BEGIN:VCALENDAR PRODID:-//B-Side Presents: Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008//iCal4j 1.0//EN VERSION:2.0 CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081110T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081110T183000 SUMMARY:Wong-Mo-Bile-A-Go-Go DESCRIPTION: WONG-MO-BILE-A-GO-GO \n \nNov 10 2008\, 6:00pm\nMeet at 401 Richmond St W parking lot\n \nThere will be movies and mischief aboard Paul Wong's Mississauga motorcoach! \nShuttle to the Blackwood Gallery with surprise en-route screenings.\n \nMeet in the 401 Richmond St. W. parking lot at 6pm. Seating is limited so sign up soon! RSVP - subject: wongmobile to paola.poletta@mississauga.ca CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Reel Asian Offices URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/wongmobileagogo_torontor eelasian2008 UID:173813394-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081110T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081110T200000 SUMMARY:Running in a Maze Artist Talk & Opening Reception DESCRIPTION: RUNNING IN A MAZE \n ARTIST TALK & OPENING RECEPTION \n M onday November 10 | 7:00 PM | FREE \nMIST Room. CCT Building \nUniversi ty of Toronto\, Mississauga | 3359 Mississauga RD. N.\, Mississauga \nAr tist talk followed by a reception \n RUNNING IN A MAZE (Canada 2007 | 3:00) \n November 3 - November 19 \nBlackwood Gallery | University of Toronto Mississauga | 3359 Mississauga Rd. N. | Mississauga \nPRESENTED IN COLLABORATION WITH THE OFFICE OF ARTS & CULTURE OF THE CITY OF MISSIS SAUGA CATEGORIES:Parties & Events LOCATION:MIST Room\, CCT Building URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/runninginamazeartisttalk openingreception_torontoreelasian2008 UID:173744999-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081111T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081111T203000 SUMMARY:Monday DESCRIPTION: MONDAY \n \nWaking to the Monday morning weather report\, s alaryman Koichi Takagi finds himself in an empty hotel room. He cannot r emember where he has been or how he got here and he is suffering from an intense hangover. Reaching into his pocket\, he begins to remove items that trigger his memory\, slowly unravelling the events of the past few nights: an explosion at a bizarre funeral\, a hysterically dull conversa tion with his girlfriend\, accidentally falling in with the Yakuza…. The more he recalls\, the more sinister his circumstances prove to be. Boun cing back and forth across moments in time in order to make sense of the present\, director Sabu playfully confuses reality\, emphasizing the in stability and re-writability of history.\n \nShinichi Tsutsumi’s turn a s the hapless salaryman should also be applauded\, both for his nuanced\ , endearing performance of a man scrambling to reorder his life and for his jaw-dropping dance moves in a sequence that should be recognized amo ng the great cinematic dances of all time.\n \n Monday \, winner of the Don Quixote Award and FIPRESCI Prize at the Berlin International Film F estival (2000)\, is crafted with knife-sharp wit\, astute social satire and a hypnotic cinematography that diffuses the film with an air of surr ealism. Such qualities can be found in Sabu’s previous efforts\, but in Monday they have been honed to perfection.\n \n - Eric Cazdyn and Pet er Kuplowsky \n \n Sabu was born in 1964 as Hiroyuki Tanaka\, He be gan his film career as an actor. His performance in Katsuhiro Otomo’s World Apartment Horror (1991) won him an award at the Yokohama Film Fe stival 1991\, and he went on to appear in several other films\, working under Kiyoshi Kurosawa\, Hideo Nakata and Takeshi Miike. In 1996\, he de buted as both a writer and director with D.A.N.G.A.N. Runner . Celebrat ed for his inventive style and humorous storytelling\, Sabu quickly beca me a highly regarded director in both Japan and overseas\, particularly in Europe. \n SPONSOR: University of Toronto Munk Centre of Internat ional Studies at Trinity College\, Asian Institute \nCOMMUNITY PARTNERS: Gendai Gallery\, Canada Japan Society of Toronto CATEGORIES:Special Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/monday_torontoreelasian2 008 UID:164995511-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081111T210000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081112T010000 SUMMARY:CinemAsia Sabu Soiree DESCRIPTION: CnimeAsia Sabu Soiree \n TUES NOV 11 | 9:00 PM \nINNIS CA FE\n2 SUSSEX AVE \n $10 GA or FREE with CinemAsia's screening of Monday ticket stub \nOn the eve of the festival\, join the Munk Centre's Asi an Institute at the University of Toronto\, host of a post-screening par ty in celebration of the debut of CinemAsia. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/cinemasiasabusoiree_toro ntoreelasian2008 UID:173637254-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081112T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081112T210500 SUMMARY:The Drummer DESCRIPTION: THE DRUMMER \n \nVoted Favorite Dramatic Film\, Locarno In ternational Film Festival \nVoted one of the Top Five Audience Favorites \, Seattle International Film Festival \nNamed Critics' Pick by the Hol lywood Reporter\, Sundance Film Festival \nBest Supporting Actor\, Tony Leung Ka Fai \, the 44th Taipei Golden Horse awards\n \n In the East\, the drum is the “king” of all musical instruments. \nThe sound of the d rums can penetrate one’s body. \nThe solemn beat of the drums can open a man’s heart. \nThe powerful vibrations of the drusm can awaken a man’s soul… \n \nBanished by his father from the face-paced city of Hong Kong to the serene\, peaceful mountains of Taiwan\, a young man is enlighten ed and transformed through the powerful vibration of mesmerizing drumbea ts. \n \nSid (Jaycee Chan\, son of action star Jackie Chan) is a smart- mouthed wannabe rock-star drummer and young heir to a leading role in th e Hong Kong criminal world. Recklessly overconfident\, he challenges his father’s associate and head tycoon Stephen Ma (Kenneth Tsang) by sleepi ng with Ma’s sexy girlfriend Carmen (Yumiko Cheng). When his furious fa ther Kwan (Tony Leung Ka Fai) is called upon by Ma to punish his son by cutting off his precious hands\, even Sid’s headstrong sister (Josie Ho) can’t protect him. After a violent chase that resonates with Sid’s abus ive upbringing\, Sid is forced to hide in the tranquil hills of Taiwan w ith Kwan’s dubious right-hand man (Roy Cheung).\n \nStruggling with bor edom and looking to escape\, Sid inadvertently discovers a group of Chin ese Zen drummers. Drawn to the power of the drums\, he confronts the dru mmers and insists on joining the group. While the members are skeptic\, the Master decides that she will accept him as a student\, and perhaps h elp him learn a sense of humility. Encountering a minimalist\, austere lifestyle combined with rigorous physical training for the first time\, Sid’s patience is tested as he is assigned to daily domestic chores. In stantly clashing with a fiery junior member of the group Hong Dou (Angel ica Lee)\, he must learn to realize that the art of music is not defined by power. \n \nBut just as harmony begins to captivate his turbulent s pirit\, his dark past finds him again and he must choose between his new ways or the life he was born into. Part gangster drama\, part spiritual journey\, THE DRUMMER features a powerful soundtrack and a delightful p erformance by Jaycee Chan as he takes on the most physically and emotion ally demanding role of his young career. \n\n\n \n The Drummer was fil med on location in Hong Kong and Taiwan and stars some of the most celeb rated actors and actresses in Chinese cinema today: Tony Leung Ka Fai (B est Actor\, 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards)\, Jaycee Chan (Best New Actor No minee\, 2004 Hong Kong Film Awards)\, Lee Sinje (Best New Talent Award\, 2001 Berlin International Film Festival) and Josie Ho (Best Supporting Actress\, 2003 Hong Kong Film Awards). The cast also features bona fide Zen drummers. \n \n - Alice Shih & Heather Keung \n Kenneth Bi was born in Hong Kong and graduated with honours in theatre/film from Brock University (Canada) in 1989. He has written\, acted\, and directed numer ous theatre\, film\, and music video productions in Canada and Hong Kong . His feature film debut\, A Small Miracle (2000)\, was featured at Re el Asian in 2001. His second feature\, Rice Rhapsody (Hainan Chicken R ice\, 2004)\, has won numerous awards worldwide\, including Best New Dir ector at the 2006 Hong Kong Film Awards. THE DRUMMER is his third feat ure film. \n SPONSOR: Hong Kong Economic & Trade Office\, Toronto CATEGORIES:Featured LOCATION:Bloor URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/thedrummer_torontoreelas ian2008 UID:168184010-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081112T210000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T020000 SUMMARY:Opening Night Gala Party DESCRIPTION: OPENING NIGHT GALA PARTY \n WED NOV 12 | 9:00 PM \nTHE CE NTURY ROOM | 580 KING ST W. \n $10 GA or FREE with Opening Night Screen ing ticket stub \nReel Asian returns to The Century Room\, one of Toro nto's premier entertainment venues\, to kick off this year's festival. E njoy a tasty selection of complimentary hors d'oeuvres from a variety of Asian cuisines\, then hit the dance floor to the sounds of DJ Winnie. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Century Room URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/openingnightgalaparty_to rontoreelasian2008 UID:173742894-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T133000 SUMMARY:Recollections DESCRIPTION: RECOLLECTIONS \n \nFocusing on lovely familiar moments as w ell as personal hardships\, four short filmmakers explore the uncertaint ies of memory using tangible “archival” remnants\, such as bubble gum\, microfiche\, sign language\, and super 8 movies. \n SPONSOR: Canwest \n COMMUNITY PARTNER: Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto CATEGORIES:Youth Shorts Presentation LOCATION:NFB Cinema URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/recollections_torontoree lasian2008 UID:165242203-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T170000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T173000 SUMMARY:Takashi Ishida Reception DESCRIPTION: TAKASHI ISHIDA RECEPTION \nTHU NOV 13 | 5:00 PM | TRINITY SQUARE VIDEO | 401 RICHMOND ST W.\, #376 \nOPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND FREE F OR ALL! \nStart your tour at Trinity Square Video\, just down the hall from Reel Asian's own offices. Reel Asian and TSV are hosting a receptio n for Japanese experimental office. Reel Asian and TSV are hosting a rec eption fro Japanese experimental video artist Takashi Ishida\, who will be using the walls and floor as a canvas for his ever-evolving stop-acti on animation\, Trans- . \n TRANS- \n NOVEMBER 4 TO DECEMBER 19 \n OPENING RECEPTION: THU NOV 13\, 5-7 PM \n TRINITY SQUARE VIDEO | 401 R ICHMOND ST W.