Accessibility
–
This programme is presented with English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Canada, Indonesia, Iran, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, USA2022-2023TRT: 1h37Indonesian, Mandarin, Dutch, Farsi, Tamil, Burmese, English, Cebuano, TagalogAnimation, Dark Comedy, Directed By Women, Drama, Experimental, History, Science Fiction
Societal, political, and magical forces at play beyond our control, this programme brings together a variety of filmmaking approaches to reflect on what can remain in troubling times, and along with it, agency to construct the narrative.
*Directors in attendance starred.
Canada, Indonesia202321 minIndonesian, Mandarin, Dutch with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Drama, Science Fiction
In a post-New Order Jakarta, native Indonesians (Pribumi) are legalized to perform the black magic ritual babi ngepet to balance their economy against Chinese Indonesians.
*Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto is an Indonesian writer and director currently residing in Toronto. Her works explore genre films as a medium to depict current political, social, and cultural issues.
Iran, New Zealand20224 minFarsi with English subtitlesAnimation, Directed By Women, Experimental
Back-and-forth movement blends discrete pictures into each other, contrasting the memory of innocent childhood life in a remote, peaceful environment against the surrounding political affairs of post-revolutionary Iran.
Zahra Salarnia
Zahra Salarnia is an Iranian artist based in New Zealand. She seeks to explore alternative and unconventional methods for making and presenting animation.
Canada, India, Sri Lanka202318 minTamil with English subtitlesDrama, History
In a small village in northern Sri Lanka, a young girl is forced to confront the consequences of a deadly civil war as a wounded freedom fighter is brought into their home.
*Kalainithan Kalaichelvan
Kalainithan Kalaichelvan is a Tamil Canadian writer, director, and producer whose films have screened at festivals such as the Santa Barbara International Film Festival, Rhode Island International Film Festival, and Reel Asian.
Myanmar202218 minBurmese with English subtitles2slgbtq+, Drama, Romance
Out of work and forced to marry a man she dislikes, young San Kyi plans to run away with her best friend, but complications unfold.
Aung Phyoe
Aung Phyoe is a writer, director, and film editor. He’s currently working on his first feature length film Fruit Gathering.
USA202314 minFarsi with English subtitlesDirected By Women, Drama, History
In the height of the Iran–Iraq war, Caroline takes the final car ride with her father through the Iranian countryside.
Julia Elihu
Julia Elihu is an Iranian American writer, director, and producer.
Philippines202322 minEnglish, Cebuano, and Tagalog with English subtitlesDark Comedy, Fiction, Monster, Science Fiction
Between nuclear reactors and military curfews, 14-year-old Jani lives in a dystopian world oppressively devoid of empathy. Together, she and her slippery new friend Kiefer the talking catfish gear up to strike a surreal blow for freedom.
Stephen Lopez
Stephen Lopez graduated from the University of Santo Tomas in 2012 with a degree in nursing. But due to the glut of underpaid health-care professionals in his country, he decided to be broke on his own terms and become a filmmaker instead.
PG
Content Warning: depictions of blood, self-harm, bullying and violence
12 Nov, 2023 2:30 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox C4–
This programme is presented with English subtitles. Wheelchair spaces and step-free seating is available for this screening – click below to book accessible seats.
Tam Fam Lit Jam
These shorts look at the soft to even slightly off-kilter bonds we find in one another, the realms we exist in, and ultimately, ourselves, despite ongoing change—no friendship bracelets required.
Following our Building Forces: The Director Producer Relationship panel, stay for a reception with Canadian Media Producers Association, a chance to network, ask questions, and enjoy snacks and refreshments. Especially good for Producers!
The Sari-Sari Xchange is a project that seeks to amplify Asian representation in the creative emerging media industries in Canada, particularly through a community-building residency program that engages artists with digital and extended reality (XR) technologies such as virtual and augmented reality, 360 cinema, game-engine animation, and 3D scanning.
Indonesia2022Indonesian and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Experimental, Family, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers
S-Express is a short film program exchange initiated in 2002 by Yuni Hadi (Singapore), Amir Muhammad (Malaysia) and Chalida Uabumrungjit (Thailand), featuring regional programming from South East Asia. This annual collaboration offers insight into the development of filmmaking talent and abundance of complex storytelling from each participating region. This year, Reel Asian spotlights S-Express Indonesia programmed by Fransiska Prihadi of Minikino, featuring five short films with the hopes of recharging your festival experience.
Indonesia202120 minutesMakassarese and Indonesian with English subtitles
In a city where “men” are fanatics about football, Akbar is compelled to pretend he loves the game to avoid being rejected by his new college friends.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Gender and queer violence, sexist language and situations, coarse language, strobing lights
Khozy Rizal
Khozy Rizal is a filmmaker based in Makassar, Indonesia. In 2020, he founded Hore Pictures, an independent production house that has produced several short films.
