Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival 2008

Get out your rhinestone boots and practise your Stevie Nicks pout! Empty Orchestra Live! is a collision of video visionaries and local karaoke superstars. Ranging from hip hop to Elvis, this special video commission and performance program merges the glitz of Western karaoke with the heartfelt crooning of its Japanese origins. Five performers sing along to new karaoke videos of their favourite songs, freshly commissioned from Canadian video artists by Reel Asian and Gendai Gallery. Empty Orchestra Live! is the second half of a special presentation that examines the history and practices of karaoke as cultural exchange. Karaoke, underneath the disco-ball-and-reverb veneer, is a rich intersection of community, democratized entertainment, personal expression, and politics of identity. Empty Orchestra Live! is inspired by Toronto’s Japanese Canadian Cultural Centre (JCCC), which hosts a vibrant Karaoke Club for its members, first-, second-, and third-generation Japanese Canadians, singing in Japanese and English. Founded in 1981, the JCCC Karaoke Club is a regular Saturday-night affair, and transforms the local community lounge into a modest spectacle, rich with personal experience and off-kilter charm. Drawing from a wealth of kitsch and clichés, karaoke videos are as diverse as their singers. They illuminate karaoke clubs and bars all over the world, often alternating between 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 karaoke videos and offer new interpretations of the classics. By pairing local performers with video artists from across the country, Empty Orchestra Live! shines a new light on the B-side of music videos. Nothing 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. Curated by Heather Keung, Maiko Tanaka and Serena Lee COMMUNITY SPONSOR: Gendai Gallery

Community Partner: National Film Board - Office National Du Film TWELVE Dir: Lester Alfonso | Canada | 2008 | 42:33 | Betacam SP | World Premiere | Director in Attendance What would you tell your 12-year-old self if you had the chance? Philippine-born filmmaker Lester Alfonso attempts to answer this question by interviewing 12 diverse subjects, each of whom and like himself, moved to Canada at the age of 12. Due to raging? developing? teenage hormones, 12-year-olds often experience emotions with more intensity; adapting to a new country during this already-confusing age can be an overwhelming experience. In exploring issues of identity and belonging through other people’s stories, Lester is forced to examine the demons from his own past. Will this journey finally set him free? Lester Alfonso is a filmmaker, 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 missing grandfather, was the official selection for more than a dozen film festivals across North America, including Reel Asian in 2003. Alfonso’s concept for TWELVE won the National Film Board of Canada’s Reel Diversity competition in 2007. EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN Dir: Monika Delmos | Canada | 2008 | 52:00 | Betacam SP | World Premiere | Director in Attendance They arrive underaged and alone, often traumatized and seeking asylum in a country completely alien to their own. Surprisingly, some provinces, including Ontario, have no government program in place to care for these unaccompanied minors. This documentary is a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of two such teenagers, Joyce and Sallieu. They seem like typical teenagers, except that reserved Sallieu, 16, witnessed the murder of his mother as a young boy in war-torn Sierra Leone, and vibrant Joyce, 17, left the Democratic Republic of Congo to avoid being forced into prostitution by her family. Both are courageously 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 handful of people that make a real difference in their daily lives. As director Monika Delmos eloquently illustrates, these children ultimately belong to all of us. Monika Delmos is a Toronto-based filmmaker and journalist who was one of the winners of the NFB’s Reel Diversity competition in 2006. Mostly recently she worked as a producer at the CBC’s documentary unit, where she was nominated for a Gemini Award. Before she entered the world of documentaries, Delmos worked as a journalist for more than 10 years in Toronto, Vancouver, London, New York and Afghanistan. In 2002, she was one of the recipients of the Canadian Journalism Fellowship at the University of Toronto. EVERYBODY’S CHILDREN is her directorial debut.

They arrive underaged and alone, often traumatized and seeking asylum in a country completely alien to their own. Surprisingly, some provinces, including Ontario, have no government program in place to care for these unaccompanied minors. This documentary is a cinematic portrait of a year in the life of two such teenagers, Joyce and Sallieu. They seem like typical teenagers, except that reserved Sallieu, 16, witnessed the murder of his mother as a young boy in war-torn Sierra Leone, and vibrant Joyce, 17, left the Democratic Republic of Congo to avoid being forced into prostitution by her family. Both are courageously 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 handful of people that make a real difference in their daily lives. As director Monika Delmos eloquently illustrates, these children ultimately belong to all of us. Monika Delmos is a Toronto-based filmmaker and journalist who was one of the winners of the NFB’s Reel Diversity competition in 2006. Mostly recently she worked as a producer at the CBC’s documentary unit, where she was nominated for a Gemini Award. Before she entered the world of documentaries, Delmos worked as a journalist for more than 10 years in Toronto, Vancouver, London, New York and Afghanistan. In 2002, she was one of the recipients of the Canadian Journalism Fellowship at the University of Toronto. Everybody's Children is her directorial debut.