\, #376 \n GALLERY HOURS \n MON-FRI 10:00 AM-6:00 PM | S AT 12:00 PM-4:00 PM \nReel Asian and TSV invited Japanese artist and f ilmmaker Takashi Ishida to inhabit the TSV Gallery during the course of his exhibition\, Trans- \, concluding his year-long creative stay in To ronto. Ishida will be using the walls and floor as a canvas for an ever- evolving stop-action animation. Trained as a painter\, Tahashi Ishida's videos unfurl through time like emaki (picture scrolls)\, revealing a br illiant exploration of line\, shape\, perspective\, surface\, repetition \, and pattern. Throughout the exhibition\, Ishida will be adding bit by bit to his organically growing work\, so return visits to the show are highly recommended! \n Takashi Ishida \, born in Tokyo in 1972\, is a renowned japanese artist/filmmaker. His works have shown extensively at Japanese museums\, galleries\, and film festivals and also internationa lly\, including a recent residency in UK. In 2007\, he received the pres tigious Most Promising Young Talent prize from the Fine Art Division of Gotoh Memorial Cultural Award. Since receiving the prize\, Ishida has be en based in Toronto\, where he remains until the end of February 2009. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Trinity Square Video URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/takashiishidareception_t orontoreelasian2008 UID:173640165-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T200000 SUMMARY:100 Years of Hong Kong Film DESCRIPTION:This year is the 100th anniversary of Hong Kong cinema. Films were shot in the colony by foreign cameramen as early as 1898\, but it was a Russian-American\, Benjamin Brodsky\, who hired theatre director L ian Shaobo to make two comic shorts\, Right A Wrong With Earthenware Di sh (Wa Pen Shen Yuan) and Stealing a Roasted Duck (Tou Shao Ya) . Lian Shaobo later joined two brothers\, Li Minwei and Li Beihai\, in the Min xin Company in Hong Kong and made the first HK feature\, Rouge (Yanzhi \, 1925). The fledgling era quickly formed a complex web\, with Shanghai ’s maturing industry and with the U.S.\, where Chinese-American filmmake rs Kwan Manching and Chiu Ahu-sun first founded Hong Kong’s pioneering G randview studio. \nThese inaugural developments foreshadowed the pragmat ic commercialism that would drive Hong Kong cinema’s success in post-war Asia. Mandarin-speaking mainland studio veterans then joined in competi tion with Cantonese studios\, and Hong Kong films dove headlong into the international arena. Commercial triumphs came soon with martial arts\, urban stories\, comedies and eventually a locally born art cinema that e nabled a city of just six million to sustain the second largest film ind ustry in Asia.\n \nFor two decades since the 1980s\, Hong Kong filmmak ers have faced severe challenges in the cinema marketplace. They have al so achieved ever-wider international critical recognition. \n \nThis pa nel of critics\, archivist-historians and film programmers will discuss the past and prospects of Hong Kong cinema -- 100 years after they start ed.\n \nPanelists: \n Sam Ho \, head\, Hong Kong Film Archive \n Jessic a Li \, visiting fellow\, York University \n Raymond Phathanavirangoon \ , international programmer\, Toronto International Film Festival and Ree l Asian \n Kenneth Bi \, director of The Drummer \n \nModerator: \n Ba rt Testa \, professor of Cinema Studies\, University of Toronto CATEGORIES:Panel LOCATION:Munk Centre URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/100yearsofhongkongfilm_t orontoreelasian2008 UID:173641520-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T192500 SUMMARY:Confessions of a Salesman DESCRIPTION: CONFESSIONS OF A SALESMAN \n \nIn a world obsessed with the consumption of provocative pictures of desire\, where almost everyone m ust be a salesman\, Ho Tam’s Confessions of a Salesman weaves between salesman\, artist\, and consumer. While re-mixing images of Asian busin essmen in glasses\, school boys in catholic school uniforms\, and young basketball players who could be movie stars\, Tam humorously asks: When\ , where\, and how will we see the next ‘Jacky Chen’\, ‘Bruce Li’ or ‘Yao Meng’?\n \nThe fictionalized autobiography reveals Tam’s complex senti ments about both the creation and experience of the Asian male identity. Comprised of some of his best works from 1994 to 2008\, this series of rich montages re-contextualizes (perhaps even re-appropriates) his exper imental body of work in a larger global context. \n \nAs Tam does with Matinee Idol (starring Cho-Fan Ng\, ‘The Movie King of South China’ fr om the 1930s to 1960s\, and immigrant to Canada)\, Confessions of a Sa lesman portrays the ‘everyday’ Asian man who argues\, weeps\, and roman ces. My Memories of Me is a charming selection of images from Tam’s b oyhood contrasted by an intense cinematic sound track. Yellow Pages ta kes found footage to explore the history of immigration in North America and re-mixes film reels from the Chinese railroad labourers\, the Japan ese in WW II\, the U.S. involvement in the Korean War\, the arrival of t he boat people\, and the 1997 Hong Kong money crisis. Men with Digital Cameras is a lovely medley of erotic\, or maybe exotic\, self-portraits of Asian men found online.\n \nWith a refined sense of satire\, Tam’s signature style juxtaposes sweetness with bitterness and beauty with dis comfort while continuing to negotiate contradictions found in pop-cultur e and iconography. Armed with a video camera and an abundance of found ‘ oriental’ images\, Tam playfully tackles issues of race and queer identi ty in consumer society. Confessions of Salesman not only looks at how images in the media create discrimination against or desire for Asian-ne ss\, but also how our personal perceptions have the power to reaffirm or dismantle these typecasts. \n \n Ho Tam was born in Hong Kong and ed ucated in Toronto and worked in advertising firms and community psychiat ric facilities before turning to art. He works within a variety of artis tic disciplines including painting\, video\, photography\, print\, and p ublic art and has exhibited in various cities across North America. He c urrently teaches at the University of Victoria. In 2006\, Tam was Reel A sian’s Canadian Spotlight Artist. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: XTRA!\, Ima ges Festival\, Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festiva l CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/confessionsofasalesman_t orontoreelasian2008 UID:171292921-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T190000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T230000 SUMMARY:Empty Orchestra Exhibition Reception DESCRIPTION: EMPTY ORCHESTRA EXHIBITION CLOSING RECEPTION \n THUS NOV 1 3 | 7:00 PM | JUSTINA M. BARNICKE GALLERY | 7 HART HOUSE CIRCLE \nOPEN TO THE PUBLIC AND FREE FOR ALL! \nThe expedition continues at the Justi na M Barnike Gallery\, on the beautiful grounds of the University of Tor onto. Explore five full-scale self-contained karaoke rooms inside the ga llery\, designed by Candice Breitz\, Christian Jankowski\, Karen Tam\, I chiro Tanaka\, and Wang Gongxin. \n EMPTY ORCHESTRA \n OCTOBER 16-NO VEMBER 13 \n OPENING RECEPTION: THU OCT 16\, 5-9 PM \n CLOSING RECEPTI ON: THU NOV 13\, 7-11PM \n JUSTINA M. BARNICKE GALLERY \n UNIVERSITY O F TORONTO\, HART HOUSE \nThe first of two parts to "Empty Orchestra" i s an international exhibition of video installation featuring the work o f contemporary artists who embrace\, challenge\, and re-appropriate the notion of karaoke as a medium of individual expression and collective id entity. By infiltrating mass-produced karaoke videos\, meditating on the fantastical desire to channel stardom\, bringing to light the lesser-kn own and subcultural social connections that karaoke can form within mult icultural communities\, and by humorously playing with the notion of a s hared popular culture\, the artists present a wide range of consideratio ns of the karaoke phenomenon in various countries around the world. Thei r participatory and media installations make up an exciting new area of curatorial programming both Reel Asian and Gendai Gallery. \nThe exhibi tion "Empty Orchestra" explores karaoke (the work from which the exhibit ion title is translated) and its relationship to both contemporary art a nd cultural diasporas/ Transforming the Justina M. Barnike Gallery into five separate karaoke rooms\, this exhibition presents video and install ation works by Candice Breitz\, Christian Jankowski\, Karen Tam\, ichiro Tanaka\, and Wang Gongxin\, who examine karaoke as a commodified interf ace between technology and culture\, addressing its effects on social ac tivity diasporic communities\, and popular culture in a global context. \nThe artists' karaoke rooms and lounges suggest the complex social rol e that karaoke plays in the negotiations of cultural tradition and meani ngs. Some works emphasize emphasize the role of karaoke as a cultural pr actice in which diverse social groups play an active role constructing a nd perpetuating a sense of identity. Karaoke\, as an "interaction struct ure\," can be seen to foster\, build\, and maintain community through pa rticipatory singing. Other works focus more closely on diverse people's desire for stardom in the context of a global spectacular and highly "me diatized" culture. Rather than becoming co-incident with that culture\, however\, the artists' critical perspective is perhaps more closely alig ned with Walid Sadek's reading of karaoke as a possible model or resista nce. He points out that it is the completely unprofessional\, unpolished \, unoriginal aspect of karaoke that resists the false ideal of "genius" or "fullness" that is perpetuated in large-scale media spectacle as br oadcast and domesticated in popular entertainment. In the strange mixed conditions of amateur performers\, cheaply produced imitations of pop mu sic tracks and videos\, and living room-type atmospheres\, the activity of karaoke always falls short. In this failure the amateur performer rev eals the falsity of the claim for the possibility of fullness\, and the possibility of resisting the colonial and capitalist agenda occurs. Equa lly\, the artists in this exhibition explore the potential of karaoke as a platform for divers cultural exchanges and the construction of comple x\, new identities. \n- Heather Keung and Maiko Tanaka \n \nKARAOKE\, 2 000 \n“Killing me softly with his song. Telling my whole life with his words…” On 10 television monitors\, 10 karaoke singers (whose first lang uage is not English) sing slightly off-key versions of the hit 1970s cla ssic by American singer Roberta Flack. \n Candice Breitz (b. 1972 in Jo hannesburg\, South Africa) currently lives and works in Berlin. Her work has been exhibited around the world including solo shows at the Moderna Museet\, Stockholm\; Modern Art\, Oxford\; and Palais de Tokyo\, Paris. \n \nTHE DAY WE MET\, 2003 \nIn collaboration with the karaoke company Taijin Media in Korea\, Jankowski cast himself as “leading man.” As a h andsome European foreigner\, he appears in several melodramatic and roma ntic scenarios with beautiful Asian women. The videos are not set to any music\, allowing spectators to choose the soundtrack from a songbook\, underscoring the generic nature and customizability of these cheaply pro duced mini-dramas. \n Christian Jankowski (b. 1968\, Göttingen\, Germa ny) has had solo exhibitions at Macarone Inc. in New York\, Lisson Galle ry in the U.K.