Reel Asian
People’s Park is a documentary consisting of one continuous shot that moves through People’s Park in Chengdu, China. The camera weaves through dance lessons, interested passersby, uninterested passersby, conversations, barbecues, greenery, and musicians. People’s Park is shot in real time, as to offer a true depiction of a specific place on a specific day. That is the true beauty of this film, and film in general – I’ve never been to People’s Park in Chengdu, but now I feel like I’ve experienced it. The audience is placed into the point of view of the camera, so whatever the camera sees,...
The annual Canadian Spotlight closed out the first day of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival’s Industry Series programming. While this artist showcase and talk has been specific to directors in the past, the Festival decided to turn their attention (and the attention of festival attendees) to the work of a producer. The producer in question is NFB animation producer Michael Fukushima. The intention of the evening was the shine a light on the role of the producer in the process of creative work, specifically highlighting the fact that producing itself is, in fact, an art form. The evening...
The “Escape or Reality” short programme at this year’s Reel Asian International Film Festival is a varied mix of films that deal with taking a break from reality in both big and small ways. The great thing about all of these films is that most people will be able to relate to the various scenarios depicted because we’ve all encountered a moment when escaping into a different world or shutting off your rational mind was preferable to facing what was in front of you. A Happy Wish A little girl escapes her very...
Screening as part of the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Prison Dancer is a film about six inmates at a maximum security prison who use group dancing to help rehabilitate inmates. Inspired by an actual program used in a prison that eventually became a viral video, Prison Dancer uses song, dance, and a little bit of humour to tell a story of life, death, hopes, and dreams. Presented as “performative cinema”, this screening combines video, live performance and audience participation to offer a truly unique cinematic experience. Directed by Romeo Candido, Prison Dancer has been a web series and...
Screening at the 2012 Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Valley of Saints is a slice-of-life drama following Gulzar (Gulzar Ahmed Bhat), a young man living on the Dal Lake in Kashmir. Gulzar lives with his elderly uncle, making a living as a boatman showing tourists the sights. He dreams of leaving this life for the city with his friend Afzal (Mohammed Afzal), but the two men are forced to stay another week when a military curfew is put in place. When Gulzar begins assisting Asifa (Neelofar Hamid), a beautiful student taking water samples for an environmental study, his world...
Interweaving the true-life stories of a Japanese comic-book artist with his gritty life’s work, Tatsumi is a biographical tale told in five parts. Yoshihiro Tatsumi has been creating “gekiga” comics, featuring decidedly adult subject matter, since the 1950s. Director Eric Khoo used him as an inspiration for his own work as a manga artist and has now distilled Tatsumi’s graphic autobiography A Drifting Life into this film, which looks at five different stages in Tatsumi’s life in through actual real life tales which are then connected to animated dramatizations of the author’s classic stories. The stories: Hell; Beloved Monkey; Just...
Hometown Boy chronicles the journey of Liu Xiaodong, one of China’s most respected artists, to his hometown Jincheng, in Liaoning Province, to paint his childhood friends. This is a revisit of an earlier project that eventually secured his place in art school, and he’s filled with trepidation to return as a well-known artists. As he navigates the pitfalls of painting changing landscapes and older faces, often with an audience, Liu is forced to confront Thomas Wolfe’s adage that you can’t go home again. This is a lovely, if leisurely-paced, documentary with stunning cinematography. Hometown Boy offers a glimpse into a...
Lung Neaw Visits His Neighbours is a documentary that follows retired rice farmer, Lung Neaw, as he keeps himself busy by going for long walks and visiting his neighbours. I like observing the minutiae of everyday life. I can even say that without sarcasm. It just becomes difficult when there is no narrative, scarce dialogue, and the film itself is over two and a half hours long. I had to take a lot of breaks while watching this, as it just drags too often. That’s not to say it isn’t a worthwhile piece of film, because it actually is. It...
In Daylight Savings we find the alter-ego of actual actor/musician Goh Nakamura (played by Goh Nakamura) reeling from the disconnect between his real life success and his angsty song lyrics. He’s booking gigs, getting major play on a song, and clicking along in a contented long-distance relationship with Erika (Ayako Fujitani). But when that relationship wears thin and implodes via the oh-so modern plot contrivance of a Skype call, Nakamura turns to his ex-con cousin Mike (Michael Aki) and hits the road to Vegas. Can he win the heart of love object Yea-Ming (from real-life indie band Dreamdate)? Daylight Savings...
This past summer, Reel Asian launched its first summer Video Production Workshop, which put production equipment in the hands of no prior filmmaking experience. After a crash course with industry professionals, these young filmmakers produced the impressive body of short films that make the “Unsung Voice” Youth Shorts Programme at this year’s film festival. Conscience Director Jaewuk J. Kim, currently a student of English and Philosophy at the University of Toronto, created a taut little psychological thriller with Conscience. Clearly drawing on the academic disciplines of philosophy and biology, Kim created a strong first first film. Suman Ladies First-time director...
Requiem for Romance is a lovely animated short from director Jonathan Ng. Inspired by the water ink animation of Shanghai master Te Weiawash, the film features a young couple’s break-up phone call against a background of bold brush-strokes and vivid watercolours. Rendered visually as an epic feud between lovers in ancient China, this taut little film explores the cultural, social, and familiar pressures that are brought to bear in romance. Requiem for Romance is visually stunning and completely captures the kind of conversations that play out when love ends. It may be short, but it’s a tour-de-force of both animation...
“It’s Not What You Think” is another superb shorts program presented by Reel Asian this year. Bringing together some of the finest student and short filmmakers at work today, the programme brings together documentary, animation, and a heaping side of personal exploration. Real Talk Director Patrick Ng won the prestigious Wasserman/King Award for his student thesis film Real Talk and it’s easy to see why. Set in Manhattan’s Two Bridges neighborhood, this short is a gritty ode to the mean streets of New York and what happens when your best bud takes a...
