#FIRSTLOOK: TORONTO REEL ASIAN INTERNATIONAL FESTIVAL 2026 PROGRAMMING ANNOUNCEMENT

The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian), Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival, today announced its 2026 programming lineup, marking the festival’s 30th Anniversary. Running from November 11 to 21, 2026, with selected feature films and all shorts available online across Canada from November 16 to 29, 2026, Reel Asian’s milestone edition celebrates three decades of contemporary cinema and work from Asian, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian filmmakers and artists.

The 2026 lineup features 15 feature films and 42 short films, showcasing unique contemporary stories from Canada and around the world. The festival offers attendees 10 exciting days of galas, screenings, forums and workshops.

Opening this year’s festival is Ba’s Book, the latest film by Vietnamese-Canadian director Ashley Duong, who transforms her father’s memoir into an intimate cinematic portrait. Ba’s Book won the Documentary Magazine Award at the 2026 Cannes Docs, and recently had its North American premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.

The Centrepiece Gala presents Sunburn, the Best Canadian Film winner at the 2026 Toronto International Film Festival. A vibrant ode to Toronto, Sunburn unfolds on the hottest day of the year, when the popsicles are dripping, the pimples are popping, and the power is out. Best friends Vince and Shay head out into their neighbourhood in search of shade, encountering family, friends, and crushes along the way.

Other local filmmaker highlights include the 2001 charming documentary Film Club from the newly introduced Anniversary Screening programme, The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony, from three-time Emmy Award-winning filmmaker and journalist Habiba Nosheen; the coming-of-age drama The Bryce Lee Story, fresh from the Vancouver International Film Festival; Strong Son, the feature debut by Winnipeg’s Ian Bawa, a former Reel Asian participant who expanded his short film into a feature; and An Incomplete Calendar, the final documentary in Sanaz Sohrabi’s essay trilogy.

This year, Reel Asian has partnered with the Kaohsiung Film Festival to bring a diverse range of perspectives from Taiwan to Toronto. Views from the Pier is a selection of four shorts that explores wistful, ambivalent and restless connections across generations, reflecting on the many ways to navigate this thing called life.

The Shorts programme also features five other distinct categories: Parts & Labour, capturing stories of power and the forces shaping our cities; Alphabet Soup, where playfulness ventures beyond the bounds of imagination; What Blooms, What Lingers, a curious exploration of the tender spaces where cravings become intimacy; Advanced Lessons in Second Guessing, reconciling with your version of reality and the world in front of you; Spoiled, Rotten, Sour, giving voice to those who feel suffocated, unheard and vengeful; and returning for its 15th year is Unsung Voices, spotlighting six emerging Canadian filmmakers, each presenting a film they created this past summer under the guidance of Reel Asian.

Wee Asian brings its 10th edition to Toronto, creating a welcome space for all ages and generations to experience the festival together. The free drop-in programming offers relaxed film screenings, storytelling, arts and crafts, and plenty of time for rest or play.

“As we mark 30 years of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, we are reflecting on how the festival has grown and evolved alongside the Pan-Asian community of storytellers, filmmakers and audiences we have connected with,” said Deanna Wong, Executive Director of Reel Asian. “This milestone is an opportunity to honour the many voices that have shaped our history while embracing new ideas, perspectives and creating possibilities that will carry the festival forward for many generations to come.”

Julie Roy, Executive Director and CEO of Telefilm added, “Festivals such as Reel Asian hold a vital place in the global film ecosystem. As spaces for discovery and dialogue, they put films at the heart of the conversation and spark collective reflection, contributing to the vitality and reach of cinema from here and around the world.”

In celebration of Reel Asian’s 30th Anniversary, the expanded RA:X programme is the festival’s most ambitious yet. This year’s programme brings together a collection of VR films spanning from documentaries to experimental, including the Toronto premiere of The Book of Distance and Sense of Nowhere, which premiered at the 2025 Venice International FIlm Festival. Festivalgoers can also explore the RARARA Internet Cafe, a space to browse a curated selection of artist books, magazines, and zines while enjoying a delicious tea. At the Orbit Artists Residency Installations, visitors can experience the completed works of artists and researchers who were invited to rework archival film and materials transforming them into fully realised artist installations. Rounding out the RA:X programme is the Tricennium Reel Forever: Artist Talk presented by Philip Leonard Ocampo, who will take audiences through the design process of the limited edition 30th anniversary Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival Trading Cards.

