Canada, South Korea, Taiwan, U.K., USAEnglish and Various Languages Action, Animation, Comedy, Dance, Experimental, Family, Family-friendly, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

Free programming dedicated to sparking joy, creativity, and fun for little ones and families to enjoy together. Short film selection includes winner of Air Canada Short Film or Video Award, Reel Asian 2020 ISLE OF CHAIR.

South Korea201925 minNo Dialogue, Korean with English SubtitlesNorth American PremiereComedy, Dance, Family-friendly, Open Captions

Rated G

Bursting with joy and fantastic dance sequences, you’ll be sure to find yourself tapping along with Yuwol as he inspires (or infects) others to dance.

Japan, Kazakhstan201984 minKazakh with English SubtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

A cowardly horse robbery ends in murder, leaving a boy fatherless and his family in disarray. When the boy’s mother is forced to move the family out of their village, a mysterious man arrives who might be able to help restore order. What may appear to us as a “Western,” with its familiar framing of vast vistas and sublime steppes, is really a story about fractured families and survival in the wake of violence.

Inspired by true events, co-directors Yerlan Nurmukhambetov and Lisa Takeba join forces for a landmark Kazakhstan/Japan co-production, starring decorated actors Samal Yeslyamova and Mirai Moriyama. These disparate yet collaborative elements are able to make something familiar but fresh, an Asian “Western”, an art film that builds to a satisfying genre conclusion and culminates with an epilogue of renowned Kazakh artist Gali Myrzashev paintings. The Horse Thieves is an atmospheric treat. Watch it full-screen, volume up.

- Aram Siu Wai Collier

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.

South Korea202025 minKorean with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDance, Drama, LGBTQ+ 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.

Vietnam2019105 minVietnamese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, Family, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Open Captions

Son of a prominent family in Vietnam, Van returns from America for the first time in nine years with his partner, Ian. Coming back to a community with expectations of patriarchy and legacy, Van tries to find the right moment to tell his mother, Mrs. Hanh, about his love for Ian. With the heir unable to bear children, the family fights over their inheritance, surmounting to a violent reveal of truths. Everybody has a secret. An intricately assembled ensemble, Goodbye Mother is a queer story and more.

Director Trinh Dinh Le Minh portrays characters with dignity in this uplifting story, providing positive resolution to otherwise challenging conversations within the Asian family dynamic. Paired with colour palettes that lends itself to the beautiful scenery of Vietnam, the portrayal of queer lovers making plans for the future provides an enriched leading story that normalizes queer Asian narratives in cinema.

– Bertha Lee

India, Italy, Qatar, Romania202089 minGondiya, Madiya, Hindi with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDocumentary, Family, Open Captions, Women Filmmakers

Somi and her husband met and fell in love while fighting alongside fellow Naxalites, a communist rebel group fighting for the rights of tribal communities in India for the past 50 years. Although the group represents a quarter of the population and lives in extreme poverty, Naxalites are seen as the biggest threat to national security for the State of India.

After a decade of armed struggle, Somi and her husband choose to surrender under the government’s Surrender Policy and begin the draining bureaucratic process of integrating into a hostile and unwelcoming Indian society. Through thoughtfully executed vignettes and with intimate access to Somi and her family, directors Arya Rothe, Cristina Hanes, and Isabella Rinaldi of the NoCut Film Collective construct a moving verité portrait of an ex-Naxalite family seeking a future for their children while being held hostage to the whims of a rigid and unforgiving contemporary Indian State.

– Mariam Zaidi

South Korea201978 minKorean with English SubtitlesNorth American PremiereDrama, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner, Thriller

Unfolding over a tumultuous three days, Dust And Ashes is a quiet thriller following a grieving Hae-su, forced to learn and navigate the system in order to collect insurance after the death of her mother. Overworked, underpaid, and facing eviction, Hae-su takes desperate measures in order to escape impoverishment.

In his enigmatic directorial debut, Park Hee-kwon confronts the aftermath of death just as he does the act of living: with method and process. He steeps the bureaucracy of dying in intensity, slowly burning away the mystery surrounding Hae-su and the social injustices faced by the underclass in contemporary South Korea. Actress Ahn So-yo (seen in Albert Shin’s 2014 In Her Place) carries the grief as if it is her own—delivering a performance of few words but nonetheless affecting and steadfast in its resolve.

– Roxanne Fernandes

South Korea2019105 minKorean with English SubtitlesOntario PremiereDrama, Family, Open Captions, Reel Asian Award Winner, Women Filmmakers

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.

Told through beautifully sun-soaked summertime moments, Moving On is a wistful, nostalgic, and sometimes painful look at growing up and growing old through the adolescent eyes of Okju. These nuanced observations about family will call to mind the films of Ozu or Yang (and is the utmost compliment). However, first-time feature director Yoon Dan-bi assuredly tells a semi autobiographical story with a sincere flair that will resonate with the trials of life that every family must face.

– Aram Siu Wai Collier

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.