Indonesia2021 22 minJavanese with English subtitles
Trapped in his past, an old man steals an army uniform to chase away the ghosts that terrorize his long nights.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and closed English subtitles digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Violence, trauma, death, blood, extreme audio
Christian Banisrael
Born in Indonesia, Christian Banisrael directed his first short film Mist of the Past (2018), which premiered at the 2019 Hong Kong International Film Festival.
Indonesia202015 minBahasa with English subtitlesDrama
Nur’s husband, who had previously left for Malaysia as a migrant worker, returns home in an unexpected condition.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Trauma
Muhammad Heri Fadli
Born in Central Lombok, Indonesia, Muhammad Heri Fadli began his career as a filmmaker in 2013. Since then, Fadli has directed over 10 short films in seven years.
Indonesia202117 minIndonesian with English subtitlesDrama
Sura is a young boy who lives in a fishing village. One day he finds a broken sex doll washed ashore and tries to fix it.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Violence
Tumpal Tampubolon
Holding a bachelor’s degree in math, Tumpal Tampubolon has written and directed several short films, which have screened in various domestic and international film festivals.
Indonesia20217 minutesIndonesian with English subtitlesAnimation
The Archipelago brings together the perspectives of four Indonesian filmmakers as they interpret contemporary Indonesian society.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Azalia Muchransyah and Firman Widyasmara
Azalia Muchransyah is a filmmaker, writer, and scholar from Indonesia with a Ph.D. in Media Study from the University at Buffalo (SUNY). She currently teaches at Binus University film program in Alam Sutera.
Firman Widyasmara was an illustrator and a bank analyst before becoming an animator in 2005. Together with colleagues, he founded Lanting Animation, a collective community animation house.
Fransiska Prihadi
Guest Programmer
Fransiska Prihadi is program director of Minikino since 2015. She is an architect and co-founder of the art-house cinema MASH Denpasar. She has served as guest programmer, preselections committee & jury for various national and international short film festivals, with experience as facilitator and mentor for filmmaking and film critics workshops.
12 Nov, 2022 12:00 pm
Innis Town HallThe free screening for S-Express: Indonesia will be shown at Innis Town Hall.
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20.
Rated PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Kelly Lui.
In 1993, UFOs suddenly appeared over key cities around the world. The huge structures remained in the sky, stationary, silent, and unknown. Twenty-nine years later, with neither the origins nor the intentions of their arrival deciphered, humanity succumbs to speculations that aliens are walking among us. This feature film will also be shown as an online screening.
Missed chances, unspoken conversations, fated meetings, connections sparked in the most unexpected places: these shorts delve into the weight of all our relations in their fullness and in their absence.
Asian Canadian comics will discuss the ways they’ve broken down barriers to tell their jokes to a wide audience on stage, in sketches, and on film and TV. Together, they’ll discuss their individual approaches to the craft, how they navigate stereotypes, personal experiences in their work, and how comedy has allowed them to challenge, explore, and find comfort in their identities.
Canada, India, Singapore, USA2022English and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Experimental, Family, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers
From dusk ‘til dawn, the night takes centre stage as a mood, setting, tone, and place for our characters’ lives and their environments to be illuminated on screen.
India202213 minutesBengali with English subtitles
Satakshi and Madhyama reunite at a celebration during Durga Puja. Over the course of the night through rides, snacks, and glances, we feel their relationship charged with an energy that lasts years.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Tanmay Chowdhury and Tanvi Chowdhury
Tanmay Chowdhury is a cinematographer, editor, photographer, and filmmaker. His photography has been published in various magazines and publications worldwide, including Rolling Stone and Vogue.
Tanvi Chowdhury is a writer and filmmaker who seeks to explore and tell stories about human dynamics, identity, and gender.
Canada202214 minutesEnglish and Vietnamese with English subtitles
Titled after the term “nanitic,” referring to first-generation worker ants who care for their offspring as well as the Queen Ant, we witness the structure of a multigenerational family through the eyes of Trang and Mai.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Death and dying
Carol Nguyen
Carol Nguyen is a Vietnamese Canadian filmmaker based in Montreal who is working toward her first documentary feature as well as an animated short.
Singapore, USA20224 minutesEnglishAnimation, Women Filmmakers
Why should I make dinner if we are both in love? A story of gendered roles and the ethics of care.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film has no dialogue and is not captioned.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Gender violence, queer violence, nudity
Elizabeth Xu
Born and raised in Singapore, Elizabeth Xu attends the Rhode Island School of Design for animation. They are excited by the potential of analogue mediums and tangible surfaces, and in their free time, they make books and think about conversation as a beautiful medium.