In this tribute to cult films and Dada play, crazed kittens salivate over each other in a gruesome porn episode, while a Japanese Diana Ross goes for a joyride in a paper car. Heavily saturated with bizarre wit and bright hues, this musical turns itself inside out and upside down, in all its tone-deaf, colour-barred glory. Exquisite Corpses was written by Reel Asian 2008 Spotlight artist Lesley Loksi Chan. David Frankovich is a Toronto-based filmmaker and graduate of York University. His films often focus on bizarre and zany subject matter; everything from giant earthworms to power-tool, porn-loving robots. Frankovich’s films have screened at venues such as LIFT's Salon des Refuses, the New Toronto Works show and the Queer West Film Festival.

FLOWER IN THE POCKET Recent Malaysian cinema has become synonymous with long shots and even longer takes, but leave it to a fresh new upstart to inject some genuine warmth and humour into the recipe. First-time feature director Liew Seng Tat hit the ball out of the park with Flower in the Pocket , which joins Tan Chui Mui’s Love Conquers All (Reel Asian ’07) as the rare debut feature to win Best Film at both the prestigious Pusan and Rotterdam Film Festivals. It is no coincidence 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 really is. The story starts off amusingly with two Chinese-speaking brothers, Ma Li Ahh and Ma Li Ohm, as they both suffer through the indignity of school. Their daily routine includes taking showers, cooking meals, going to sleep and waking up for school—all seemingly without parental supervision. Meanwhile, a sullen mannequin maker named Sui, who is troubled by a peculiar affliction and prefers the company of lifeless dolls, is gradually revealed to be the boys’ father. But for the most part, father and sons live in different universes, intersecting only when one or the other is sound asleep. The two kids’ natural light-heartedness and impish charm make them instantly endearing, thus attracting the attention of a spunky tomboyish girl named Ayu, who befriends the initially reluctant boys. But their growing friendship serves to highlight 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 territory, the director’s non-judgmental and gentle observations make the slow reconciliation a heartwarming treat. Using non-actors, especially children, to great effect, Liew Seng Tat’s wry portrait of loneliness and absurdity within a small family is by far the most accessible feature to come from the country’s indie scene. With a sharp eye for comedic timing and a warm touch of pathos, this is one director whose future works is ripe for crossover potential. -Raymond Phathanavirangoon Liew Seng Tat was born in 1979 in Jinjang, Malaysia. Known for his dark comedies, Liew won the audience award for all of his shorts when they 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. COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Chinese Cultural Centre of Greater Toronto, Hong Fook Mental Health Foundation, Malaysian Association of Canada