Continuing in bringing audiences to the forefront of new technologies and developments in the screen industry is the Reel Ideas conference. This year’s panel highlights include First Read: Fresh Voices in TV hosted by Vivian Lin, Showrunner and Co-Creator of Crew Girl; Vertical Series: Finding Your Audience Where They Are, exploring how creators can connect with audiences through vertical storytelling; and a panel inspired by the Disability Screen Office’s newly launched Reframing Access: A Best Practices Guide on Disability Inclusion in Canada’s Screen Industry. This conversation will examine how filmmakers can establish inclusive accessibility practices across all stages of production and beyond.

Reel Asian closes its 30th edition with the annual Pitch! Competition, where audiences can join the fun and cheer on this year’s finalists. The event will be hosted by comedian and actor Andrew Phung (Run the Burbs, Kim’s Convenience), also a longtime friend, participant, and supporter of Reel Asian.

​Reel Asian acknowledges the generous support of Canada Media Fund, principal funder of the expanded RA:X program and Reel Asian’s TV Writing Program, whose participants will take part in First Read: Fresh Voices in TV. The Orbit Artists Residency Installations is made possible with the support of Canada Council for the Arts’ Public Outreach grant.

Please see Reel Asian’s programming highlights below. For the full Festival programme and schedule, please visit reelasian.com or view the Programme Guide here.

FEATURES
[*] indicates expected attendance

BA’S BOOK (OPENING NIGHT GALA)
Dir. Ashley Duong* | Canada 2026 | 103 min. | English, Vietnamese | GA
Filmmaker Ashley Duong had always wondered about her father’s story of escaping Vietnam and then the revolution in Iran, eventually finding his way to Canada. Unable to get answers, she made multiple trips to Vietnam, until to her surprise her father sent her an entire memoir of his experiences, forming the book Dear Da Lê. Duong responded to the book with more questions — and this remarkable documentary, Ba’s Book.

Duong and her reluctant father venture to Vietnam to meet with family to re-enact and challenge scenes from his memoir, revealing past joys and scars while giving voice to those he left behind. These are essential intergenerational conversations, approached with tenderness, humour, and care, but also rigorous determination. Not merely a family travelogue, Ba’s Book inventively uses film as a form to reimagine the lives of family members from multiple perspectives, to give windows to the past, and to find peace for the future. Ba’s Book stands alongside other great Canadian documentaries like Stories We Tell (2012), but for people from the diaspora, whose families have been ruptured and displaced by war. It is an extraordinary achievement in family and filmmaking.
WED, NOV 11 AT 7:30PM, HOT DOCS TED ROGERS CINEMA

HEARING (Thính Giác)
Dir. Bảo Lê | Vietnam, Singapore, Norway, France, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia, Cambodia, Thailand, Taiwan 2026 | 128 min. | Vietnamese | PG
In an exquisite pairing of sight and sound, Bảo Lê lures us into his sophomore feature, where vibrations define the existential rhythm of a rural Vietnamese outpost. Ninh, a mechanic who installs decibel meters across public and private spaces, is trapped in his own personal silence, caring for his ailing mother while estranged from his wife and children.

Integrating an impressionistic soundscape and a non-linear, liminal arrangement of multi-timeline vignettes, Hearing explores the profound, immeasurable qualities of emotional isolation and the quiet buildup of human resentment. Sharing the same cinematic DNA as the distinct tradition of Southeast Asian slow cinema, the film will transport audiences into a contemplative experience where memory and reality share a porous divide, and the distinctions among our senses begin to dissolve.
THURS, NOV 12 AT 7:45PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

THE BANQUET (잔치)
Dir. Gloria Ui Young Kim* | Canada 2026 | 105 min. | English, Korean | PG
Sunny Park’s world is … complicated. A single mom and successful ad executive, she discovers her life partner — who is also her boss — is cheating on her, and leaves both him and her job. WIth more time on her hands, Sunny is challenged by her hyper-critical mother to take over the cooking for her family’s upcoming Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving) celebration — and the family restaurant. Meanwhile, the chef next door is starting to show interest and her boss wants her back, much to the chagrin of daughter Trinity (Joy Lho, in her feature debut). Faced with the choice between a life of stability or new challenges, what will she do?