USA202215 minutesEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitles
One night for Lu, a New York City delivery driver.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Lloyd Lee Choi
Lloyd Lee Choi is a Korean Canadian writer and director living in Brooklyn who was named 30 Under 30 by Marketing Magazine. Choi is compelled to tell stories that reflect the real world around us.
USA202222 minutesEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitles
In an isolated desert motel, Mengmeng digs up a rotting carcass. Later that night, something long buried is unearthed in her mother.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Death
Yvonne Zhang
Yvonne Zhang is a British Chinese director and writer who uses folklore, dream logic, and digital media to explore immigration, memory, and loss.
13 Nov, 2022 5:30 pm
OnlineThe screening for Night Shifts will be shown at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4.
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival.
Rated PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Blythe Shulan Hunter.
Blythe Shulan Hunter
Blythe is a Toronto-based writer, editor, and member of Reel Asian’s Programming Committee. She holds an MA in Cinema Studies from the University of Toronto, where she focused on race and aesthetics of ‘yellowness’ in East Asian music videos. Her core interests include contemporary Chinese cinema and learning K-pop dances.
Inspired by age-old Filipino folklore, this frightening thriller is a chilling story about the resurfacing of dark family secrets.
If From Every Tongue It Drips is a documentary constructed between three locations that follows Ponni, who writes a form of 19th-century queer Urdu poetry called Rekhti, and her lover Sarala, a camera operator.
Kiran, a first-generation Punjabi truck driver, is about to become a father, but he is preoccupied by questions and reflections on family, fatherhood, and responsibility.
Cambodia, Canada, French Polynesia, Singapore, USA202275 minutesEnglish and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Drama, Family, Women Filmmakers
How do our bodies and environments absorb and hold onto repetitive patterns, habits, and routines? This presentation of shorts exercises the capacity to confront harmful structures, encourage reflexivity, and affirm the embodied knowledge we carry.
Canada, French Polynesia202212 minutesEnglish and French with English subtitlesAnimation, Dance, Drama
A Tahitian dancer tries to reclaim her identity by confronting a tourist audience with a dance of her own.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Sexist situations
Wei Li
Wei Li is an Emmy-winning storyboard and comic artist. His work includes Netflix’s Carmen Sandiego, Cleopatra in Space, and Blue Eye Samurai. Tehura is his debut film.
Canada20229 minutesEnglish and Urdu with English subtitlesDrama, Family
Sania must take her mother, Noor, for a doctor’s appointment—serving as her parent and translator.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Haaris Qadri
Haaris Qadri is an emerging filmmaker based in Brampton and a graduate from York University’s Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film Production Specialized Honours. Qadri is drawn to diasporic stories, contemplating questions of identity, home, and belonging.
Canada20213 minutesEnglishDocumentary, Experimental, Women Filmmakers
A fleeting and poetic retrospect of a young woman who develops a chronic illness.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and closed English subtitles digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Shubhi Sahni
Shubhi Sahni is an Indian Canadian filmmaker based in Los Angeles and Toronto. She makes intimate films in the space between documentary and fiction. Sahni is an Annenberg Fellow at the University of Southern California’s School of Cinematic Arts.
Canada, USA202210 minutesEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitlesDrama, Family, Women Filmmakers
In the face of uncontrollable sorrow, Bo desperately suppresses a “grief flower” sprouting from his face before his big speech at his father’s funeral.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Wendy Xu
Wendy Xu is a rising Chinese Canadian filmmaker whose narrative recipes never fail to include just a pinch of absurdity and humour.
Singapore202210 minutesEnglish and Mandarin with English subtitlesAnimation, Comedy, Women Filmmakers
Following three separate stories, four average Singaporeans encounter a sexual situation in the course of their day.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Self-harm, blood, sexist language and situations, abortion, strobing lights
Calleen Koh
Calleen Koh is BAFTA-nominated animated-film director and artist from Singapore. She loves to make people laugh but also be disturbed by her sexy, manic, animated films.
Cambodia202224 minutesKhmer and Bunong with English subtitlesDrama
Indigenous Bunong siblings spend one last day in their rural village in northeastern Cambodia, before an impending move to the capital city in search of a more prosperous life.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Polen Ly
Polen Ly paused his studies in medicine to pursue filmmaking in 2012. He has directed several shorts and documentaries, exploring environmental and human rights issues, including LGBTQ+ and Indigenous experiences.
11 Nov, 2022 6:45 pm
OnlineThe screening for Night Shifts will be shown at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4.
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival.
Rated PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Angela Sun.
