party, co-hosted by New Ho Queen!
Step into the thrilling world of TV writing with a range of talented writers as they share their insights into crafting a successful TV series, advancing careers in the writers' room, and promoting diversity in showrunning.
Canada, Indonesia, New Zealand, Singapore, South Korea, USA2022-2023TRT: 1h43English, Hindi, Māori, Farsi, Indonesian, Korean2slgbtq+, Animation, Comedy, Directed By Women, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, Family-friendly, Immigrant stories, Mystery
More to the situation than what it seems, these shorts choose to examine, tease, and redefine the forces that pull us to make a decision.
*Directors in attendance starred.
USA202313 minEnglishDirected By Women, Drama
Maggie, a young Asian American sound artist, grapples with her imposter syndrome as it takes on new extremes at her first artist's residency.
*Annie Ning
Annie Ning is a filmmaker from Suzhou, China, currently based in NYC, where she is pursuing her MFA in screenwriting/directing at Columbia University.
Canada20229 minEnglishComedy, Documentary, Experimental
Pixels of the Orient appropriates Western media depictions of East Asia for a psychedelic and comedic exploration of ahistorical East Asian aesthetics and identity.
*Warren Chan
Warren Chan is a video artist and curator with a focus on experimental works that analyze digital and new media technologies.
New Zealand202313 minEnglish, Hindi, Māori with English subtitlesDrama, Family-friendly, Immigrant stories
When Anu, a recent widow, moves to New Zealand from India, she's forced to confront her grief by completing an ordinary ritual in an extraordinary circumstance: quarantine.
Pulkit Arora
Pulkit Arora is a writer-director based in India and New Zealand. His directorial work focuses on identity, faith and belonging.
Canada202314 minEnglish, Farsi with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Comedy, Directed By Women, Drama
An Iranian Canadian girl reluctantly makes a new friend when the new student from Iran offers to help fix her ruined unibrow — for her, a symbol of the Iranian heritage she tries desperately to hide from the world.
*Nedda Sarshar
Nedda Sarshar is an emerging filmmaker and writer who loves to tell stories that centre queer women of colour and their immigrant families. Sarshar won Reel Asian’s Pitch Competition in 2021 with this work.
Singapore202211 minEnglish Animation, Comedy, Directed By Women, Experimental
In the strange, polarized world of Hands and Butts, a single act of violence toward an oppressed Butt sets the mediaverse ablaze.
Calleen Koh
Calleen Koh finds joy in turning serious societal issues into wacky stories using her crazy sexy characters, like anthropomorphic sushis, phallic Crayola-coloured children or walking butts in her manic animated films.
Indonesia202318 minIndonesian with English subtitlesDrama
Working as a fisherman to support his small family, Ucup is used to consuming his catch from the sea until one day something strange happens that makes him realize something about his daily meal.
Muhammad Heri Fadli
Muhammad Heri Fadli is from Central Lombok, Indonesia, and just finished his master’s degree at the University Technology Mara in visual communication and new media.
South Korea202224 minKorean with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Mystery
Kyu-ho, an ordinary office worker, receives an interview request from a famous writer and agrees to talk to her.
*ROH Do-hyeon
Do-hyeon Roh has held various jobs in the field, such as a lighting technician for a commercial film and a web novelist after signing a contract with a publisher.
PG
Content Warning: Depictions of dead marine life
11 Nov, 2023 7:30 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C4–
This programme is presented with a mix of open captions and English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Free-spirited 12-year-old Zaffan is the first of her friends to get her period and experience the body-changing horrors that come with puberty and menstruation.
Chloe Abrahams’ debut feature, is an enveloping, hypnotic, urgently personal meditation on family, memory, identity, violence, and love.
Six fearless emerging filmmakers embarked on a summer-long filmmaking journey online. We’re proud to present their world premiere here in the 12th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking program.
CanadaDirected By Women, Drama, Experimental, Family, Family-friendly, Fantasy, Fiction, History, Immigrant stories, Interactive Podcast, Mystery
As a child, Crystal loved when her “Pawpaw” (“grandmother” in Chinese) shared life lessons through fables as the two took walks together. Now Crystal realizes Pawpaw was sharing her journey as a child refugee, hiding tragedy behind adventure. Listeners gradually learn about the heartbreaking contrast between real violence and a child’s interpretation of it. As the listener walks to the store or through a park, they’re forced to examine their steps and stories next to a refugee’s.
Download EIGHTY THOUSAND STEPS, available for FREE now on the App store or Google Play.
Steps Together: Join Crystal Chan on a walkabout and experience a step-powered story. Regroup and discuss in a talk-back session with the artist. Bring along your smartphone, earbuds or headphones!
Artist Talk: Crystal Chan breaks down how the project came together. What were her artistic goals and how did they balance with the technical challenges? How did Chan work with developer Stitch Media to create an elegant user experience?
FREE PROGRAMMING
November 16, 4:00PM
Steps Together: artist-led walk around downtown Toronto to explore & experience the app
November 18, 2:00PM
Artist talk with creator Crystal Chan and the development team from Stitch Media
Bachir/Yerex Presentation Space
401 Richmond St W
Suite 440
–
This app uses your mobile device’s accelerometer technology to measure footsteps, but the app has a non-pedometer mode that users in wheelchairs may experience. The artist talk is in a space accessible to wheelchairs or people who need step-free access but the walk-around will take place on city sidewalks where accessibility may be unpredictable. To let us know about your accessibility needs, please click below.
Crystal Chan
Crystal 倩瓊 Chan is a Hong Kong-born, Montreal-based artist, producer, and former film critic dedicated to telling stories in new ways. She teaches media writing at the University of British Columbia and works for RavenSpace, a pioneering multimedia platform for Indigenous and collaborative creation.
Initiated in 2002 by Yuni Hadi (Singapore), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Chalida Uabumrungjit (Thailand), S-Express has become an annual showcase of programming from Southeast Asia, spotlighting the abundant filmmaking talent and a nuanced insight into the stories of each participating region. This year, Reel Asian presents S-Express Malaysia, programmed by Chong Lee Yow of Mini Film Festival, featuring five films depicting one's ability to (un)trap themselves from limitations set upon them, be it bodily, mind, or soul, to achieve relief and victory.
More to the situation than what it seems, these shorts choose to examine, tease, and redefine the forces that pull us to make a decision.
In our inaugural First Films event, award-winning Asian Canadian filmmakers show the first films they’ve ever made. They will reveal their origin stories—that time they caught the movie bug; the place their creative voices first started cracking.
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 and Asian diasporic 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