FULL BOAT Backed by soundtracks as varied as the powerful sounds of the symphony orchestra and the dance beats of the nightclub 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 conceptual videos. Focusing on the rich cinematic movements of robotic machines, 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. Community Partners: Trinity Square Video, CFC Worldwide Short Film Festival, Toronto Animated Image Society RUNNING (HEART, MIND, BODY, SPIRIT) Dir: Ann Marie Fleming | Canada 2008 | 5:23 | BETACAM SP | Director In Attendance Based on acupuncture theory, Fleming’s new animation features her infamous character Stick on another adventure through the body and beyond. This new short was commissioned by the Victoria Symphony Orchestra for their Reel Music series and features an original score by French Canadian composer Maxime Goulet. Ann Marie Fleming is an award-winning Canadian independent 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 themes such as family, history, and memory. SELF PORTRAIT Dir: Khanhthuan Tran | Canada 2007 | 2:05 | MiniDV | Director In Attendance In a study on himself, Tran concentrates on drawing to illustrate the process of self-reflection. Khanhthuan Tran was born in Vietnam. He and 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. TRANSFER POINT Dir: Jenny Lin | Canada 2007 | 5:23 | MiniDV | Toronto Premiere This quirky, animated work looks at the unique fashion and character of daily commuters in an urban transit system. Using rhythmic repetition and humour, Lin takes everyday observations and turns them into a dreaming state of mind. 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 Calgary and an MFA at Concordia University. She is currently teaching at Concordia University as a medical illustrator. DISCOPEDIA Dir: Ho Tam | Canada 2007 | 8:15 | BETACAM SP | Toronto Premiere “All my life I’ve been looking for someone like you.” With the hypnotic ambience of a nightclub scene and the dreamy images of boys dancing, Tam’s analysis of how we identify with the language of love and desire takes classic pickup lines and uses them in oddly poetic subtexts. Ho Tam currently teaches at the University of Victoria. He is a graduate of the 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. CATALOGUE Dir: Blair Fukumura | Canada | 2008 | 4:00 | BETACAM SP | Director in Attendance In a playful collage of mid-1970s fashion and catalogue items, CATALOGUE makes a comparison between shopping through retro magazines and searching through contemporary personal advertisements online. With the convenience of social websites such as Facebook, Fukumura questions whether or not it is any easier to find what we want today. Blair Fukumura was born in Winnipeg and studied stage design and theatre at the University of Winnipeg. Of Japanese, Scottish, and Irish descent, Blair’s background is in stage design and performance. MACHINE WITH A WISHBONE Dir: Randall Okita | Canada | 2007 | 5:00 | DigiBeta| Director in Attendance In a live-action film featuring the work of Arthur Ganson, Okita uses innovative camera choreography, photo sculpture, and kinetic sculpture to tell the tale of a mechanical wishbone that has come to life. Through bewitching landscapes and impossible interactions, machines and objects become characters in a spellbinding experience like nothing you have ever seen before. Randall Okita was born and raised in Calgary, Alberta, and is currently based in Vancouver. The grandson of West Coast Japanese Canadians and East Coast Irish Canadians, Okita celebrates a diversity of personal influences. MACHINE WITH WISHBONE was made with the support of Bravo!FACT, the British Columbia Arts Council, and the National Film Board of Canada. AROUND THE CORNER FROM SOLITUDE Dir: Stefanie Wong | Canada 2008 | 3:15 | 16 MM | Toronto Premiere | Director in Attendance Sweet raindrop shapes, growing leaves, and dandelions in the wind are amazingly animated through embroidery. While Wong’s needle and thread follow an intense labour process, this animation delicately contemplates the passage of time. Stefanie Wong graduated with a Bachelor of Fine Arts from the Alberta College of Art + Design, Calgary. Her practice combines seemingly disparate media such as new media/technologies and textiles to examine our relationship with technology and its impact on human intimacy and interaction. UP THE RABBIT HOLE Dir: Asa Mori | Canada | 2008 | 4:20 | BETACAMSP | Toronto Premiere A 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. Asa Mori was born in Nagano, Japan, and currently lives in Vancouver. She acquired her first pet at the age of six, a rabbit called "House". House died a week later. She has a BFA from the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design, primarily working with media installation and animation.

The promise of a better future lures a vulnerable single mother, Maria, into making a questionable decision to give up her 10-year-old son, Santiago. Soon it becomes clear that her desires for hope had blinded her, and had led her to believe false promises that, ultimately, will result in irreparable consequences. Composed of powerful images of stars, stripes, and the Virgin Mary, God Only Knows is a rare elegy for family and home. Mark V. Reyes emerged on the independent film scene with his coming-of-age story Last Full Show. Reyes moved from Manila in 2000 to study film at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco, and has recently completed the feature screenplay for God Only Knows.

HANSEL AND GRETEL There has always been a cruel undercurrent to the timeless fables of the Brothers Grimm. In the original version of Snow White, it was her real mother who sought to have the princess 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 adaptation. Yim Pil-sung’s fantastical re-interpretation of the classic tale opens upon a young man, Eun-soo, who is driving along a treacherous mountainous road. An accident ensues, and the wounded Eun-soo finds himself in a dense forest, only to be revived by a girl in a red hood. She 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 what they seem at all… While moments of actual terror are present, the film manages to disturb us in ways that we might not have expected. Heavy themes such as child abuse and the meaning of parenthood are what linger in our minds, and to that end the filmmaker has succeeded in unnerving us by using deeper psychological underpinnings. The actors are uniformly excellent, especially the three children, who exude as much charm as they do malevolence. But possibly the most significant character here is the production design. The gorgeous art direction evokes the palette of children’s storybooks, from the detailed artwork of the hallway wallpapers to the forest that seems to come alive. And though not made of gingerbread, the house itself is a contrast in colours and emotions of dread. By 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 stories to children all around the world…. 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 International Film Festivals in 1999. Yim made his debut feature with the box office hit Antarctic Journal (2005), in which explorers in the Antarctic face mysterious deaths. Hansel Gretel (2007) is his second feature film. Canadian distributor: Evokative Films COMMUNITY PARTNERS: Twitch, Toronto After Dark Film Festival