Angela Sun
Angela Sun is an actor, theatre creator, producer, and writer of East Asian descent. Her multidisciplinary, multilingual artistic practice focuses on cultural dissonance and mental health. She is also known for her advocacy for cultural diversity, size-inclusivity, and access for the invisible disability community. She has worked with many emerging and established artistic organizations throughout her career. She is currently the Community Engagement Coordinator at Theatre Passe Muraille and is working on a one-woman show about trauma, representation, and storytelling entitled The Glass Eye.
When reserved, late-bloomer Grace gets passed up for a major promotion at work, she tries to break out of her shell by pursuing a one-night stand at the club.
If From Every Tongue It Drips is a documentary constructed between three locations that follows Ponni, who writes a form of 19th-century queer Urdu poetry called Rekhti, and her lover Sarala, a camera operator.
Festival favourite Midnight Snack returns for another bite! This time, 2.0 features six talented female directors who cook up tales full of intrigue and awareness, boldly confronting themes that are often left indigestible.
Canada, PhilippinesEnglish and other languages with English subtitles
Presenting a collection of short and mid-length work from Romeo Candido's career.
Romeo Candido is a CSA winner and proud Filipino Canadian story teller with experience in film, television, theatre, documentary and advertising. Recent credits include writing / directing a film for the NBA called SHORTY, directing on S29 of THIS HOUR HAS 22 MINUTES, directing two episodes of the upcoming CIRCUIT BREAKERS for Apple TV and writing an episode of the hit comedy SON OF A CRITCH. He is currently the co-showrunner of S8 of popular dance series The Next Step for CBBC and YTV. His ten part musical series TOPLINE, which he serves as creator, writer, director and composer premiered to rave reviews on CBC Gem March 31 2022. His original musical PRISON DANCER will have its world premiere as a stage musical at the Citadel Theatre in spring of 2023.
Canada, Philippines201260 minComedy, Dance, Drama
Inspired by the real-life dancing rehabilitation program that became a worldwide viral sensation on YouTube, Prison Dancer details the poignant and hilarious stories of six prison dancers who turned a maximum-security prison into a world stage.
Canada, Philippines200226 minDocumentary
A documentary following members of the Toronto Filipinx Canadian community preparing for Fiesta.
Canada, Philippines320028 minMusic
A fly-on-the-wall look at the early days of R&B group Kuya as they perform for New York’s top labels.
Canada, Philippines20154 minMusic
A music-video collaboration between dance troupe Hataw and Candido’s music project A La Una (née Datu).
Canada, Philippines20218 minMusic
In Shorty, a father gives his daughter a history lesson of the greatest small NBA players to illustrate that height isn’t all you need.
An NBA Films for Fans created by a partnership with the OLG and Toronto Film Festival, SHORT Y is part of collection of short films commemorating the NBA's 75th anniversary
Canada, Philippines200412 minComedy
This collaboration with comedian Ron Josol is a farcical time capsule of Asian male aughts humour.
9 Nov, 2022
to 20 Nov, 2022
OnlineThis shorts programme will be shown exclusively online from Nov 9 – 20. The ROMEO CANDIDO RETRO VOD PASS will give FREE access to
PG
TBA
Join Romeo Candido and writer director Amanda Parris as they discuss Candido’s career.
Join us for a deep-rooted dive into Uprooted: The Plantemic, a show about houseplants surviving the pandemic. We’ll explore the narrative of this CBC Gem short-form series, the development from concept art to animation, and contextualize the series not only in its time, but also in contemporary conversations, as storytelling methods evolve. In an era of remote working, what would my houseplants think of me? Do they root for me? Find out from the creative team behind Uprooted.
In this oddly sweet and gentle story, Hong, a shy young man, opens his eyes to love when he coincidentally meets Lele, the mistress of a sex worker business.
The story of Chol Soo Lee, a Korean American who was falsely convicted of a 1973 murder in San Francisco. After activists led a pan-Asian American movement to free him, he was finally released after 10 years in prison.
Canada202260 minutesEnglish and various languages with English SubtitlesWorld Premiere
Six first-time and emerging filmmakers embarked on a summer-long filmmaking journey online with Reel Asian's Unsung Voices Youth Video Production Workshop. We’re proud to present their world premieres here.
Canada, Kurdistan20228 minutesEnglish, Farsi, Kurdish with English Subtitles World PremiereExperimental
A young woman escapes into a fantasy world where she imagines what life would have been like if she never left her birth country. Faced with who she wants to be, she must come to terms with the in-between.
Roda Medhat
Roda Medhat is a Kurdish Canadian multidisciplinary artist mainly working in photo and sculpture based work. Dutar (دوتار) is Roda’s writing and directing debut, a story that reflects on his own life living in between cultures.