Gloria Ui Young Kim follows up her debut feature with another strong-female-centred film in The Banquet. Longtime Reel Asian alum Kim has produced a charming, culturally specific take on the traditional rom-com. The cast is anchored by an assured Vicki Kim, who shows great comedic timing in her first starring role, and the scene-stealing Park Hye-jin (Netflix’s Squid Game) as her mother, with strong support from Erniel Baez and Nicole Stamp.
FRI, NOV 13 AT 5:15PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

10S ACROSS THE BORDERS
Dir. Sze-Wei Chan | Philippines, Singapore 2026 | 100 min. | English, Mandarin, Thai, Malay, Tagalog, Norwegian | PG
An intimate and joyful documentary profiling the emerging ballroom scene across Southeast Asia, 10s Across the Borders captures what it means to come from a long lineage of LGBTQ+ trailblazers, and how to carry the torch onto untested grounds. Part documentary, part dance film, the electrifying performances and arresting visuals will appeal to ballroom fans’ wide embrace of dance, fashion, and performance.

Born from Black and Latino trans and queer communities in New York in the 1970s, the ballroom scene has grown internationally and has become a safe place for chosen family and radical self-expression. Hailing from legendary houses, Xyza Pinklady Mizrahi (Philippines), Aurora Sun Labeija (Thailand), and Teddy Neverland Oricci (Malaysia) provide us with an inner look on what it takes to carve out a space for their community amidst a world of transphobia and homophobia, while honouring the history that has paved the path for them to do so.
FRI, NOV 13 AT 8:15PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

FILM CLUB (ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
Dir. Cyrus Sundar Singh* | Canada 2001 | 44 min. | English | GA
In 1971, Canada became the first country in the world to recognize multiculturalism as official government policy. In that context, 11-year-old Cyrus Sundar Singh joined an after-school film club whose members all happened to be the children of immigrants. While learning to love film, they also grappled with their identities — were they Chinese, Indian, or Italian? Were they Canadian? Together, they made a short film that explored these ideas and more.

In this charming and deeply nostalgic 2001 documentary, Sundar Singh reunites his classmates to talk about their experiences growing up in a multicultural Toronto neighbourhood — the everyday racism and bullying and the struggles at home, and how the club gave them a sense of belonging that their country did not yet offer.

Now, on the 25th anniversary of the release of Film Club, we revisit those questions: How far have we as Canadian society come?
SAT, NOV 14 AT 10:00AM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

MUYI (Muyi, la légende du village des femmes)
Dir. Julien Chheng | France 2026 | 90 min. | French | PG

Myths can often bring us closer to certain truths, to grasp the in/tangible and make meaning out of the in/explicable. With a strong belief in mythmaking to process realities, director Julien Chheng and co-writer Sujuan Xu transport us into the lush and exhaustive world of Muyi, a spunky girl who is raised in a secluded village on a mountaintop where men are forbidden. After witnessing the performance of The Handsome General by a travelling opera troupe, Muyi sets off on an epic journey accompanied by a motley crew of companions and an evocative original score by Amin Goudarzi.

There is no simple brushstroke when it comes to Muyi, an independent production that took nearly 10 years to complete and an impressive feat within the animation world. Just as Muyi is compelled by the Handsome General, we are compelled by her character, companions, and the myths about her world, which are intentionally grounded within real people, traditions, customs, and lived experiences. Ultimately, Muyi becomes a myth for self-acceptance to dream, hold on to, and retell.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 10:00AM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

BRUNCH WITH A DEPRESSED ZOMBIE (우울한 좀비와 브런치)
Dir. Kim Eun-young* | South Korea 2026 | 105 min. | Korean | PG
Sun-woo and Byung-jin, a couple in their 30s, move to Byung-jin’s hometown in the countryside, hoping it will help Sun-woo’s depression. But a zombie virus disrupts their plans — and Sun-woo gets infected. The two must find a way to evade conspiracy theorists who are trying to expose what they believe are the local government’s efforts to hide the town’s outbreak.

