The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival, Canada’s biggest pan-Asian film festival, is back!
The festival, which celebrates and showcases contemporary Asian cinema and work from the Asian diaspora, returns for its 29th edition from November 5th to 15th, 2025, with events across downtown Toronto, and November 10th to 23rd, 2025 online across Canada. This year, the festival’s lineup is 17 features and 45 short films deep, with works from around the world.
Below, 10 films we’re looking forward to watching at the 2025 Reel Asian Film Festival.
Space Cadet (Directed by Kid Koala) — Opening Night Presentation
Based on the graphic novel of the same name by world-renowned scratch DJ and artist Kid Koala, this Canadian animated film is a dialogue-free musical fable set to Kid Koala’s digital scratch soundtrack. It follows the story of astronaut-in-training, Celeste, and her Robot, who has served as a surrogate parent while Celeste’s mother explored the galaxy. When Celeste starts a months-long mission after graduation, the pair must explore the unknowns of life without each other. This independent film, 14 years in the making, beautifully explores grief, loss and love across generations. With Reel Asian Film Festival hosting a work-in-progress presentation of Space Cadet last year, it’s a full-circle moment to have the film be this year’s opening night presentation.
Space Cadet will be screened on Wednesday, November 5, 7:30pm at Hot Docs Cinema. The relaxed screening takes place on November 8 at 10am at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3.
There Are No Words (Directed by Min Sook Lee)
In There Are No Words, filmmaker Min Sook Lee embarks on a deeply personal quest to uncover the life of her mother who died by suicide when Min Sook was 12. Through a private archive of letters, photographs, and memories, Lee weaves together public, private and imagined narratives in the shadow of trauma. Along the way, she grapples with her complicated relationship with her father—her mother’s last living connection—who, despite a troubled past and a history of abuse, is the only one left to offer insight into the woman she hardly knew.
Pointing the camera at herself, Lee retraces her journey from Toronto back to her birthplace in Hwasun County, South Korea. Her film tenderly resurrects her mother into shared memory, offering a courageous reflection on grief, loss, identity and the limits of language.
There Are No Words will be screened on Thursday, November 13, 7:30pm at Innis Town Hall.
Narmada: A Valley Rises (Directed by Ali Kazimi) — Fire Horse Presentation
Narmada: A Valley Rises is a visually stunning and powerful chronicle of a 200-kilometre Gandhian march involving over 6,000 people resisting a massive dam project in India. The 1994 film offers an intimate portrait of grassroots struggle while confronting the human costs of development and displacement.
Created under extraordinary challenges, it stands as both a testament to resilience and a landmark in socially engaged filmmaking. Shaped by director Reel Asian 2025 Fire Horse Award Winner Ali Kazimi’s diasporic perspective and engagement with Indigenous issues in Canada, the film raises urgent, universal questions about democracy, human rights and social justice.
Narmada: A Valley Rises will be screened on Saturday, November 8, 10:15am at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4. It will also be available for screening online.
Akashi (Directed by Mayumi Yoshida) — Centrepiece Presentation
Akashi follows Kana, a struggling artist who returns from Vancouver to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral. Amid the rituals of grief, she uncovers a secret from her grandfather’s past—a love that existed beyond his arranged marriage. At the same time, she rekindles a tentative connection with Hiro, the ex-boyfriend she left behind a decade earlier, confronting unresolved feelings and questions about love, duty and belonging.
Adapted from Mayumi Yoshida’s award-winning short film and play, this feature debut shifts between past and present to weave a story of family, memory and romance. Tender and poetic, the film meditates on grief and connection, offering a moving portrait of love’s endurance across generations and the emotional ties that shape our lives.
Akashi will be screened on Sunday, November 9, 7pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2.
Montréal, ma belle (Directed by Xiaodan He)
Montreal, ma belle tells the story of Feng Xia, a 52-year-old Chinese immigrant who has built a stable life in Montreal with her husband and two children. Beneath the surface, however, she feels trapped in a loveless marriage and a life defined by obligation. A conversational French class opens the city to her in unexpected ways, including an encounter with Camille, a younger Québécoise woman she meets online. Their affair awakens desires Feng Xia has long suppressed, forcing her to confront the truth she has hidden since youth.