Canada20226 minutesEnglish with English Subtitles World PremiereDrama, Family, Women Filmmakers
After a pineapple shows up at her front door, Lia returns to her childhood home in search of her father, who hasn’t been seen in months.
Hannah Polinski
Hannah Polinski is a writer currently based in Montreal. Her work explores familial memory, shifting landscapes, and poetry as a daily practice.
Canada202212 minutesEnglish, Cantonese with English Subtitles World PremiereFamily, Music, Women Filmmakers
Following her grandfather’s death in China during the pandemic, Ai is forced to confront her depression, the silences in her home, and her parents’ unsung frustrations—including the ancestor ghosts now possessing them.
Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li
Vivian (Xiao Wen) Li is a queer writer, director, musician, and interdisciplinary artist. A third-year MFA candidate at the UBC School of Creative Writing, her first chapbook will be released in fall 2022, and she is working on her thesis novel engaging with Chinese philosophy themes. In Silence, We Sing is her debut short film.
Canada20229 minutesEnglish, Telugu, Hindi with English subtitles World PremiereWomen Filmmakers
As a wife prepares to celebrate her wedding anniversary, a painful reminder threatens to spoil the evening.
Samyuktha Movva
Samyuktha Movva is an Indo Canadian writer and filmmaker based in Toronto. In her work, she seeks to explore our complex experience of time, memory, beauty, love, and loss through intimate character studies that traverse languages and cultures.
Canada202211 minutesFrench with English subtitles World PremiereDance, Experimental, Women Filmmakers
A dancer breaks the silence of incest by responding to her family archives through dance. In the ritual sacrifice of a papaya, she reenacts her traumatic past to emancipate her adult self.
Dédé Chen
Born in Nanchang, China in 1995, Dédé Chen now lives in Tiohtià:ke/Montreal where she creates works about the performance of filiation. As an anthropologist, she is interested in autoethnography as a source of creative writing.
Canada202210 minutesEnglish, Mandarin with English subtitles World PremiereDrama, Non-binary Filmmakers, Romance
As Mid-Autumn Festival approaches, a lonesome young Chinese immigrant finds comfort in a whirlwind romance with a mysterious hometown queer crush who seems too good to be true.
Yi Shi
Yi Shi is a queer Chinese multidisciplinary artist and tattooer born and raised in Hangzhou, China, currently based in Tkaronto, aka Toronto, Canada. Their works seek to investigate the complexity of human emotions—vulnerability, grief, and diasporic longings.
12 Nov, 2022 3:45 pm
TIFF Bell Lightbox 3TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
350 King St West
Toronto
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival. In person screening has now gone to rush
PG
Join us following the Unsung Voices 11 for an in-conversation with the filmmakers of Unsung Voices 11 and hear all about their unique filmmaking processes.
When reserved, late-bloomer Grace gets passed up for a major promotion at work, she tries to break out of her shell by pursuing a one-night stand at the club.
Taking a wide scope, Canadian documentary filmmaker Karen Cho’s Big Fight in Little Chinatown traverses Chinatowns in New York City, Montreal, Vancouver, Toronto, and San Francisco, shining a light on the twin legacies of displacement and resistance that characterize these neighbourhoods.
These films do not shy away from difficult and layered stories, distant memories, and buried feelings. Our characters ground, trace, and reconnect pathways toward recognizing the resiliency within oneself through their roots and relations to the places around them.
Australia, Canada, Malaysia, Philippines, South Korea202275 minutesEnglish and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Docu-fiction, Drama, Experimental, Women Filmmakers
These films do not shy away from difficult and layered stories, distant memories, and buried feelings. Our characters ground, trace, and reconnect pathways toward recognizing the resiliency within oneself through their roots and relations to the places around them.
South Korea202226 minutes Korean and Jeju dialect with English subtitlesDrama, Women Filmmakers
Deep in the dry stream, Yu-bin and Geon are each other’s only friends. To them, this place is the best hideout and playground—but no one seems to understand.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
Kang Ji-hyo
Kang Ji-hyo majored in film studies in college. Her previous short film Interpreting Hyun-ju (2020) won the Grand Prize at Aichi International Women’s Film Festival, and screened in festivals locally and internationally.
Canada, USA202111 minutesEnglish and Uchinaaguchi with English and Japanese textDocumentary, Experimental, Family
Director Shō Yamagushiku presents a poetic and sensorial tribute to ancestors in Okinawa: “Our uyafaafuji (ancestors) appear to intervene in our daily lives, refusing to let us forget, refusing to let us compromise, and refusing to let us live restrained by the laws of the nations that seek to claim us.”
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED G
Shō Yamagushiku
Shō Yamagushiku’s creative practice is grounded in a diasporic islander consciousness. He is committed to cultivating the space to tell difficult and complicated stories in hopes of dismantling the separation and stagnation that inform the world he was born into.