\, and Para-site in Hong Kong. His work is included in pub lic collections such as the Whitney Museum of American Art\, Kunsthalle Zurich\, and Musée d’Art Contemporain\, Marseilles.\n \nTCHANG TCHOU KA RAOKE LOUNGE\, 2008 \nTam’s private lounge is colourfully decorated wit h Chinese decorative paper cutouts\, a disco ball\, neon signs\, and lux urious plush seating. Equipped with microphones and an audio-visual kara oke setup\, the installation plays with Eastern and Western perceptions of ‘Chinese-ness\,’ while featuring golden oldies with lyrics that have been translated into Chinese. \n Karen Tam received a BFA from Concor dia University\, Montreal\, and an MFA from the School of the Art Instit ute of Chicago. Tam has exhibited her work in Canada\, Ireland\, the U.K .\, and the U.S. Recent solo and group exhibitions include: Art Gallery of Greater Victoria\, Centre A (Vancouver)\, the Southern Alberta Art Ga llery\, and Musée d'art contemporain de Montréal.\n \nCLASSICAL MUSIC K ARAOKE\, 2006 \nBeaches\, parks\, airports\, and famous tourist destinat ions such as miniature versions of the Taj Mahal and St. Petersburg prov ide backgrounds for Tanaka’s karaoke versions of European classics “The Nutcracker” and “The Barber of Seville.” Playfully bringing bourgeois cl assical music to the common karaoke lounge\, the sing-along ‘text’ absur dly appears in the form of nonsense onomatopaiec katakana. \n Iichiro T anaka (b. 1974 in Aichi\, Japan) is represented by Tokyo-based contempo rary gallery space Yuka Sasahara. He received his MA in design at the To kyo National University of Fine Arts and Music in 2001\, and has since h ad solo and group exhibitions throughout Japan. \n \nKARA OKE\, 2002 \ nFramed entirely within a close-up shot of the artist’s mouth\, a chorus of Chinese karaoke singers appears\, one on each tooth\, all singing th e same high-pitched note. As the mouth smiles\, snickers\, moves its ton gue\, and licks its teeth\, the singers are silenced as they are shut do wn\, but resiliently re-appear whenever the mouth re-opens. \n Wang Gon gxin (b. 1960 in Beijing\, China) graduated from Capital Normal Univers ity in Beijing and is a professor at Central Academy of Fine Arts\, also in Beijing. Recent exhibitions include "All About Laughter" at the Mori Art Museum\, Japan\; "The Real Thing" at Tate Liverpool\, U.K.\; "Art i n Motion" at Long March Space\, Beijing\; and "Projected Realities" at A sia Society and Museum\, New York.\n \n Weekend Leisure is a film/vide o "collective" comprised of four Vancouverites: Erich Gerl\, Curtis Grah auer\, Christy Nyiri\, and Pietro Sammarco. Together they unite to creat e a bit of video\, sing a little karaoke\, and\, ultimately\, save the w orld from impending disaster. Weekend Leisure’s karaoke videos will be part of Empty Orchestra’s closing reception. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Justina M. Barnicke Gallery URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/emptyorchestraexhibition reception_torontoreelasian2008 UID:173645051-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T204500 SUMMARY:Full Boat DESCRIPTION: FULL BOAT \n \nBacked by soundtracks as varied as the power ful sounds of the symphony orchestra and the dance beats of the nightclu b are this year’s most loved Canadian shorts. With works by artists from coast to coast (B.C.\, Alberta\, Manitoba\, Ontario\, Quebec\, and Nova Scotia)\, this selection presents a variety of unique animation and con ceptual videos. Focusing on the rich cinematic movements of robotic mach ines\, the Sharpie of a self-obsessed artist or the antics of a weird\, naked creature up a rabbit hole\, each short creatively draws attention to the world around it. \n Community Partners: Trinity Square Video\, CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival\, Toronto Animated Image Society \n RUNNING (HEART\, MIND\, BODY\, SPIRIT) \nDir: Ann Marie Fleming | Ca nada 2008 | 5:23 | BETACAM SP | Director In Attendance \nBased on acupu ncture theory\, Fleming’s new animation features her infamous character Stick on another adventure through the body and beyond. This new short w as commissioned by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra for their Reel Music series and features an original score by French Canadian composer Maxime Goulet. \n Ann Marie Fleming is an award-winning Canadian independe nt filmmaker\, writer\, and artist born in Okinawa\, Japan\, of Chinese and Australian parentage. Her film work incorporates various techniques— animation\, documentary\, experimental\, and dramatic—and deals with th emes such as family\, history\, and memory. \n \n SELF PORTRAIT \nDir : Khanhthuan Tran | Canada 2007 | 2:05 | MiniDV | Director In Attendance \nIn a study on himself\, Tran concentrates on drawing to illustrate the process of self-reflection.\nKhanhthuan Tran was born in Vietnam. He an d his family immigrated to Halifax\, Nova Scoti\,a in the early ’80s. In 1999 he received a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design. In 2005\, he received the local emerging artist award at Reel Asian.\n \n TRANSFER POINT \nDir: Jenny Lin | Canada 2007 | 5:23 | MiniDV | Tor onto Premiere \nThis quirky\, animated work looks at the unique fashion and character of daily commuters in an urban transit system. Using rhyt hmic repetition and humour\, Lin takes everyday observations and turns t hem into a dreaming state of mind.\n \n Jenny Lin is a Montreal-based multidisciplinary artist who works with video\, drawing\, installation\ , and print media. She completed a BFA degree at the University of Calga ry and an MFA at Concordia University. She is currently teaching at Conc ordia University as a medical illustrator. \n \n \nDISCOPEDIA \nDir : Ho Tam | Canada 2007 | 8:15 | BETACAM SP | Toronto Premiere \n“All my life I’ve been looking for someone like you.” With the hypnotic ambienc e of a nightclub scene and the dreamy images of boys dancing\, Tam’s ana lysis of how we identify with the language of love and desire takes clas sic pickup lines and uses them in oddly poetic subtexts. \n \n Ho Tam currently teaches at the University of Victoria. He is a graduate of th e Whitney Museum Independent Studies Program and the Bard College (MFA) and is the recipient of various fellowships and artists’ grants. In 2006 \, Tam was Reel Asian’s Canadian Spotlight artist. \n \n CATALOGUE \n Dir: Blair Fukumura | Canada | 2008 | 4:00 | BETACAM SP | Director in At tendance \nIn a playful collage of mid-1970s fashion and catalogue item s\, CATALOGUE makes a comparison between shopping through retro magazine s and searching through contemporary personal advertisements online. Wi th the convenience of social websites such as Facebook\, Fukumura questi ons whether or not it is any easier to find what we want today. \n \n Blair Fukumura was born in Winnipeg and studied stage design and theat re at the University of Winnipeg. Of Japanese\, Scottish\, and Irish des cent\, Blair’s background is in stage design and performance. \n\n MAC HINE WITH A WISHBONE \nDir: Randall Okita | Canada | 2007 | 5:00 | Dig iBeta| Director in Attendance \nIn a live-action film featuring the wor k of Arthur Ganson\, Okita uses innovative camera choreography\, photo s culpture\, and kinetic sculpture to tell the tale of a mechanical wishbo ne that has come to life. Through bewitching landscapes and impossible i nteractions\, machines and objects become characters in a spellbinding e xperience like nothing you have ever seen before.\n \n Randall Okita was born and raised in Calgary\, Alberta\, and is currently based in Van couver. The grandson of West Coast Japanese Canadians and East Coast Iri sh Canadians\, Okita celebrates a diversity of personal influences. MACH INE WITH WISHBONE was made with the support of Bravo!FACT\, the British Columbia Arts Council\, and the National Film Board of Canada.\n \n AR OUND THE CORNER FROM SOLITUDE \nDir: Stefanie Wong | Canada 2008 | 3:1 5 | 16 MM | Toronto Premiere | Director in Attendance \nSweet raindrop shapes\, growing leaves\, and dandelions in the wind are amazingly anima ted through embroidery. While Wong’s needle and thread follow an intens e labour process\, this animation delicately contemplates the passage of time. \n Stefanie Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art + Design\, Calgary. Her practice combines se emingly disparate media such as new media/technologies and textiles to e xamine our relationship with technology and its impact on human intimacy and interaction. \n \n UP THE RABBIT HOLE \nDir: Asa Mori | Canada | 2008 | 4:20 | BETACAMSP | Toronto Premiere \nA surreal Super 8 dream sequence unravels as a six-nippled creature finds herself trapped in a capsule with a dead rabbit and a bloody hole. With trusty rabbit ears\, she taps her way through bizarre TV scenes: Japanese men on carousels\, people in chickens suits with balloons\, and disturbing garbage bags in bathtubs. \n Asa Mori was born in Nagano\, Japan\, and currently li ves in Vancouver. She acquired her first pet at the age of six\, a rabbi t called "House". House died a week later. She has a BFA from the Nova S cotia College of Art and Design\, primarily working with media installat ion and animation. CATEGORIES:Shorts Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/fullboat_torontoreelasia n2008 UID:171321814-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T210000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T010000 SUMMARY:Canadian Moviemaker's Karaoke After-Party DESCRIPTION: CANADIAN MOVIEMAKER'S KARAOKE AFTER-PARTY \n THU NOV 13 | 9:00 PM | ARBOR ROOM AT HART HOUSE | 7 HART HOUSE CIRCLE \nOPEN TO TH E PUBLIC AND FREE FOR ALL! \nThe last stop on Reel Asian's Exhibition E xpedition is the Karaoke After-Party\, a massive joint celebration for t he Canadian film- & videomakers of both the Empty Orchestra exhibition A ND the "Full Boat" Canadian Shorts presentation. Munch on some light sna cks and interact with the karaoke videos of west-coast art collective We ekend Leisure before a live show and dance party produced by the Hart Ho use Music Committee. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Arbor Room URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/canadianmoviemakerskarao keafterparty_torontoreelasian2008 UID:173649090-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T213000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081113T232700 SUMMARY:Hansel and Gretel DESCRIPTION: HANSEL AND GRETEL \n \nThere has always been a cruel underc urrent to the timeless fables of the Brothers Grimm. In the original ver sion of Snow White\, it was her real mother who sought to have the princ ess killed. The medieval folk lore of The Little Red Riding Hood had the poor girl unwittingly eat the flesh of her grandmother. So it comes as no surprise that Hansel and Gretel \, already one of the darker stories in the Grimms’ repertoire\, would be a perfect fit for a horror adaptat ion. \n \nYim Pil-sung’s fantastical re-interpretation of the classic t ale opens upon a young man\, Eun-soo\, who is driving along a treacherou s mountainous road. An accident ensues\, and the wounded Eun-soo finds h imself in a dense forest\, only to be revived by a girl in a red hood. S he leads him to her house\, named the “House of Happy Children”\, where she lives with her brother\, sister\, and parents. But as Eun-soo seeks to connect back with the real world\, he finds that the family is not wh at they seem at all…\n \nWhile moments of actual terror are present\, t he film manages to disturb us in ways that we might not have expected. H eavy themes such as child abuse and the meaning of parenthood are what l inger in our minds\, and to that end the filmmaker has succeeded in unne rving us by using deeper psychological underpinnings. \n \nThe actors a re uniformly excellent\, especially the three children\, who exude as mu ch charm as they do malevolence. But possibly the most significant chara cter here is the production design. The gorgeous art direction evokes th e palette of children’s storybooks\, from the detailed artwork of the ha llway wallpapers to the forest that seems to come alive. And though not made of gingerbread\, the house itself is a contrast in colours and emot ions of dread.\n \nBy provoking in us our childhood fears\, Hansel and Gretel is perhaps the closest adaptation yet to express the emotional angst\, the fear of abandonment\, and the sexual subtext in the Brothers Grimm’s works. And to think that these stories are read as bed-time sto ries to children all around the world….\n \n\n Yim Pil-sung was born in 1972. He started making short films in 1997. Among them is the short film Baby \, which was invited to the Venice and Karlovy Vary Internati onal Film Festivals in 1999. Yim made his debut feature with the box off ice hit Antarctic Journal (2005)\, in which explorers in the Antarctic face mysterious deaths. Hansel Gretel (2007) is his second feature fi lm. \n \nCanadian distributor: Evokative Films \n COMMUNITY PARTN ERS: Twitch\, Toronto After Dark Film Festival CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/hanselandgretel_torontor eelasian2008 UID:171307348-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T130000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T141500 SUMMARY:Aki Ra's Boys DESCRIPTION: AKI RA'S BOYS \n“Bouncing Betty…Pineapple…Claymore… Every one\, ten die\,” 12-year-old Boreak explains as he shows off hand grenad es\, landmines\, and a machine gun. \n \nSix years ago\, Boreak lost h is right arm to a landmine accident and now lives in Siem Reap\, Cambodi a\, at the Aki Ra’s Landmine Museum\, where he studies and helps educate visitors about landmines. Despite his physical disability\, Boreak is r efreshingly mischievous and inquisitive. He wants to be a football playe r a rap artist and\, most of all\, a professional wrestler. Singaporean directors James Leong and Lynn Lee follow the daily lives of Boreak and his best friend Vannak as they go to school\, tease girls\, and explore Cambodia. This charming documentary tells the story of a violent past an d hopeful future.\n \nFollowing Boreak to his rural hometown near the b order of Thailand\, the film reveals the harsh realities for Cambodian f amilies who must continue to farm on land that is scattered with million s of landmines. Boreak’s mother has eight other children. Even though Bo reak’s accident happened just metres from her home\, she must continue t o raise the family there. Bravely\, she accepts this life and tells Bor eak he is lucky to live in Siem Reap and to have the chance to study.\n \nSince 1979\, more than 20\,000 Cambodian children have been crippled by landmine accidents. Aki Ra\, the founder of the Landmine education ce ntre and home for child landmine victims\, was a child in the Khmer Roug e army who became an explosives expert at the age of 13. Now in his 30s\ , Aki Ra is trying to make amends with his past and has taken the lead o n the removal of over 30\,000 landmines. Ultimately\, Aki Ra's Boys is a celebration of a child's indomitable will. Boreak may be a victim\, b ut he doesn’t behave like one. His zest for life is infectious\, and his ability to laugh is a testament to the courage and strength children ha ve in the face of adversity. \n \n James Leong and Lynn Lee are an Asia-based filmmaking team. Passabe \, their first feature documentary\ , was awarded a grant from the Sundance Institute Documentary Fund. Aki Ra's Boys is their second film and won a Golden Panda at the Sichuan T V Festival and Prize of the Encyclopedia Society at the Almaty Internati onal Film Festival 2008. \n REEL ASIAN YOUTH PROGRAMME PRESENTING SP ONSOR: Canwest \n COMMUNITY PARTNER: Toronto Singapore Film Festival CATEGORIES:Youth Feature Presentation LOCATION:NFB Cinema URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/akirasboys_torontoreelas ian2008 UID:165196581-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T143000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T155700 SUMMARY:The Blessing Bell DESCRIPTION: THE BLESSING BELL \n \nLaid off with the unexpected closing of a local factory\, a laborer opts to take a walk rather then join his co-workers in protest. Hands in his pockets\, wearing an aimless gaze a nd never uttering a word\, his walk takes him to various places and peop le\, including a ghost played by Seijun Suzuki. When he can go no furthe r\, he turns around and walks home.\n \nHaving established himself with energetic screwball crime capers like Postman Blues and Unlucky Monkey \, SABU’s The Blessing Bell is a markedly distinct work. The bumbling of Yakuza\, the lamentations of murderers and the Rube-Goldberg machine plotting that SABU is so elegant at constructing persist from previous works\, but what differs is how SABU approaches these episodes visually. For the most part\, SABU has the camera capture the action on a proscen ium. Like the unfurling of a tapestry the protagonist walks from the lef t to right across a series of shots\, only to pass through them all agai n on his way home. The effect is an extremely absorbing cinematic repres entation of Zen philosophy.\n \nIn the pivotal role of the wanderer is veteran Japanese actor Susumu Terajima. A familiar face from both Takesh i Miike and Kitano\, but rarely assuming anything more then a supporting role\, SABU takes advantage of Terajima’s wonderful face and its seemin gly perpetual grimace for his patient protagonist. It is a deadpan\, but moving performance of exquisite subtlety.\n \n The Blessing Bell \, wi nner of the Netpac Award at the Berlin International Film Festival (200 3) and the Grand Jury Prize at Cinemanila International Film Festival\, is a wonderfully accomplished film that manages to inspire a contagious sense of optimism despite its brushes with life’s tragedies and sufferin g. \n \n - Eric Cazdyn and Peter Kuplowsky \n \n SABU was born in 1964 as Hiroyuki Tanaka\, He began his film career as an actor. His perf ormance in Katsuhiro Otomo’s World Apartment Horror (1991) won him an award at the Yokohama Film Festival 1991\, and he went on to appear in s everal other films\, working under Kiyoshi Kurosawa\, Hideo Nakata and T akeshi Miike. In 1996\, he debuted as both a writer and director with D .A.N.G.A.N. Runner . Celebrated for his inventive style and humorous sto rytelling\, SABU quickly became a highly regarded director in both Jap an and overseas\, particularly in Europe. \n SPONSOR: University of Toronto Munk Centre for International Studies at Trinity College\, Asian Institute \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Gendai Gallery\, Canada Japan Society of Toronto CATEGORIES:Special Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/theblessingbell_torontor eelasian2008 UID:171312855-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T151500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T165000 SUMMARY:Everybody Else DESCRIPTION: \n Community Partner: National Film Board - Office Nation al Du Film \n \n TWELVE \nDir: Lester Alfonso | Canada | 2008 | 42:33 | Betacam SP | World Premiere | Director in Attendance \n \nWhat would you tell your 12-year-old self if you had the chance? Philippine-born f ilmmaker Lester Alfonso attempts to answer this question by interviewing 12 diverse subjects\, each of whom and like himself\, moved to Canada a t the age of 12. Due to raging? developing? teenage hormones\, 12-year-o lds often experience emotions with more intensity\; adapting to a new co untry during this already-confusing age can be an overwhelming experienc e.