The Dork Shelf Guide to Reel Asian 2014

The 17th annual Reel Asian Film Festival kicks off in Toronto today, and runs through November 14th in the proper city before heading up to Richmond Hill for select screenings on the 15th and 16th. Founded in 1997 to showcase the best in Asian cinema, the festival has been constantly redefining their parameters to include Indian and South Asian cinema after initially only offering films from China, Japan, and South Korea.

Kicking off with Fruit Chen’s first film in five years – thriller The Midnight After – and concluding with the ambitious cop thriller Monsoon Shootout, the festival showcases films of various genres and temperaments, with a tendency towards more crowd pleasing and sometimes mainstream fare. It’s a great way for audiences to catch films that might otherwise slip through the cracks during the calendar year. There’s literally something for everyone at Reel Asian, and that’s hardly an exaggeration.

The festival has also gained a fervent industry following thanks to its well known “So You Think You Can Pitch” competition for emerging filmmakers and through countless panels with industry delegates that offer once in a lifetime opportunities for anyone wanting to get into the business of making moves around the world.

But what really matters are the films, and we plan to catch as many as we can. Stay tuned to this space as reviews will be added throughout the festival. For more information, tickets, and a full list of showtimes, titles, venues, and industry programs, please visit the Reel Asian website.

 

Reel Asian 2014 Logo

Reel Asian 2014 Reviews

Awesome Asian Bad Guys (Kirk Haviland)

Blue Bustamante (Kirk Haviland)

The Continent (Dave Voigt)

Don’t Think I’ve Forgotten: Cambodia’s Lost Rock and Roll (Parker Mott)

KANO (Centerpiece Presentation) (Parker Mott)

Manny (Richmond Hill Opening Film) (Dave Voigt)

The Midnight After (Opening Night Film) (Dave Voigt)

Mourning Grave (Dave Voigt)



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