Set against the warmth of a Montreal summer, the film explores the fragile balance between passion and responsibility, fulfillment and sacrifice. Iconic actress Joan Chen delivers a fearless performance as a woman torn between family and freedom, while director Xiaodan He crafts a tender, unflinching meditation on identity, love and the cost of self-discovery.
Montréal, ma belle will be screened on Friday, November 7, 8:15pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3.
Village Rockstars 2 (Directed by Rima Das)
Village Rockstars 2 is the highly anticipated sequel to Rima Das’s internationally acclaimed 2017 festival hit, Village Rockstars. The film returns to the story of Dhunu, now a teenager in a rural Assamese village, who continues to dream of becoming a musician while navigating the precarious transition from childhood to adulthood. Alongside her friends, Dhunu faces shifting responsibilities and the pull of new priorities, even as she clings to her passion for music as a lifeline.
Around them, the adults in the community grapple with larger forces—predatory land developers, climate change, and economic hardship—that threaten their livelihoods and unravel the fabric of village life. Written, shot and edited by Das, Village Rockstars 2 affirms Das’s singular vision in independent Indian cinema.
Village Rockstars 2 will be screened on Friday, November 7, 5:30pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4. It will also be available for screening online.
Finch & Midland (Directed by Timothy Yeung)
Finch & Midland explores the Asian diaspora, social malaise and the hardships of life under late capitalism. It focuses on four stories from the wave of Hong Kong immigrants who came to Canada in the ‘90s hoping for a new life—from a former pop singer trying to reconnect with her daughter to a factory manager confronted with a glass ceiling. The film reinterprets the stories of the Scarborough community director Timothy Yeung grew up in and is rich in cultural specificity, brought to life by a stunning ensemble cast.
Finch & Midland will be screened on Sunday, November 9, 3:30pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2.
Diamonds in the Sand (Directed by Janus Victoria)
Diamonds in the Sand explores the contrast between two distinct Asian cultures: Japanese and Filipino. A co-production between Japan, Malaysia and the Philippines, the story follows divorced salaryman Yoji, who is forced to confront kodokushi (the lonely death of the elderly) after discovering his neighbour’s decomposing body. Overwhelmed, he decides to escape by following a caretaker to Manila, where his choice takes an unexpected turn.
While the film reflects on the isolation, it also captures the warmth, vitality and complexity of family life in the Philippines. It’s a story of acceptance and the search for meaning within oneself and community.
Diamonds in the Sand will be screened on Saturday, November 8, 5:15pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3. It will also be available for screening online.
Third Act (Directed by Tadashi Nakamura)
Third Act is a beautiful tribute from director Tadashi Nakamura’s (Tad) to his father, Robert A. Nakamura, a.k.a. “The Godfather of Asian American film.” What started out as a documentary about his dad’s career takes a turn with a Parkinson’s diagnosis and turns into an exploration of art, activism, grief and fatherhood. As Tad digs deeper into the doc, he processes the ghosts of his father’s past: incarceration during WW2, as well as depression, personal failings, and self-hatred.
Third Act will be screened on Saturday, November 8, 2:30pm at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 3. It will also be available for screening online.
K-Pop Demon Hunters (Directed by Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans)
K-pop Demon Hunters has taken the world by storm—and for good reason. This animated flick not only features some musical bangers, but also explores themes of self-acceptance, shame and confronting internal “demons” using Korean cultural elements. Reel Asian 29 will be hosting a special singalong presentation featuring creator and co-director, Maggie Kang, who grew up in Toronto and attended Sheridan College. It’s gonna be “Golden”!
K-Pop Demon Hunters will be screened on Monday, November 10, 7:30pm at Hot Docs Cinema. A meet-and-greet with directors Maggie Kang and Chris Appelhans will follow the screening.
The 2025 Reel Asian Film Festival takes place from November 5th to 15th, 2025. You can purchase tickets here. RepresentASIAN Project is a proud media sponsor of the festival.
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