\n \nIn exploring issues of identity and belonging through other peop le’s stories\, Lester is forced to examine the demons from his own past. Will this journey finally set him free? \n \n Lester Alfonso is a fi lmmaker\, writer\, and video artist whose work has appeared on CBC’s Zed TV\, Nickelodeon Asia\, and Salon.com. TRYING TO BE SOME KIND OF HERO ( 2001)\, his award-winning documentary tracing the footsteps of his missi ng grandfather\, was the official selection for more than a dozen film f estivals across North America\, including Reel Asian in 2003. Alfonso’s concept for TWELVE won the National Film Board of Canada’s Reel Diversit y competition in 2007. \n \n EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN \nDir: Monika Delm os | Canada | 2008 | 52:00 | Betacam SP | World Premiere | Director in A ttendance\n \nThey arrive underaged and alone\, often traumatized and s eeking asylum in a country completely alien to their own. Surprisingly\, some provinces\, including Ontario\, have no government program in plac e to care for these unaccompanied minors. \n \nThis documentary is a ci nematic portrait of a year in the life of two such teenagers\, Joyce and Sallieu. They seem like typical teenagers\, except that reserved Sallie u\, 16\, witnessed the murder of his mother as a young boy in war-torn S ierra Leone\, and vibrant Joyce\, 17\, left the Democratic Republic of C ongo to avoid being forced into prostitution by her family. Both are cou rageously making new lives for themselves in Toronto. They speak equally frankly about losing loved ones and what they want to buy at the mall. As they bear the pressures of being ‘normal’ teenagers while undergoing the refugee application process\, it is the guidance and support of a ha ndful of people that make a real difference in their daily lives. As dir ector Monika Delmos eloquently illustrates\, these children ultimately b elong to all of us. \n \n Monika Delmos is a Toronto-based filmmaker and journalist who was one of the winners of the NFB’s Reel Diversity co mpetition in 2006. Mostly recently she worked as a producer at the CBC’s documentary unit\, where she was nominated for a Gemini Award. Before s he entered the world of documentaries\, Delmos worked as a journalist fo r more than 10 years in Toronto\, Vancouver\, London\, New York and Afgh anistan. In 2002\, she was one of the recipients of the Canadian Journal ism Fellowship at the University of Toronto. EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN is her directorial debut. CATEGORIES:Shorts Presentation LOCATION:NFB Cinema URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/everybodyelse_torontoree lasian2008 UID:171823244-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T163000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T175900 SUMMARY:Ordinary Shadows. Chinese Shade. DESCRIPTION: ORDINARY SHADOWS. CHINESE SHADE. \n \n Ordinary Shadows. C hinese Shade. begins in Vancouver\, Chinese New Year 1988. Sounds of in tricate Chinese wind instruments\, loud banging of gongs\, and dragon da nces are juxtaposed with interviews with Chinese Canadians. Recounting s tories of working on the railroad\, the Japanese occupation\, and the Co mmunist revolution\, the interviewees\, in turn\, ask Wong: “If our fami lies had no other choice but to leave\, why would you choose to go back? ” From there Wong sets off for China in search of family relatives who l ive there.\n \nUpon arriving in a small town along the Pearl River\, a picture of displaced traditions and discrepancies about the past emerges . We enter into a heated discussion about the government’s promise to re turn property taken during the revolution. Aunts argue over the facts. “The documents are all wrong!” one insists. “Let me tell you\, they are correct\,” insist the other. Both somewhat unsure of the truth\, someone asks\, “Who wrote these anyway?” \n \nIn one of Canada’s earliest poin t-of-view (P.O.V.) experimental documentaries that explore the notion of ‘motherland’ from an Asian Canadian perspective\, Wong presents a compl ex portrait of the People’s Republic of China in the midst of rapid cult ural transformation. Demystifying the exotic images of “Chineseness” see n in the first scene\, Wong records daily occurrences in old rural commu nities and modern urban cities. Wong experiences range from old farming practices such as the killing of a chicken\, to the party scene where yo ung\, made-up girls ironically perform the Western pop song “Material Gi rl” by Madonna. Other insightful scenes include interviews with family m embers sending messages to loved ones in North America\, statements by a Youth Communist Party member\, and a visit with a Western friend stayin g in a Chinese hospital.\n \nIn Ordinary Shadows. Chinese Shade \, Pa ul Wong’s charming and sincere portraits use the portability and accessi bility of the medium to allow individuals to talk about their own histor ies. Looking for continuity between the past\, present\, and future in c ontemporary Chinese culture\, Wong ultimately asks\, “What freedoms and choices do individuals really have?”\n \n Paul Wong was born in Princ e Rupert\, B.C.\, in 1955. Since the 1970s\, Wong has been a self-inven ted video pioneer\, curator\, and organizer of events\, conferences\, an d public interventions. Wong’s work has been exhibited internationally\, including at the Venice Biennale\, the Dutch Electronic Arts Festival\, and the Beijing International New Media Biennale. His work is housed in public collections including those of the National Gallery of Canada\, the Museum of Modern Art (New York)\, the Canada Council Art Bank (Ottaw a)\, and the Vancouver Art Gallery. Wong is the recipient of the Bell Ca nada Award in Video Art and Canada's Governor General's Award in Visual and Media Arts. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Chinese Canadian National Cou ncil Toronto Chapter\, Inside Out Toronto Lesbian and Gay Film and Video Festival\, V tape CATEGORIES:Canadian Spotlight LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/ordinaryshadowschinesesh ade_torontoreelasian2008 UID:171814335-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T183000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T192500 SUMMARY:Paul Wong ReMastered DESCRIPTION:With the invention of low-cost\, portable\, easy-to-use equip ment\, video pioneers like Paul Wong were no longer restricted by ideolo gical structures of broadcast media. Moving into an art practice that be came an extension of the body\, with an emphasis on process over product \, artists of the 1960s and ’70s experimented with conceptual art and pe rformance. This selection\, Wong’s groundbreaking work from the 1970s al ong with the premiere of three new works from his Unplugged series\, focusses on contemplative\, visceral and closely intimate experiences. R ecent promises of digital technologies has inspired him to revisit his c ollection\, as it is the first time in his career that he has been able to bring it all together into one format. \n \nAnd yet despite high-tec h and digital compositing capabilities\, Wong’s work continues to have a true appreciation for beauty of imperfections. The light buzz of the vi deo sound\, jerky handheld shots and in-camera edits all reveal a sort o f de-romanticized rawness that is full of humanity. \n \n 60 UNIT: BRUI SE (Re-mastered)\nDir. Paul Wong & Ken Fletcher | Canada | 1976 | 4:30\ n \nIn Wong’s first colour videotape\, Ken Fletcher draws several milli litres of blood from his arm and injects the syringe into Paul Wong’s na ked back. Focussing on the purple bruise that slowly spreads over Wong’s skin\, the dangerous mixing of bodily fluids evokes the most disturbing anxieties. The video was originally conceived as a sort of homoerotic b lood-brother performance that indirectly referenced drug use\, “but from a vantage point of two decades into the AIDS crisis\, when new strains of hepatitis are constantly being identified\, the audacity of its play between youth and decadence\, pleasure and danger becomes a document of irretrievable innocence. It evokes nostalgia for a present no longer pos sible” (Richard Fung).\n \n 7 DAY ACTIVITY (New Digital Edit)\nDir. Pa ul Wong | Canada | 1977–2008 | 8:35 \n \nMirror\, mirror\, on the wall\ , who’s the vainest of them all? Bearing the influence of several artist ic genres such as performance and body art in the 1970s\, Wong self-cons ciously examines himself through seven days of facial treatments for acn e. \n \n IN TEN SITY (re-mastered single-channel mix)\nDir. Paul Wong | Canada | 1978–2008 | 25:00 | Toronto Premiere\n \nIn a performance th at reportedly almost started an unpredictable riot\, Wong releases deep feelings of anger and hopelessness in demonstration of pure emotions and power. Boxed off in an eight-by-eight-foot space\, monitored by cameras on all sides\, Wong repeatedly throws himself into walls and thrashes t o the punk lyrics of The Avengers\, Patti Smith\, and The Sex Pistols. In Ten Sity is dedicated to his good friend and collaborator Kenneth Fl etcher (1954–1978) who committed suicide. Almost bashing himself unconsc ious\, Wong’s performance compelled people from the audience to throw th emselves into the box\, and resulted in a violent display. As people unc ontrollably interrupt Wong’s performance\, he grabs a hold of one of the m and wrestles her to the ground.\n \n UNPLUGGED: SALLY\, CHELSEA HOTEL ROOM 207 \, and PERFECT DAY \nDir. Paul Wong | China/USA/Canada | 200 8 | 18:30 | Toronto Premiere\n \nIn a trilogy from Unplugged \, an alb um of 16 informal video sketches\, Wong revisits his collection of hundr eds of uncatalogued videos. Always behind the camera\, Wong is as uninhi bited and instinctual as ever. Sally (6:00) gazes at beautiful Sally a s she relaxes in her bathrobe in the sumptuous suite at the China Club i n Beijing. Chelsea Hotel Room 207 (5:00) engages us in a crack-induced euphoria New York hotel room with three men in their underpants. Perfe ct Day (7:30) focusses on Wong alone in his studio trying to find inspi ration. Revealing insecure moments in the everyday life of a mature arti st\, Wong searches for the roots of his creative process.\n \n DOG EAT DOG \nDir. Paul Wong | Canada | 2008 | 7:00 | World Premiere\n \nIn thi s work featuring muse Jules Francisco performing “Dog Eat Dog” by Joni M itchell\, Wong presents a dark and light side of innocence. \n COMMUN ITY PARTNERS: Fado Performance Art Centre\, Inside Out Toronto Lesbian a nd Gay Film and Video Festival\, V tape CATEGORIES:Canadian Spotlight LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/paulwongremastered_toron toreelasian2008 UID:171817418-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T201500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T214700 SUMMARY:Wonderful Town DESCRIPTION: WONDERFUL TOWN \n \nIt has been nearly four years since the devastating tsunami in Asia that took more than 200\,000 lives. In Sout hern Thailand\, one of the areas hardest hit by the tragedy\, most towns and resorts have since been rebuilt and restored to their original idyl lic state. On the surface\, there are few traces left of the destruction that took place\, but the tranquil beauty cannot hide the underlying sa dness that is still palpable today. This is the environment that serves as the inspiration behind Wonderful Town \, the highly acclaimed solo f irst feature by director Aditya Assarat.