While the premise sounds like a boilerplate zombie thriller, Brunch with a Depressed Zombie flips the genre through a gentle examination of loving relationships. The film asks: How do we care for our loved ones through great life changes? Can we still love them in the same way? Can that care be carried out through an entire community? This love story shows how our answers to these questions make for better lives, no matter the challenges.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 12:15PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

STRONG SON
Dir. Ian Bawa* | Canada 2026 | 85 min. | English, Punjabi | PG
Ian Bawa expands his short of the same name into his feature debut, continuing a body of work that explores family, masculinity, and mental health. At its centre is Harvinder “Harvey” Singh (Mandeep Sodhi), a former bodybuilder now caring for his aging father. Early on, his father tells him he needs to grow his legs — a seemingly simple piece of advice that carries the weight of a lifetime of ideas about what it means to be a strong man.

But what is strength? Building big legs? Or finding the courage to ask out your work crush? As Harvinder confronts the fears that have held him back, he takes new risks, from discovering a passion for pro wrestling to seeking mental health support. With warmth and humour, Bawa brings us closer to Harvinder and the complicated bond between father and son, offering a moving portrait of two men learning that strength can also mean vulnerability, change, and letting others in.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 3:30PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

PINBALL
Dir. Naveen Chaubal* | USA 2026 | 86 min. | English, Arabic | GA
Yosef, 19, and his family are building a new life in the United States, catalyzed by the country’s 2003 invasion of Iraq and shaped by years of displacement in Egypt before finally settling in Louisville, Kentucky. Now in college but disillusioned by his options, Yosef stands at a quiet crossroads. Spirited yet untethered, he is caught in the friction of a fractured, first-generation identity, longing to anchor himself to his roots while navigating a world that demands he forget them. While his parents encourage a path that promises security over fulfillment, his younger sister, Azra, returns to Egypt and discovers a liberating sense of belonging, giving Yosef new perspective.

Through a palpable trust built with Yosef and his community, Naveen Chaubal’s intimate and observant approach offers a timely and contemplative narrative, exploring the cultural dissonance and intergenerational gaps felt by young Arab Americans today. Powerfully dismantling traditional, sanitized assimilation narratives, Chaubal honours a rising generation that refuses to accept the loss of culture and heritage as the price of the American dream.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 5:15PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

THE BRYCE LEE STORY
Dir. Arnold Lim* | Canada 2026 | 87 min. | English, Mandarin | PG
It’s the 1990s, and Bryce and Mei Lee’s parents have sent them from Hong Kong to Vancouver Island to stay with their uncle and work at his Chinese restaurant. To pass the time, they make home movies with a video camera their dad sent with them. But 13-year-old Bryce wants to level up, make some new friends, and — most importantly — get super popular through filmmaking. The quickest way to do that? Tell everyone he knows Bruce Lee.

As Bryce develops a kung fu film that helps him ascend in popularity, his lies compound as he obsesses over finishing, while alienating his sister and uncle. Arnold Lim’s second feature, The Bryce Lee Story, is a classic coming-of-age film told with charm and wit and featuring a talented young cast. A film about filmmaking, it shows the collateral damage of chasing the dream of fame as well as the cost of lying to others — and one’s self.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 6:00PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

NO GOOD MEN
Dir. Shahrbanoo Sadat | Germany, France, Norway, Denmark, Afghanistan 2026 | 103 min. | Dari, Pashto | PG
As the sole camerawoman at Kabul’s state television network, Naru navigates a daily battleground of misogyny just to hold her rightful place. Trapped in a bitter separation from an unfaithful, abusive husband and unable to demand a divorce without sacrificing custody of her young son, she is hardened by these realities and her worldview is absolute: There are no good men left. That’s until, on the precipice of the August 2021 Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Naru is thrust upon the front lines of the news department and paired with Qodrat, a married reporter whose disarming kindness and quiet empathy begin to fracture her cynicism.

Directed by and starring Shahrbanoo Sadat in a remarkable dual role, No Good Men is a distinctly woman-centred narrative, masterfully balancing realism with a deeply poetic, romantic drama exploring relationships in a patriarchal society. What emerges is a nuanced, emotionally resonant portrait of imperfect people finding an inexplicable connection as their country’s trajectory is altered forever.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 8:45PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 3

THE GYMNASTS OF FISHERMAN COLONY
Dir. Habiba Nosheen* | Canada, Pakistan 2026 | 92 min. | Urdu, English, Bengali | GA
Nestled in the lively, bustling neighbourhood of Karachi’s Machar Colony (also known as Fisherman Colony) is a school for girls, where they learn to read, write, and — on their own insistence — learn gymnastics. Born into an undocumented community and systemically barred from formal work and basic human rights, these spirited young athletes carve out their own spaces for joy and freedom in every awe-inspiring flip, twist, and tumble.

