Announcing the Reel Asian TIFF 2026 Delegation

Lillian Chan
Animation Filmmaker

Lillian Chan is an experienced animation filmmaker known for her work on various projects, including the award-winning children’s film Jaime Lo, Small and Shy (NFB, 2007), an educational short for TEDed, and a VR prototype for the CFC Medialab. Her commercial clients include DisneyXD, Nelvana, Guru Studios, and Mozilla. Lillian serves as professor of animation at Seneca Polytechnic in Toronto.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Screenings, networking, and panels.

Sana A. Malik
Writer-Director

Sana 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.

Upcoming Projects:
Hierarchies of Heaven (Feature in development), Night Shift (Short in development).

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Primarily looking to connect with producers and story consultants as I prepare to bring my feature to market. Would also love to know about any curated programs, panels, etc. for first-time feature narrative directors, and to get any guidance towards preparing to seek Telefilm and international co-production financing.

Fanny Lord-Bourcier
Filmmaker, Animator

Fanny Lord-Bourcier is an animator and multidisciplinary artist based in Tio’tia:ke / Mooniyang / Montréal. Curious and keen, they are continuously willing to adopt and be adopted by new places, disciplines, mediums, and people. Fanny uses their medium of choice, animation—the art of movement—to bring to life playful and reflective interpretations of reality, with a particular interest in dreams, memory, and diaspora.

Upcoming Projects:
Cabbageworm, a short stop-motion animated horror sapphic film through the Unsung Voices program.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Everything! It’s my first time at TIFF.

Chrisann Hessing
Filmmaker / Impact Producer

Chrisann Hessing is a Toronto-based documentary filmmaker and impact producer whose work explores the intersection of culture, identity and transformation. Her films have screened at Hot Docs, RIDM, Calgary International Film Festival and the London Asian Film Festival, and have been released on CBC Gem, Crave, TVO and CNN’s Great Big Story.

Upcoming projects:
Developing the impact campaign for Turtle Island Rap, which is premiering at TIFF.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Networking, attending industry panels and watching amazing films!

Rielle Ramos
Producer

Rielle Ramos is a Toronto-based independent film and advertising producer with a deep passion for storytelling and a special love for prop styling.

Upcoming projects:
External Neighbours, Mother’s Day, In the Dark I See You.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Networking and joining panels.

Julia Kwan
Filmmaker

Julia Kwan is a Vancouver-based filmmaker whose cinematic works often delve into the Chinese-Canadian cultural experience. Raised in Vancouver by Chinese immigrant parents, Kwan studied film at Ryerson University in Toronto and was a director resident at the Canadian Film Centre when she made her award-winning short film Three Sisters on Moon Lake, about Chinese-Canadian sisters who discover the beauty and tragedy of the imagination.

Upcoming projects:
Developing an animated feature film, The Appendix, the Tumour and the Soulful Thing.

Yasmin Lau
Actor & Filmmaker

Yasmin Lau is a Toronto-based actor and filmmaker drawn to intimate, character-driven stories about family and cultural identity. She graduated from TMU’s RTA Media Production program and began acting as a child, with her first short film, Banana Bruises, premiering at the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Since then, she has appeared in projects including Orphan Black: Echoes, Kim’s Convenience, and Nurses. Inspired by her own experiences, her work is rooted in quiet, observational storytelling that explores unspoken family dynamics and the emotional weight children carry in complex adult environments.

Upcoming Projects:
The Children Trap, as part of the Reel Asian Unsung Voices Program this year.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Screenings and panels.

Srutika Sabu
Writer

Srutika Sabu (she/they) is a recovering doctor-turned-clown, writer, and multidisciplinary artist who uses absurdity and whimsy to tell stories that are funny and quietly heartbreaking at once. Trained in clown at Sweet Action Theatre, she created drag king persona Santosh Santosh and developed musical comedy Neptune’s With A Fish. She’s been honing her storytelling practice through selective emerging artist programs including ArtWorksTO, Buddies in Bad Times’ Emerging Creators Unit, Paprika Festival’s Creative Producers Unit, Factory Theatre’s TEPs intensive and Nightwood Theatre’s Shadow Residency. She’s now developing a musical called My Beef with Beef with support from the Canada Council of Arts and the National Centre for New Musicals at Theatre Aquarius. Galaxy Pants, which she wrote, directed, composed, and animated, is her first short film that was selected for the Comedy Ignitor Challenge Showcase at Canadian Film festival. She also produced and directed the documentary webseries Fairy Trans Parent, a series about newcomer/refugee trans relationships which is an official TOWebfest selection.

Upcoming projects:
Peaked, TV series as part of Reel Asian’s TV Writing Program. Developing a musical called My Beef with Beef with support from the Canada Council of Arts and the National Centre for New Musicals at Theatre Aquarius.

Claudine Yip
Writer

Claudine Yip is a writer from Vancouver whose stories tend to focus on children of immigrants finding love in all its forms and against all mishaps. She was a participant in Ins Choi’s sitcom writing workshop, an Annick Press editorial mentee, and her TV pilots have been recognized by CAPE and Script Pipeline. As a screenwriter for vertical microdramas, her series have collectively gained over 100 million views. She holds a BFA in Creative Writing from the University of British Columbia and an MFA in Dramatic Writing from New York University.

Upcoming projects:
Just One Kiss (ReelShort vertical series releasing September 2026), and What We Left Behind (feature screenplay in development).

Interests at TIFF 2026:
The screenings of It’s My Time; In Waves; Rags 2 Richmond. Also, the panels: PERSPECTIVES Global TV Series Buyers and Commissioners in Focus; PERSPECTIVES The Global Rise of Microdramas: New Stories Captivating the World; Inside Telefilm: Funding, Partnerships and Audiences

Timothy Yeung
Writer & Director

Timothy Yeung is a writer-director and alumnus of the TIFF Filmmaker Lab. His feature Finch & Midland premiered at VIFF, was nominated for a Golden Horse Award, and received theatrical releases in Hong Kong and Canada. His feature script Yesterday Will Be Perfect won the MAS Award at Busan’s Asian Project Market, and his film 90 Days was acquired by Sundance Selects.

Upcoming projects:
Yesterday Will Be Perfect – Feature / Development.

Interests at TIFF 2026:
Screenings, networking, panels, inspiration, motivation, and hanging out with Reel Asian peeps.