\n \nThough the film’s sociopol itical subtext is evident from the setting alone\, what is remarkable is how the director has shaped a tender romance amidst the hardship. The s tory is mostly a two-hander between Ton\, a Bangkok architect\, and Na\, an inn keeper\, who allows Ton to stay at her deserted inn. At first\, Na appears uninterested in the outsider\, but through sensitive and meas ured direction the filmmaker is able to show how she gradually gives in to love. Little touches\, such as Na listening to Ton singing in the sho wer as well as the caressing of his clothes\, give the film a sweetly in nocent undertone. Still\, the disquieting atmosphere following the trage dy lingers\, from a building haunted by the spirits of those who perishe d in the waves\, to the youths who roam in circles\, killing time due to lack of employment. As word of Ton and Na’s secret love affair leaks\, the locals begin their gossiping. This sets the tone for the dark final act\, in which an altogether different type of wave threatens to overtak e this wounded town. This signifies how the trauma of four years ago sti ll continues to perpetuate itself to this day.\n \nSubdued yet assured\ , this remarkable feature film balances deftly between genres without ev er falling into stereotypes. It marks an auspicious debut for one of Asi a’s hottest new directors. \n \n“It’s no small feat to pull off as swee t and sensitive a romance as that between Na and Ton\, and something rar er yet to suffuse such affections into a poem of wounded landscape.” – N athan Lee\, The New York Times\n \n -Raymond Phathanavirangoon \n \n\n Aditya Assarat completed his Master’s degree at the University of Sou thern California. Soon after\, his short films were invited to many pres tigious film festivals\, including Sundance\, Clermont-Ferrand\, and the New York Film Festival. He was invited to join the Sundance Director’s Lab in 2004\, and was chosen\, a year later\, to work with acclaimed dir ector Mira Nair as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative. His first feature was 3 Friends (2005)\, a documentary he co-directed that was invited to the Toronto International Film Festival. Two years later\, he finished his solo feature Wonderful Town (2007)\, which wen t on to win over nine awards worldwide. \n COMMUNITY PARTNER: Univer sity of Toronto Thai Student Association CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/wonderfultown_torontoree lasian2008 UID:171330693-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T210000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T220000 SUMMARY:Empty Orchestra Live! DESCRIPTION:Get out your rhinestone boots and practise your Stevie Nicks pout! Empty Orchestra Live! is a collision of video visionaries and lo cal karaoke superstars. Ranging from hip hop to Elvis\, this special vi deo commission and performance program merges the glitz of Western karao ke with the heartfelt crooning of its Japanese origins. Five performers sing along to new karaoke videos of their favourite songs\, freshly com missioned from Canadian video artists by Reel Asian and Gendai Gallery. Empty Orchestra Live! is the second half of a special presentation th at examines the history and practices of karaoke as cultural exchange. Karaoke\, underneath the disco-ball-and-reverb veneer\, is a rich inters ection of community\, democratized entertainment\, personal expression\, and politics of identity. \n \n Empty Orchestra Live! is inspired by Toronto’s Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC)\, which hosts a vibra nt Karaoke Club for its members\, first-\, second-\, and third-generatio n Japanese Canadians\, singing in Japanese and English. Founded in 1981\ , the JCCC Karaoke Club is a regular Saturday-night affair\, and transfo rms the local community lounge into a modest spectacle\, rich with perso nal experience and off-kilter charm. \n \nDrawing from a wealth of kits ch and clichés\, karaoke videos are as diverse as their singers. They il luminate karaoke clubs and bars all over the world\, often alternating b etween cheesy American-style music videos and low-budget East Asian soap operas. Karaoke videos highlight/draw the focus on lyrics with syrupy camp and earnest sentimentality\, but always allow performers to step up and make the songs their own. Reel Asian’s commissioned video artists take inspiration from the unique visual aesthetics and tradition of kara oke videos and offer new interpretations of the classics. By pairing lo cal performers with video artists from across the country\, Empty Orche stra Live! shines a new light on the B-side of music videos.\n \nNothi ng brings people together like good tunes and fresh video gems. Empty Orchestra Live!'s performances will be followed by a hot dose of RAMeN \, and your chance to stand in the spotlight and belt. \n\n \nCurated by Heather Keung\, Maiko Tanaka and Serena Lee \n COMMUNITY SPONSOR: Gendai Gallery CATEGORIES:Special Presentation LOCATION:The Rivoli URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/emptyorchestralive_toron toreelasian2008 UID:171827844-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T220000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T020000 SUMMARY:RAMeN: Reel Asian Music Night DESCRIPTION: RAMeN: REEL ASIAN MUSIC NIGHT \n LIVE MUSIC SHOWCASE \n F RI NOV 14 | 10:00 PM \n THE RIVOLI \n 334 Queen St W. \n $10 GA at t he door | $7 Seniors/Students (19+) | Free with Empty Orchestra Live ! ticket stub \nReel Asian's third annual live music showcase opens wi th Toronto art-rockers Radius and Helena\, whose new album Precious Meta ls just dropped in October. Guest performers Kite Operations travel from New York City to bring us a healthy helping of their freestyle noise-ro ck. Close out the night with local heroes OPOPO\, whose infectious beats prove that the indie kids can dance and thrash with the best of them\, while DJ Jaime Sin keeps things going between sets. As if that wasn't en ough\, the evening will be hosted by Toronto MC and rapper\, Masia One.\ n \nWITH PERFORMANCE BY \n OPOPO (Toronto) \n KITE OPERATIONS (New Y ork City) \n RADIUS AND HELENA (Toronto) \n MUSIC BY JAMIE SIN (SEVEN TH HEAVEN\, SHACK UP) \nHOSTED BY MASIA ONE \n This event is precede d by Empty Orchestra Live! CATEGORIES:Parties and Special Events LOCATION:The Rivoli URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/ramenreelasianmusicnight _torontoreelasian2008 UID:173721619-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T223000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081114T233600 SUMMARY:Disquieting: Late Night Shorts DESCRIPTION:Families and friends are both lost and found in wistful journ eys mingled with tales of twisted desperation. These characters struggle to stay grounded resulting in unfortunate moments of weakness and troub ling consequences. From Philippine slums\, Taiwan’s countryside\, and Ca nada’s suburbs\, these late-night dramatic shorts traverse dark territor ies with the most beautiful cinematography. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Ta ipei Economic & Cultural Office in Toronto\, Twitch\, Toronto After Dar k Film Festival\, Charles Street Video CATEGORIES:Shorts Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/disquietinglatenightshor ts1_torontoreelasian2008 UID:171334052-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T154500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T171500 SUMMARY:Long Story Short DESCRIPTION: LONG STORY SHORT \n \nAwards: Winner of the Los Angeles Asi an Pacific Film Festival Audience Award and Jury’s Honorable Mention for Best Documentary \n \n Long Story Short is the latest film from Oscar -nominated filmmaker Christine Choy ( Who Killed Vincent Chin? ) and fea tures the struggle of one Asian American family’s multi-generational att empt to break into mainstream show business. Narrated by long-time chara cter actor Jodi Long (the mother on the ill-fated Margaret Cho sitcom A ll American Girl as well as numerous guest roles in television and film )\, Long Story Short delves into the past successes and failures of Jo di’s parents in order to understand her own experiences in the entertain ment business. \n \nThrough the 1940s and 1950s Jodi’s parents\, Larry and Trudie Long\, performed the Chinatown and nightclub circuit as “The Leungs” (which they felt sounded “more Chinese”)\, a song\, dance\, and comic act that at times both evoked and broke stereotypes of Asians. The ir rise would result in an appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show \, a perf ormance that Larry and Trudie Long always remembered bombing despite nev er having seen the episode. Another big break comes when Larry is consid ered for a leading role in Rodgers and Hammerstein’s Flower Drum Song \ , the first all-Asian American musical on Broadway. On talent alone Larr y seemed the perfect fit\, but at the time\, fighting for the only mains tream opportunity for Asian-American performers would not only be about talent. Ultimately\, Larry does not perform on Broadway\, contributing t o his disenchantment with show business and the eventual dissolution of the Long family. \n \nBorn into entertainment Jodi Long takes on the fa mily business as an actor and traces her own trajectory on stage\, telev ision\, and film. When David Henry Hwang’s updated Broadway revival of Flower Drum Song is being cast\, Jodi has the opportunity to fulfill he r father’s Broadway aspirations more than 40 years later. In the process Jodi sees a chance to reconcile her parents’ disappointment and resentm ent towards each other and the business. Through personal anecdotes\, pe rformances\, archival photos\, and a rediscovered Ed Sullivan Show \, Long Story Short presents the challenges of an American showbiz family that resonate with our own multi-generational experiences of setbacks an d big breaks. \n \n - Aram Siu Wai Collier \n \n Christine Choy (AKA Chai Ming Huie) was born in Shanghai\, China. Choy was a professor and the Chair of New York University’s Graduate Film/TV Program and is prese ntly helping set up New York University in Shanghai. Choy has received o ver sixty international awards\, including a 1989 Oscar nomination for B est Documentary for Who Killed Vincent Chin? Her works have been broad cast on HBO\, PBS\, Sundance Channel\, and many other stations. Her wor ks have also been featured in festivals around the world including Berli n\, Cannes\, and Pusan. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Fu-Gen\, Hot Docs Can adian International Documentary Festival CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/longstoryshort_torontore elasian2008 UID:168180210-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T180000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T193600 SUMMARY:Flower in the Pocket DESCRIPTION: FLOWER IN THE POCKET \n \nRecent Malaysian cinema has becom e synonymous with long shots and even longer takes\, but leave it to a f resh new upstart to inject some genuine warmth and humour into the recip e. First-time feature director Liew Seng Tat hit the ball out of the par k with Flower in the Pocket \, which joins Tan Chui Mui’s Love Conquer s All (Reel Asian ’07) as the rare debut feature to win Best Film at bo th the prestigious Pusan and Rotterdam Film Festivals. It is no coincide nce that Tan is the also executive producer of the film\, and James Lee\ , the director of The Beautiful Washing Machine (Reel Asian ’05)\, is cast as the father\, showing how close-knit the local indie scene reall y is. \n \nThe story starts off amusingly with two Chinese-speaking bro thers\, Ma Li Ahh and Ma Li Ohm\, as they both suffer through the indign ity of school. Their daily routine includes taking showers\, cooking mea ls\, going to sleep and waking up for school—all seemingly without paren tal supervision. Meanwhile\, a sullen mannequin maker named Sui\, who is troubled by a peculiar affliction and prefers the company of lifeless d olls\, is gradually revealed to be the boys’ father. But for the most pa rt\, father and sons live in different universes\, intersecting only whe n one or the other is sound asleep.\n \nThe two kids’ natural light-hea rtedness and impish charm make them instantly endearing\, thus attractin g the attention of a spunky tomboyish girl named Ayu\, who befriends the initially reluctant boys. But their growing friendship serves to highli ght the differences in their family lives: Ayu’s happy rapport with her mother and grandmother is in stark contrast with the boys’ relationship with their father. Soon\, both father and sons are forced to re-evaluate their predicaments through a sequence of poignant\, near-silent scenes. And even though the story shifts from comedy into more dramatic territo ry\, the director’s non-judgmental and gentle observations make the slow reconciliation a heartwarming treat.\nUsing non-actors\, especially chi ldren\, to great effect\, Liew Seng Tat’s wry portrait of loneliness and absurdity within a small family is by far the most accessible feature t o come from the country’s indie scene. With a sharp eye for comedic timi ng and a warm touch of pathos\, this is one director whose future works is ripe for crossover potential.\n \n -Raymond Phathanavirangoon \n \n Liew Seng Tat was born in 1979 in Jinjang\, Malaysia. Known for his d ark comedies\, Liew won the audience award for all of his shorts when th ey were shown at the Malaysian Shorts series in the Malaysian Film Club. This includes his first short work\, Break Skin with Strawberry Jam ( 2003)\, which won Best Short Film at the Malaysian Video Awards Festival . Subsequent award-winning shorts included Not Cool (2004) and Flower (2005). Flower in the Pocket (2007) is his first feature-length film . \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto \, Hong Fook Mental Health Foundation\, Malaysian Association of Canada CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/flowerinthepocket_toront oreelasian2008 UID:171339954-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T200000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T230000 SUMMARY:Festival Social Club DESCRIPTION: FESTIVAL SOCIAL CLUB \n SAT NOV 15 | 8:00 PM \n AGUSTA HO USE \n 152A AGUSTA AVE \n $5 after 10:00 PM | FREE all night with a ny RA'08 ticket stub \nAgusta House is THE place to be on Saturday nig ht...come early and grab some free Asian tapas while they last and chill with Reel Asian filmmakers. \nThe monthly Yo! Remember the 90s? retr o-dance party gets started around 10 with DJs Dylan McKay\, Dale Cooper and Uncle Phil. CATEGORIES:Parties and Special Events LOCATION:Augusta House URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/festivalsocialclub_toron toreelasian2008 UID:173722907-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T201500 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T214600 SUMMARY:West 32nd DESCRIPTION: WEST 32ND \n \nThe ascendance of South Korea’s film industr y has flowed beyond its borders toward Koreans overseas. A production of CJ Entertainment\, Korea’s largest entertainment company\, West 32nd represents yet another exciting aspect of Korean cinema that includes th e talent of overseas Koreans like director Michael Kang. After exploring adolescence in the backwaters of rural America in his first feature\, The Motel (Reel Asian Opening Night\, 2005)\, Kang segues to a contempo rary tale of survival from the streets of New York City in West 32nd . What results is an ambitious and stylish mix of Korean new wave and New York grit.\n \nWhen a Korean teenager is accused of a gang-style murder \, an ambitious young lawyer\, John Kim (John Cho from the Harold and K umar franchise)\, takes on the controversial case pro bono to raise his profile within his firm. John finds added incentive in his client’s swe et and attractive older sister Lila (Grace Park of Battlestar Galactica and CBC’s Edgemont ). As he delves into the case John finds an underg round Korean community worlds away from his own 2nd generation\, all-Ame rican ivy-league upbringing. Blindly navigating the community John meets Mike (the magnetic Jun Kim)\, a rising mid-level gangster who guides hi m through the neon underworld of hostesses\, room salons\, and gangs of New York’s Koreatown so that John may better serve his client\; or\, so it seems. Soon\, however\, John and Mike’s respective ambitions come to a head with Lila caught in the middle\, with volatile results. \n \nKa ng takes a firm hold of the New York crime drama genre and plants it fir mly on the streets of Koreatown in West 32nd . It shows the sordid side of the immigrant experience\; equally violent and exploitative towards its own members in the name of fast money and survival. Furthermore\, li ke its Italian American mob movie analogues\, the immigrant and 2nd gene ration’s relationship to the mean streets of America forms the core of t he film and its characters. John\, Mike\, and Lila steer through their o wn ambivalence towards the community and find that they can never truly escape it. Along the way Kang has crafted a stylishly entertaining crime drama but also a statement about the pushes and pulls of one’s own comm unity. \n \n Michael Kang’s first feature film\, The Motel \, premie red at the Sundance Film Festival and garnered several awards including the Humanitas Prize\, and San Francisco International Asian American Fil m Festival Jury prize. Most recently\, Michael was awarded a fellowship with the ABC/DGA New Talent Television Directing Program. \n \n - Aram Collier \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: North American Association of Asian Professionals\, Korean Canadian Lawyers Association CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/west32nd_torontoreelasia n2008 UID:168177532-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T223000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081115T234500 SUMMARY:Confessional: Late Night Shorts DESCRIPTION:Colourful contortions charged with political urgency result i n explosive confessions that reveal some of the deepest\, darkest imagin ations of directors from Japan\, Hong Kong\, and Canada. Razor-edged wi t and stunning shots that both enthrall and offend\, this selection humo rously uses outrageous performance\, wacky video effects\, and a whole l ot of stage props to rebel against institutionalized misconceptions of s ex\, violence\, and the human psyche. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Charles Street Video\, Twitch\, Para/site\, Videotage CATEGORIES:Shorts Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/confessionallatenightsho rts2_torontoreelasian2008 UID:171351675-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T120000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T140100 SUMMARY:Oh Vietnam DESCRIPTION: OH SAIGON \nDoan Hoang | USA 2007 | 57:00 | English & Vietn amese with English subtitles\n \nOn April 30\, 1975\, three-year-old Do an and her f\namily were airlifted out of burning Saigon in the last civ ilian helicopter bound for America. In the confusion\, they were separat ed from her half-sister\, Van. After decades of life in America\, Doan f inally convinces her family to return to Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City) and u ncovers a family history she never knew. \n \nVan\, who had suffered th rough imprisonment and kidnapping\, struggles with her mother to resolve feelings about being left behind. Her father\, who is a former South Vi etnamese major\, must come to terms with political differences to reconc ile with his estranged older brother\, a communist. Decades later the ef fects of war still resonate\, but whether they are soldiers\, mothers\, children\, prisoners\, revolutionaries\, or refugees they are still\, ul timately\, a family.\n \n Doan Hoang’s documentary Oh\, Saigon was funded by the Sundance Institute\, and has won Best Feature Documentary at the Brooklyn Arts Council International Film Festival\, and Grand Jur y Prize at Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival. \n \n DADDY TRAN: A LIFE IN 3-D \nSiu Ta | Canada 2008 | 47:00 | English & Vietnamese wit h English subtitles \n \nAt 65 years of age\, Hai Tran is on a mission t o leave a legacy of 3-D photos. Photography has been the most important thing in his life. Even when he and his family were forced to flee Vietn am on a small boat\, he packed only one suitcase of photographs and thre e cameras. Who knew that his love for photography would save their lives ? \n \nArriving in Calgary\, Alberta\, in February 1980\, Tran started his photo career in Canada working for minimum wage at a photo lab\; but \, over the next 17 years\, he would develop a vision for “Vintage Visu als” which became the largest used camera store in Western Canada. Throu gh vivid accounts of his childhood\, marriage\, children\, boat refugee experience\, a portrait of a unique man is revealed\, one whose fears\, insecurities\, and volatile personality are balanced by his tenacity\, c harisma\, love of life\, and passion for photography.