Embedding herself in their world, three-time Emmy Award-winning director Habiba Nosheen’s empathetic lens captures the triumphs, setbacks, and heartwarming sisterhood of these athletes as they train for the National Women’s Gymnastics Championship. Given the rare agency to articulate their lives, the girls share dreams and aspirations that often clash with their seemingly predestined realities. An emotionally captivating portrait of coming of age, friendship, and the power of letting young girls dream, The Gymnasts of Fisherman Colony will have you cheering for every poised handstand and thrilling leap these girls accomplish.
SUN, NOV 15 AT 4:15PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 2

SUNBURN (CENTREPIECE GALA)
Dir. Serville Poblete* | Canada 2026 | 82 min. | English | PG
It’s the hottest day of the year. The popsicles are dripping, the pimples are popping, and the power is out. Best friends Vince and Shay wander outside, looking for shade in their Toronto St. James Town neighbourhood. Family, friends, and crushes are all outside, too. The vibes are immaculate.

Taking a classic “day-in-the-life” form, we are treated to vignettes and conversations that on their surface seem ordinary but build to reveal each young character’s anxiety about the clash between their carefree present and uncertain future.

Joining the (recent) tradition of shining a light on underseen pockets of Toronto, Serville Poblete’s Sunburn is a reverent ode to his vibrant neighbourhood and a breezy tribute to those days you wish would never end, tinged with the wistful knowledge that they always will.
SUN, NOV 15 AT 7:00PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 2

STRAWBERRY FIELDS (ANNIVERSARY SCREENING)
Dir. Rea Tajiri | USA 1997 | 90 min. | English | 14A
It’s the turbulent 1970s in Chicago, and Irene is burning — burning to get out of town, burning bridges along the way. Haunted by the death of her sister, haunted by the family secrets her parents won’t share, Irene and her naive boyfriend Luke skip town on a journey to San Francisco, meeting the alluring, militant Japanese American activists Aura and Mark along the way. As Irene explores her past, she changes course in order to reveal the truth of her family — and to set it ablaze.

Directed by renowned American filmmaker Rea Tajiri and co-written by award-winning Canadian author Kerri Sakamoto, Strawberry Fields is a daring dive into the traumas of the Sansei generation. Through a brave exploration of the cynical post-’60s era combined with bold flourishes from archival images, this narrative feature film is as daring today as it was 30 years ago in 1997, when it had its Canadian premiere at the first Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
TUES, NOV 17 AT 7:30PM, INNIS TOWN HALL

AN INCOMPLETE CALENDAR
Dir. Sanaz Sohrabi | Canada, Iran, Turkey, Venezuela 2026 | 77 min. | Arabic, English, Farsi, Spanish | GA
In a striking finale to her documentary essay trilogy, director Sanaz Sohrabi continues her exploration of resource extraction across Iran and West Asia with An Incomplete Calendar. Using a remarkable wealth of archival material seamlessly woven into a creative, scrapbook-style tapestry, the film centres on a rare and surprising artifact: the vinyl record of Rhymes and Songs for OPEC, or the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, recorded by the Concert Choir of the Central University of Venezuela to commemorate OPEC’s 20th anniversary.

Interweaving rarely seen news clippings, expert testimony, and her own astute narrative voice, Sohrabi masterfully unpacks a complex history with gripping accessibility. Contrasting nations that viewed oil strictly as a market commodity against those that sought to use it as political leverage for Palestinian liberation struggles and pan-Arab solidarity movements, An Incomplete Calendar is told with singular creative vision, standing as a timeless record of seismic political shifts and providing an essential historical blueprint to understanding the fractured geopolitics of our world today.
WED, NOV 18 AT 7:00PM, INNIS TOWN HALL

GOD SKIN (หมัดเทวา ท้าเดิมพัน)
Dir. Paween Purijitpanya | Thailand 2026 | 126 min. | Thai | 14A
Win is a struggling gig worker whose mom is sick — and the hospital bills are about to force them out of their home. By chance, an old schoolmate gives Win the opportunity to make a quick buck by fighting in an underground MMA venue. But to his surprise, his high school sweetheart Praewa works there as a hostess. Together, Win and Praewa come to terms with the harsh reality that their bodies are their only way out of debt.

And this isn’t just any fight night. Combatants are inked with tattoo nanobots (a.k.a. “god skin”) that give them unreal power-ups according to the betting audience’s whims. As Win bruises his way through the ranks, will he and Praewa get a storybook ending?

God Skin features the hallmarks of the best maximalist action movies: bone-crunching action (from the team behind 2003’s Ong-Bak: Muay Thai Warrior); fantastical, video-game-like set pieces; and pointed social critique about control and greed, with winking nods to the tropes of the genre all along the way. Noice!
THURS, NOV 19 AT 7:00PM, INNIS TOWN HALL

SHORTS

This year’s Shorts programming includes:

PARTS & LABOUR: Consider the rhythms of labour: in the home, at the workplace, and on the streets. These films capture the stories of those who power our cities and ask, “How do we better meet each other where we are at?
THURS, NOV 12 AT 5:30PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

ALPHABET SOUP: One day, you choose to look beyond the stadium show and find yourself in the cracks of the stage. There, you encounter charm, playfulness, and invention beyond imagination. Do you venture in?
FRI, NOV 13 AT 6:00PM AT TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

WHAT BLOOMS, WHAT LINGERS: We are all guided by desires — some physical, some emotional, some impossible to name. These films explore the tender spaces where craving becomes intimacy, curiosity becomes discovery, and desire leaves a trace.
FRI, NOV 13 AT 8:45PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

VIEWS FROM THE PIER: TAIWAN SHORTS: We present a collection of short films from the Kaohsiung Film Festival. These shorts present a diverse set of perspectives from Taiwan — wistful, ambivalent, and restless connections across generations of people trying to get through this thing called life.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 12:00PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

ADVANCED LESSONS IN SECOND GUESSING: Perhaps it’s time to reconcile your version of reality with the world that’s in front of you. It may be more distant than you’d care to admit.
SAT, NOV 14 AT 2:45PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

SPOILED, ROTTEN, SOUR: Under suspicious circumstances, you wonder if the entities around you are withholding your full autonomy. Do you fight back?
SAT, NOV 14 AT 8:00PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 4

UNSUNG VOICES 15: This past summer, six emerging filmmakers embarked on a months-long filmmaking workshop. We’re proud to present their world premieres here in the 15th edition of Reel Asian’s filmmaking programme.
SUN, NOV 15 AT 1PM, TIFF LIGHTBOX CINEMA 2

RA:X
In the spirit of Reel Asian’s 30th anniversary, the extended reality (XR) programme this year is both a retrospective celebrating the breadth of work in immersive media and an opening for playful explorations of how established and emerging artists are exercising their right to speak their truth into reality.

EXPANDED DIS/CLOSURES KEYNOTE: ANA SERRANO
Ana Serrano, president and vice-chancellor of OCAD University, is the recipient of Reel Asian’s 2026 Fire Horse Award honouring trailblazers of the Asian Canadian media arts community.

An award-winning producer, visionary leader, and innovator in Canada’s arts and creative industries, she has continually pushed boundaries in media while expanding opportunities for artists across the country. A Reel Asian alumna as a producer on innovative projects such as live cinema/theatre musical Prison Dancer (RA’12) and VR experience Yumi and Boom (RA’17) and countless other internationally recognized projects, Serrano has produced work that bridges creativity, technology, and cultural leadership, shaping new ways in which stories are made, shared, and experienced.

Join Serrano in opening our Expanded Dis/Closures exhibition and conference with this keynote address discussing ever-changing media and the role of creators in the challenges of our time.
FRI, NOV 13 AT 5:00PM, VENUE TBC; SARI-SARI RECEPTION AT 7:00PM, OCAD UNIVERSITY – OPEN SPACE GALLERY

VR PROJECTS
Expanded Dis/Closures probes what constitutes truth and reality — and on whose terms. Taking reality as a continuum that is always in the making, this programme explores themes of reiteration, revisiting, and return in media formats including 360-degree cinema and docufiction, VR theatre, and interactive and multiplayer XR.