Malaysia202216 minutes English, Malay, Tamil and Mandarin with English subtitlesDocu-fiction
In the aftermath of the world's greatest financial sham in 2015, this docu-fiction follows a Malaysian child who finds solace and guidance from an unlikely figurehead.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Trauma, Criminality
Ananth Subramaniam
Ananth Subramaniam is a Malaysian-based filmmaker and architect. His films often explore his ancestral identity and family within the context of a multi-layered genre.
Canada20223 minutesTamil with English subtitlesExperimental
A feller cuts down a forest until he arrives at the last tree standing. The tree confronts the feller.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
Kalainithan Kalaichelvan
Kalainithan Kalaichelvan is a Toronto-based filmmaker known for directing music videos for some of Toronto’s leading artists, and was nominated for a Juno Award for Music Video of the Year in 2022.
Australia20224 minutesEnglish, Mandarin, Vietnamese and Cantonese with English subtitlesAnimation, Women Filmmakers
Snippets of daily lives and sensory experiences, children and the elderly, workers, gossiping aunties and the overwhelming feeling you get when you’re in Cabramatta that memories are constantly being created all around you.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
Anna Phuong Nguyen, Winston Liu, Lilian Yu Wen Cao
Lilian Yu Wen Cao, Winston Liu and Anna Phuong Nguyen are all recent graduates of University of Technology Sydney. Filled with childhood memories and nostalgia, 2166 is a love letter to Cabramatta and Canley Vale.
Philippines202115 minutes Ilokano with English subtitlesDrama
Lynn leaves her family behind and traverses the harrowing roads of the Cordilleran highlands to try her luck in the city as a country singer.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
Rated PG
Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan
Don Josephus Raphael Eblahan is an independent filmmaker born of Ifugao and Visayan descent. The Headhunter’s Daughter premiered at Sundance 2022, where it won the Short Film Grand Jury Prize.
10 Nov, 2022 6:30 pm
OnlineThe screening for Moving On will be shown at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4.
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival.
Rated PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Julienne Discutido.
Julienne Discutido
Julienne (she/her) is a Filipino-Canadian film programmer dedicated to elevating the work of emerging filmmakers. She is currently a programming assistant at the Academy of Canadian Cinema & Television, involved with the Canadian Screen Awards and Talent Development programs. This is her third year as part of Reel Asian’s Programming Committee. Her favourite things to watch are horror, documentary, and cult films. She is also a strong enthusiast of any potato dish.
This year’s Reel Ideas Conference gathers industry professionals, filmmakers, and performers to reflect on the specificity in their works, representing their own nuances along with their communities' lived experiences.
Asian Canadian comics will discuss the ways they’ve broken down barriers to tell their jokes to a wide audience on stage, in sketches, and on film and TV. Together, they’ll discuss their individual approaches to the craft, how they navigate stereotypes, personal experiences in their work, and how comedy has allowed them to challenge, explore, and find comfort in their identities.
In this oddly sweet and gentle story, Hong, a shy young man, opens his eyes to love when he coincidentally meets Lele, the mistress of a sex worker business.
Canada, China, Japan, Taiwan, USA2022English and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Experimental, Family, Horror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers
Festival favourite Midnight Snack returns for another bite! This time, 2.0 features six talented female directors who cook up tales full of intrigue and awareness, boldly confronting themes that are often left indigestible.
Japan, Taiwan202122 minutesTaiwanese with English subtitlesHorror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers
Xue-Lan, a striving actress, is invited to a mysterious gourmet club only to discover that her competition has prepared a horrifying banquet.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Blood, drugs
Mai Nakanishi
Born in Tokyo but spent most of her youth abroad, Mai Nakanishi is a filmmaker who focuses on genre films. In 2013, she launched Scream Queen FilmFest Tokyo to amplify the voices of female genre filmmakers.
USA20226 minutesNo Dialogue Animation, Horror, Women Filmmakers
During a peaceful school lunchtime, children discover they can transform into animals—the only problem is will they ever stop?
ACCESSIBILITY
This film has no dialogue and is not captioned.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Violence, gore, extreme audio
Cho Yoon Hei
An animator and director from Korea, Cho Yoon Hei is located in Los Angeles and creates horrifying hand-drawn animations.
Canada, Indonesia202217 minutesIndonesian with English subtitlesHorror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers
When polar-opposite sisters Nur and Karina reunite for their grandparents’ wedding anniversary dinner, Karina starts to itch and blames Nur for putting garlic in her food.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Eating disorder, body dysmorphia
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto is an Indonesian writer and director currently residing in Vancouver, Canada. Her works explore genre films as a medium to depict the current condition surrounding political, social, and cultural issues.