\n \n Siu Ta is a Toronto-based actor and filmmaker. Her films Urge (2000) and Kata P ractice (2004) have screened in over 50 international film festivals\, including Reel Asian. Daddy Tran: A Life In 3-D is a collaboration wit h her husband and cinematographer John Minh Tran\, who is also a son of Hai Tran. \n Please note: allow extra time to arrive at venues due to Santa Claus Parade related to road closures. \n \n COMMUNITY PARTNER S: Vietnamese Association\, Toronto\, Hot Docs Canadian International Do cumentary Festival\, Regent Park Film Festival CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/ohvietnam_torontoreelasi an2008 UID:171357088-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T150000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T162200 SUMMARY:Santa Mesa DESCRIPTION: Santa Mesa \n \nAfter the tragic death of his mother\, 12-y ear-old Hector (Jacob Kiron Shalov) is sent to live with his estranged g randmother (Angie Ferro) in a Manila railroad shantytown called Santa Me sa. Stunned by emotions of loss\, and shocked by a city and culture so foreign to him\, Hector is soon mixed up with Miguel (Pierro Rodriguez) and the local teenage street gang. Hector is unsure of Miguel’s ideas of fun\, but follows along in hopes of trying make friends with the other kids\, including his pretty teenage neighbour\, Sel (Melissa Leo). \n \ nAfter his initiation into the gang\, Hector gets caught breaking into t he home of Jose (Jaime Tirelli)\, a 59-year-old disgruntled photographer . As a result\, Hector promises to do daily house chores for Jose. Befor e long\, Jose takes a liking to Hector and discovers the boy’s knack for photography. As Hector learns to see the world through the camera lens\ , he develops a connection with Sel and discovers beauty in the people a nd environment around him.\n \nMeanwhile\, Hector’s grandmother struggl es with the uncertainty about how to raise him\, and the history and lan guage barrier between them increasingly causes conflicts. Miguel is furi ous with jealousy over Hector’s friendship with Sel\, and Sel’s troubles at home lead her to dream of a running away. \n \nHector is still hau nted by the loss of his mother\, which eventually leads him to uncover J ose’s regretful feelings for a beautiful woman named Rosa. Hector naivel y tries to resolve their problems and reunite them\, but instead he disc overs that individuals must choose their own paths.\n \nRon Morales’s f irst feature film\, Santa Mesa is a warm-hearted story about the disco very of friendship\, family\, and growing up. Inspired by his own experi ences as a Filipino-American in the Philippines\, Morales explores the t hemes of cultural displacement\, adolescence\, and social conflict throu gh Hector’s innocent eyes.\n \n Ron Morales received a degree in phot ography from Parsons School of Design and a BFA in film at New York Univ ersity\, both in Manhattan. At 25\, Ron has directed numerous award-winn ing short films such as Fall Like Rain \, which won him the Directors C hoice award at the Black Mariah Film Festival in 1995\, and Girl From M ile 9 \, which won the Craft Award for Direction and Screen Writing and Cinematography at the First Run Festival in 2002. \n Please note: all ow extra time to arrive at venues due to Santa Claus Parade related to r oad closures. \n COMMUNITY PARTNER: Kapisanan Philippine Centre CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/santamesa_torontoreelasi an2008 UID:168165535-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T173000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T184300 SUMMARY:Tiger Spirit DESCRIPTION: TIGER SPIRIT \n \nFilmmaker Min Sook Lee is six months preg nant when she joins Lim Sun Nam’s obsessive quest to find a legendary ti ger in the demilitarized zone (DMZ) that separates millions of North and South Koreans. Tracking the great beast\, she looks for the courage tha t inspires those willing to travel beyond political borders to be reunit ed with loved ones.\n \nIn Korea\, video conferencing is allowed to tak e place between families in the North and South on rare occasions\, but with the exception of these government-controlled conditions\, all commu nication remains illegal. Names are selected by lottery\, but with tens of thousands of survivors on the waiting list\, the odds of communicatin g with family on the other side are incredibly slim. \n \nFor the first time\, in 2007\, the government announces face-to-face cross boarder re unions\, and Lee asks the crucial question ‘Can Korea ever be united?’ In a series of interviews with survivors who have waited over 50 years t o find out about their families across the river\, Lee gives some insigh t into each of their lives – their memories of home\, fears experienced during their departures\, frustrations with not knowing the fate of fami ly members\, and hopes for reunification. \n \nAt a war memorial site L ee is surprised to discover that there are thousands of defectors from t he north who have recently crossed the border illegally to live in Seoul . Crossing into North Korea\, Lee then takes us to an inter-Korean facto ry whereby we get a rare look at female factory workers working in North Korea. Finally\, after several unpredictable reunion cancellations\, a state-sanctioned family reunion is held\, and Lee is one of first allowe d into the high security "resort."\n \nInspired by her desire to find c onnections to the country she left as a child\, Tiger Spirit is a memo rable portrait of Korea at a crossroads. Uncovering extraordinary storie s of national tragedy\, heartbreak\, and perseverance\, Lee symbolically searches for the mythical tiger that will one day reconnect Koreans in spirit.\n \n Min Sook Lee is a writer\, broadcaster\, and an award-wi nning documentary film director/producer. Her first feature\, El Contra to \, was presented with the Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award for El C ontrato’s impact on the rights of migrant workers. It was nominated for the Gemini Award for Best Social/Political Documentary in 2005. Hogtow n: The Politics of Policing won Best Feature-Length Canadian Documentar y at the Hot Docs film festival in 2005. In 2008\, she premiered Tiger Sprit at Hot Docs\, and is currently planning to release her new docume ntary Badge of Pride\, the story of queer cops in Canada. \n Please note: allow extra time to arrive at venues due to Santa Claus Parade re lated to road closures. \n COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Korean Canadian Women 's Association\, Canadian Auto Workers Union CATEGORIES:Feature Presentation LOCATION:Innis Town Hall URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/tigerspirit_torontoreela sian2008 UID:171362555-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T203000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T221000 SUMMARY:Adrift in Tokyo DESCRIPTION: ADRIFT IN TOKYO \n \nTouching\, funny\, outrageous yet grou nded in humanity\, Adrift in Tokyo is the ultimate road movie in which the two protagonists just…stroll their way across the landscape of the metropolis of Tokyo. It begins with a shambolic and wild-haired loser na med Takemura\, who suddenly finds himself at the mercy of an uninvited h ouseguest\, the tough debt collector Fukuhara. With Takemura unable to p ay back the money\, Fukuhara decides to give him an ultimatum: take a wa lk through Tokyo with him\, and he will receive more than enough cash to pay back the debt. Mistrustful and skeptical\, Takemura has no choice b ut follow this absurd plan.\n \nFrom this basic premise comes richness in characterization and a natural drollness that is intensely sublime. M uch of the credit goes to the easy chemistry between the two leads. Japa nese heartthrob Joe Odagiri [ Azumi (Reel Asian Closing Night\, 2003)\, Blood and Bones ) portrays Takemura as an unwitting hero—a man down on his luck with little self-confidence and no goals in life. Conversely\, Fukuhara\, sensationally played by Tomokazu Miura ( Always: Sunset on T hird Street\, The Taste of Tea )\, is seen as a good-hearted thug in an unfortunate predicament. Their continuous bantering evolves into a real relationship\, giving way to unexpected depth in their personalities. Al l the while\, director Miki keeps the pace lively with unexpected side g ags\, witty repartees and the reality of crazy Tokyo. Filled with everyo ne from girls who dress up in costumes and punked-out electric rockers t o a bogus makeshift family\, the city offers all a chance to be themselv es.\n \nIt is the ever-changing Tokyo itself that acts as the third cha racter here. From the bustle and neon-glitter of places like Shinjuku to quiet leafy neighbourhoods of the suburbs\, it is a film that lets us e xplore the city while the characters basically act as commentators. Even when the focus is shifted to the misadventures of the co-workers of Fuk uhara’s wife\, this only serves to show us a different side of life in T okyo.\n \nIn the end\, the sterling humour and the genuine warmth is sin gularly the creation of Satoshi Miki\, whose screenplay and direction ma ke it possible for such a basic concept to become something richer than most films you’ll see this year.\n \n -Heather Keung \n \n Satoshi Mi ki was born on August 9\, 1961\, in Kanagawa Prefecture\, Japan. He sta rted out as a writer for hit TV variety shows before directing stage pla ys\, then further expanding into TV dramas and films. His first films I n the Pool (2005) and Turtles and Surprisingly Fast (2005) were conse cutively released theatrically in the same year. Miki has earned a growi ng following for his comedies\, as he becomes known for his urbane sense of humour in which seemingly unnecessary episodes and dialogues are dev eloped and interwoven into an indispensable part of the story. Adrift i n Tokyo (2007) is his fifth feature film. \n \nCanadian distributor: Evokative Films \n Please note: allow extra time to arrive at venues due to Santa Claus Parade related to road closures. CATEGORIES:Closing Night Gala LOCATION:Bloor URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/adriftintokyo_torontoree lasian2008 UID:171367487-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT BEGIN:VEVENT DTSTAMP:20091125T130512Z DTSTART;TZID=America/New_York:20081116T220000 DTEND;TZID=America/New_York:20081117T020000 SUMMARY:Closing Night Gala Party DESCRIPTION: CLOSING NIGHT PARTY \n SUN NOV 16 | 10:00 PM | NIRVANA \n 434 COLLEGE ST. \n $5 GA at the door or FREE with Closing Night Scree ning Ticket Stub \nReel Asian makes Closing Night more accessible than ever with a dance party for everybody at an artist-friendly venue. An o asis of Asian chic on the eastern edge of the College Street strip\, Nir vana is the perfect place to raise a pint to toast the 12th year of Cana da's premier pan-Asian international film festival. Enjoy free food and affordable drinks while DJ Jun (Parkdale DRINK) spins the grooves to mak e you move. \n Please note: allow extra time to arrive at venues due t o Santa Claus Parade related to road closures. CATEGORIES:Parties & Special Events LOCATION:Nirvana URL:http://torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008/films/closingnightgalaparty_to rontoreelasian2008 UID:173723828-torontoreelasian.bside.com/2008 END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR