Reel Asian releases four selected films in this year’s festival. Full programming announced on Oct 6!
In response to the growing spectrum of Asian cinema, festival programming has been divided into sections that highlight new genres, master works, and trailblazers that have influenced Asian film culture across the borders.
Marquee titles spotlight gala presentations, featuring notable directors, actors, and writers who have traversed the international red carpet. The films in Vista introduce a fragment of critically acclaimed contemporary Asian cinema. Pulse features short films from around the globe, including the world premiere of films made through the Unsung Voices summer workshop. Finally, Reel Asian:X transcends media, genre, and form, introducing a new body of work that expresses the Asian diaspora beyond the traditional.
The Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival (Reel Asian), presented by National Bank, celebrates its 19th annual festival from November 5-15, 2015 in Toronto and Richmond Hill. We’re thrilled to share four selections that will be included in this year’s festival:
The Royal Tailor | Marquee Section
Lee Won-Suk (in attendance) | South Korea 2014 | 127:00 | Toronto Premiere | Trailer
A young designer has earned the queen’s favour with his refreshing take on traditional garb, and the existing royal tailor feels threatened for his long-awaited promotion. Stitch by stich, the two tailors duel for the ultimate masterpiece. But beyond the clothing, a larger war is also brewing between the two women in the king’s life.
Our Times | Marquee Section
Frankie Chen (in attendance) | Taiwan 2015 | 134:00 | North American Premiere | Trailer
It’s Taiwan in the 1990s, and high school student Truly Lin is a plain, clumsy girl who spends her days goofing around with friends and fawning over the most popular boy in school. An unfortunate incident leads Lin to become an errand girl for the school’s notorious troublemaker Taiyu. The pair soon forms an unlikely friendship forged with a similar goal: break up the school’s “perfect couple” so that Truly and Taiyu can win them over!
Siti | Vista Section
Eddie Cahyono | Indonesia 2014 | 88:00 | Toronto Premiere | Trailer
Siti, a young and beautiful woman, has to find means to care for her son, her paralyzed husband and her mother-in-law. By day, she sells snacks on the beach; by night, she sells herself in an illegal karaoke bar. Her encounter with a policeman, who falls in love with her, makes her life even more complicated.
Kirumi | Vista Section
Anucharan Murugaiyan (in attendance) | India 2015 | 97:00 | International Premiere | Trailer
Egotistical and unemployed, Kathir has no problem gambling away his family’s hard-earned money, until he finds his calling as a secret police informant, capitalizing on his knowledge of Chennai’s underground and his personal desire to rat on those who have embarrassed him. Success is swift as he becomes a favourite amongst officers, but his arrogance soon compromises his hidden identity. Kathir learns there are consequences for tattling on the city’s most ruthless gangsters.
Full programming will be announced at the festival press conference on Tuesday October 6, 2015. Follow up on Twitter for live updates at the event!
Tickets on sale through reelasian.com, powered by Uniiverse, on October 6, 8pm.
Sneak Peeks Press Release – Download here