EXPANDED DIS/CLOSURES – XR SUMMIT
Reel Asian’s XR Summit is a space for dialogue between emerging and established artists and studios, professionals from the industry, media scholars, and the wider communities who will connect and explore the state of the creative industries and the market trends leading innovation within the domains of XR and spatial media, both globally and locally.
MON, NOV 16, 10:00AM–7:00PM | OCAD UNIVERSITY – SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES

RARARA INTERNET CAFE
The RARARA Internet Cafe is your chill and lounge space during the festival season! Hop into our computer booths to peruse the digital archive, spend some down time between screenings at our library, see the artist installations, or engage in our many activities, from the trading-card post to the communal stop-motion activity.
MON-FRI: 11:00AM–7:00PM, SAT-SUN: 10:00AM–7:00PM | THE GLASS ROOM AT 401 RICHMOND BUILDING

ORBIT ARTIST RESIDENCY INSTALLATIONS
The Orbit Artist Residency was a three-month programme inviting artists and researchers to engage with the film festival archive. Residents were free to take any direction they wanted with the material, and they produced short dispatches of works-in-process, reflections, and artwork. They further developed these in the early fall into fully formed artist installations. Come visit the RARARA Internet Cafe to see their completed works!

30TH ANNIVERSARY TRADING CARDS: TRICENNIUM REEL FOREVER
For the festival’s 30th anniversary, RARARA commissioned Toronto artist Philip Leonard Ocampo to design a deck of 30 collectible trading cards inspired by the festival archive. The deck features 30 unique designs, one for each year of festival history. It also features a special rare-pull holographic card, designed by Jeffrey Kam. Card packs of four can be purchased and traded at the RARARA Internet Cafe throughout the festival.

WEE ASIAN
Turning 10 this year, Wee Asian cultivates a place for all ages and generations to experience the festival together. Come and join our free drop-in programming, featuring relaxed film screenings, storytelling, arts and crafts, and time for play or rest!

More information on activities can be found at reelasian.com/weeasian.

This year’s Wee Asian short film lineup includes:

NANU!
India | 2025 | Directed by Ansh Sirohi

BASE TRANQUILITY
Canada | 1970 | Directed by Keith Lock and James Anderson

FLY
Canada | 2024 | Directed by Luo Li

I FLY WHEN NO ONE’S WATCHING
Japan | 2026 | Directed by Hana Takubo

WANDA & MILES
Canada | 2027| Directed by Lesley Loksi Chan

A PRAIRIE STORY
Canada | 2026 | Anne Koizumi

YOUR LITTLE KAIJU
Canada | 2026 Mari Beatriz Nicole Ramizo

REEL IDEAS
Reel Ideas brings storytellers, artists, and industry voices together to share how the work gets made, the risks that push stories forward, and the ideas that challenge what audiences expect. Discover new work, meet the people shaping what comes next, connect with future collaborators, and take home the skills and insight to bring your own vision to life.

BA’S BOOK: ARTIST TALK WITH ASHLEY DUONG
Ashley Duong’s Ba’s Book, Reel Asian’s opening night film, begins with her father’s memoir and unfolds with the process of recreating her family’s history of war, displacement, and migration from Vietnam. Moving between documentary, staged scenes, and intimate moments with her family, Duong uses filmmaking itself to uncover memories and guide emotion. She will unpack the creative choices behind the film — from form and performance to image and editing — and how each became a way of making space for her family while finding authenticity in the process of telling their story.
THURS, NOV 12 AT 2:00PM | 401 COMMONS LOBBY

VERTICAL SERIES: FINDING YOUR AUDIENCE WHERE THEY ARE
Rent A Plus-One, one of the first vertical series to receive funding from the Canadian government, offers a case study in what happens when filmmakers build for a vertical frame. Its creators unpack their journey from traditional web series to vertical, exploring what changes when you write, block, direct, and produce for the format, from creative choices to budgets and shooting schedules. The session examines how filmmakers can use verticals to work within limited resources, reach audiences online, and open new pathways to financing and distribution.
MON, NOV 16 AT 6:30 PM | 401 COMMONS LOBBY

REFRAMING ACCESS: A CONVERSATION ON EQUITY, INCLUSION AND ACCESSIBILITY
Drawing on the Disability Screen Office’s newly launched Reframing Access: A Best Practices Guide on Disability Inclusion in Canada’s Screen Industry, this conversation will explore how filmmakers can establish inclusive accessibility practices across all stages of production and beyond. Participants will work through practical strategies for identifying and removing barriers, creating more inclusive working environments, and implementing more equitable practices across the screen-based sector.
TUES, NOV 17 AT 6:30PM | 401 COMMONS LOBBY

BUILDING THE IMAGE: A CAREER IN CINEMATOGRAPHY
How do cinematographers build sustainable careers while developing their craft across different formats, genres, and production models? This all-cinematographer conversation explores the paths that led them to television and film, and how they continue to build their craft and sustain themselves through commercials, smaller productions, shorts, and gig work while making the leap to larger-scale productions.

The discussion will also examine the cinematographer’s relationship with the director, including how creative dynamics shift between independent film and television, and how fluidity and trust between the two can shape a safe, efficient, and collaborative production.
WED, NOV 18 AT 6:30PM | 401 COMMONS LOBBY

FIRST READ: FRESH VOICES IN TV
Writers from Reel Asian’s TV Writing Program bring their original series to the table for a live reading of selected scenes, presented in collaboration with ACTRA Toronto. Professional actors bring the characters and stories to life, followed by a reception with the writers, performers, and industry guests.

Sara Jade Alfaro-Dehghani
TV Project Title: The Olde Guard
Logline: In the cutthroat world of Niagara Falls dinner theatre, an aging king facing obsolescence and his ambitious young replacement forge an unlikely alliance in their fight for survival, exposing the darkly ridiculous power struggles behind Canada’s most beloved fantasy franchise.

Srutika Sabu
TV Project Title: Peaked
Logline: The ghost of a girlboss tech executive fails to haunt her husband and childhood rival as they make a legacy-defining documentary about recovering her corpse from Mount Everest. But the down-on-her luck cinematographer who can see her has a question: Why is she still fighting for the man who left her on a mountain?

Jaskaran Singh
TV Project Title: There Are No Heroes
Logline: The son of a drunk and abusive Indian psychic goes back in time to kill his father, and must come to terms with his superhuman abilities. When he discovers others have transformed their childhood trauma into extraordinary powers, he must protect them from a world determined to destroy what it doesn’t understand.

Claudine Yip
TV Project Title: Eternal Affairs
Logline: When a woman unexpectedly dies the day before her 29th birthday, she’s in for the shock of her afterlife when her ashes are sold into a ghost marriage with a dead man she’s never met. To escape the arrangement, she strikes a deal with the Grim Reaper, only to grow closer to her new husband while unravelling the truth behind their entangled pasts.

Mayumi Yoshida
TV Project Title: Homestaying
Logline: With the arrival of new homestay Ayana, a group of misfit immigrants in East Vancouver form an unlikely family and deal with their dreams, relationships, and identity as they try to find a place to belong in their home away from home.
THURS, NOV 19 AT 7:30PM | IT’S OK* STUDIOS

CUED UP: MUSIC VIDEO PANEL & PARTY
Music videos can turn a song into a visual world, giving us new ways to experience the music we listen to — whether we’re watching with friends at a party or alone at 2 a.m. when we can’t fall asleep. What draws us in and what makes a music video stay with us? Hear from directors, producers, and creatives working across music and visual media about building worlds around songs, collaborating with artists, and finding new ways to connect music and image while navigating tight budgets and production schedules.
FRI, NOV 20 AT 7:30PM | IT’S OK* STUDIOS

PITCH!
Celebrating 20 years of Reel Asian’s pitch competition, five finalist filmmakers will take the stage to pitch their projects to a live jury and audience. One will win a prize package designed to help bring their short film to life, including a cash award, in-kind studio packages, and the opportunity to screen the completed film at the 31st edition of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.
SAT, NOV 21 AT 7:00PM | BATHURST STREET THEATRE

About Reel Asian
Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival is Canada’s largest pan-Asian film festival and a year-round cultural organization dedicated to championing Asian, Asian diasporic, and Asian Canadian artists and storytellers. Founded in Toronto in 1997, Reel Asian® presents film screenings, industry programs, educational initiatives, and community events that support emerging and established creators from Canada and around the world. This year, Reel Asian celebrates its 30th anniversary in-person from November 11–21 in downtown Toronto and online November 16–29 across Canada. Reel Asian is generously supported by Telefilm Canada, Canada Council for the Arts, Toronto Arts Council, Ontario Arts Council, the Province of Ontario, Canadian Heritage, Ontario Creates, the City of Toronto, and the Ontario Cultural Attractions Fund.