Canada20222 minutesEnglishAnimation, Horror, Thriller, Women Filmmakers
Tired of her date’s racist and sexist comments, a woman decides to liberate his tongue.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Nudity, racist situation, sexist situation
Kaho Yoshida
Kaho Yoshida is a director and animator with a special passion for stop motion and mixed media. Her fresh aesthetics and sense of humour bring life to every frame, and her love for storytelling makes her work relatable and approachable.
Canada, USA202210 minutesEnglishFamily, Horror, Women Filmmakers
Following the death of her mysterious amah (grandma), Kat is haunted during her first night of dinner service at a high-pressure Michelin-star kitchen.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content Warning: Sexist language and situations, racist language and situations, blood
Christianne Cruz
Christianne Cruz is a Filipinx writer, director and independent producer born in Toronto and based in LA. She is the mother of two young daughters and producing/life partner to Alex Ott.
China202213 minutesMandarin with English subtitlesExperimental, Women Filmmakers
As the flashy life of the influencer 33 becomes more intense, the canker sore inside her lower lip keeps growing larger…
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Lin Tu
Lin Tu is a writer and director based in Beijing whose previous short films have screened internationally on the festival circuit. She is a BIFAN Fantastic Film School (2020) alumni.
The screening for Midnight Snack 2.0 will be shown at TIFF Bell Lightbox 3
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival.
PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Kelly Lui.
Following three Muslim women activists who have come of age since 9/11, An Act of Worship is a unique glimpse into the lives of a new generation of American Muslims deeply impacted by over 40 years of history that has shaped their lives and trajectories in powerful and irreversible ways.
This year, Reel Asian spotlights S-Express Indonesia programmed by Fransiska Prihadi of Minikino, featuring five short films with the hopes of recharging your festival experience.
A recent report released by the DOC Institute points to the lack of data on funding for documentary content produced by Indigenous, Black or racialized filmmakers. This panel will discuss why it's important for agencies and broadcasters to collect and share race based data in order to achieve their stated equity goals. The panel will also analyze the stories and experiences shared by BIPOC filmmakers which speak of systemic barriers to funding.
Canada, Iran, USA72 minutesEnglish and other languages with English subtitlesAnimation, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers
Missed chances, unspoken conversations, fated meetings, connections sparked in the most unexpected places: these shorts delve into the weight of all our relations in their fullness and in their absence.
Canada202216 minutesEnglish, Arabic and French with English subtitlesDrama, Family
Amid the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Montreal, Leila, who has been keeping a secret from her family, finds herself in a predicament after her father falls ill and she is called back home.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Death
Farhad Pakdel
Farhad Pakdel is a Montreal-based filmmaker whose work explores identity (de)construction, liminality, absence, place, and memory.
USA20228:00EnglishDrama, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Romance, Women Filmmakers
Maggie and Celine meet in the bathroom of a Chinese restaurant while having dinner with their respective families.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Emily Jampel
Based in New York City, Emily Jampel is a filmmaker from Oʻahu who currently works as a development executive at the Oscar-nominated and Peabody Award-winning production company, the Department of Motion Pictures.
Canada20229 minutesEnglish, Japanese with English SubtitlesAnimation, Documentary, Women Filmmakers
Filmmaker Natalie Murao asks her mother, “Why have I never liked tomatoes?” It’s a simple question that leads to an unearthing of a Japanese Canadian fisherman’s story during the World War 2 internment.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English & Japanese subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Trauma, racist situation
Natalie Murao
Natalie Murao is a Yonsei filmmaker and educator from unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Skwxwú7mesh (Squamish), and səl̓ílwətaʔɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territories, whose work explores themes of generational disconnect, personal memory, and communication.
Iran202110 minutesPersian with English subtitlesComedy, Drama, Women Filmmakers
A young boy feels obliged to write a will for a dying woman who lives alone.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Content warning: Death and dying
Ilnaz Kheyrkhah
Born in Iran, Ilnaz Kheyrkhah has a law degree from the International University of Ghazvin. Company is her first film.
Canada202213 minutesEnglish and Tagalog with English subtitlesDrama, Family, Women Filmmakers
Musician and songwriter Kimmortal stars as Gracie who meets the younger version of herself as the two share a common thread.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open captions in-person and closed captions digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Stephanie Sy
Stephanie Sy is a Filipino Chinese Canadian artist born and raised on Treaty 1 Winnipeg. Knots is Sy’s debut work as a writer and director.
Canada202220:00English and Urdu with English subtitlesComedy, Drama, Family, Sci-fi
When Imran suddenly loses his dad, an opportunity to travel back in time for an evening gives him a chance to face him again.
ACCESSIBILITY
This film is presented with open English subtitles in-person and digitally.
RATING
RATED PG
Kashif Pasta
Kashif Pasta is an award-winning director, writer, and producer using film and storytelling to tell character-driven stories centered on South Asian and Muslims with a sense of joy and wonder.
12 Nov, 2022 7:00 pm
OnlineThe screening for Encounters will be shown at TIFF Bell Lightbox 4.
This shorts programme will also be shown as an online screening from Nov 14 – 20. Purchase the shorts VOD pass to watch this programme online and all other shorts in selection at the festival.
Rated PG
Join us for a Q&A immediately after the theatrical presentation with attending guests from this shorts programme, moderated by Kelly Lui.
Following her previous basketball documentary Finding Big Country (2018), Kat Jayme embarks on an equally quixotic journey to find out why the Grizzlies abandoned Vancouver.
In this reflective documentary, director Quen Wong turns the lens toward the intimate and vulnerable in her own life as a trans woman in Singapore.
Festival favourite Midnight Snack returns for another bite! This time, 2.0 features six talented female directors who cook up tales full of intrigue and awareness, boldly confronting themes that are often left indigestible.
France, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, Malaysia, Peru, South Korea, USA, Vietnam202177 minEnglish, various languages with English subtitles Animation, Documentary, Drama, Experimental, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Women Filmmakers
How does one trace lineages and map origins? Derailing form and convention, each of these films paves new pathways of understanding by reconceptualizing the relations between pasts, presents, and futures.
Canada20218 min Indonesian with English subtitlesDrama, Women Filmmakers
A modern retelling of an Indonesian myth of the same name, Anjani struggles to regain control as her mother tries to sell the house that doubled as her father's puppetry studio.
This presentation has English subtitles.
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto
Andrea Nirmala Widjajanto is an Indonesian filmmaker based in Vancouver. She is currently in development for her first feature film.
Peru20219 min Spanish with English subtitlesNorth American PremiereDocumentary, Experimental
After 91 years of continuous operation, a camera captures the last breath of Nakagawa Photo Studio, the first photo studio in northern Peru founded by Masao Nakagawa.
Hideki Nakazaki
Hideki Nakazaki is studying directing at EICTV. Nakazaki develops cultural-management projects in northern Peru linked to the Nikkei community in Latin America.
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.
This presentation has English subtitles.
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.
Vietnam202015 min Vietnamese with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereDrama, Women Filmmakers
What would you do if you bumped into your high school sweetheart? On a peculiar tour bus to Mekong Delta, 50-year-old Tam is hopeful for a chance of reconciliation—or maybe he's not.
This presentation has English subtitles.
Linh Duong
Linh Duong is a Vietnamese filmmaker fascinated with sad, angsty, and naggy middle-aged women. She just completed a series of shorts tackling this topic with a quirky sense of humour.
Germany, South Korea, USA20216 min No dialogueToronto PremiereAnimation, Experimental, Women Filmmakers
Visually transformative, Eyes and Horns is a captivating and immersive experience that delves into the destruction of gender binaries and boundaries.
This presentation has no captions.
Chaerin Im
Chaerin Im is an experimental filmmaker from South Korea, living and working in Los Angeles and Ann Arbor. Through craftsmanship and distinctive materials, she explores gender issues and sexual imagery.
Malaysia, USA202114 min EnglishInternational PremiereDocumentary, LGBTQ+ Filmmakers, Non-binary Filmmakers, Reel Asian Award Winner
Combining multiple artistic formats, this intimate portrait is a transnational meditation through time and space of an international art student studying abroad in the United States.
This presentation has English subtitles.
Emory Chao Johnson
Emory Chao Johnson (they/them) is an artist settled on the land of the Tongva working primarily in documentary filmmaking. Their approach to documentary is grounded in empathy and compassion.
France202115 min French with English subtitlesCanadian PremiereAnimation, Women Filmmakers
After the fall of Saigon in 1975, Thao and Sao Maï, two sisters separated by the war, exchange letters to connect and relieve their loneliness.
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.
This film contains the potentially triggering topics of war and intergenerational trauma.
Sandra Desmazières
Sandra Desmazières studied at the École Duperré and the École nationale supérieure des Arts Décoratifs de Paris, where she discovered animation. Desmazieres is also an illustrator of children’s books and a comic-book colourist.
10 Nov, 2021
to 19 Nov, 2021
PG
It starts simple enough. In town on a stopover, years after she transitioned, Kris is meeting her college ex-girlfriend Naomi again for the first time. But seeing an ex is never simple. As the evening unfolds, the past inevitably creeps back into their conversations.
Narrative in Other Mediums is a panel that brings together creatives working in formats like video games, music videos, and commercials to discuss their experience and expertise with narrative construction and creative direction.
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.
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
