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Introduced by Reel Asian Artistic Director Heather Keung and animators Randall Okita and Leslie Supnet

The best of Asian Canadian shorts presentation Sense of Wonder in celebration of Asian Heritage Month marks Reel Asian’s first cross-Canada tour. This program will be seen in four different cities this May including Montreal, Ottawa, Winnipeg and Vancouver. Reel Asian is Canada's premier pan-Asian international film festival, fostering the exchange of cultural and artistic ideals between east and west. It provides a public forum for homegrown Asian media artists and their work, and fuels the growing appreciation for Asian cinema in Canada.

Inspiring our imaginations in the darkest of moments, this year’s selection of the best Asian Canadian shorts invokes a playful outlook on tragedy. This selection includes three of Reel Asian’s most recent award winners including Rex vs. Singh by award-winning Toronto-based filmmakers Richard Fung, John Greyson, and Ali Kazimi (2009 Vancouver/Toronto), Fish in Barrel by Randall Okita (2009 Vancouver), and Found by Paramita Nath (Toronto 2009).

A SMALL MISUNDERSTANDING
Dir. Leslie Supnet | Canada | 2008 | 1:00 MIN.
A hungry bird mistakes a piece of yarn for a worm entangled in the hair of a young man, which leads to a terrible accident in this humorous animation. Leslie Supnet, a Filipino illustrator and animator from Winnipeg, imparts a touch of whimsy in an exploration of isolation, nostalgia, place and identity.

IRMA VEP
Dir. Jong Wook Choi | Canada | 2009 | 4:00 MIN.
Mad pursuit for the wild life leads to an outrageously messy story about a cover girl who encounters dangerous magazine cut-outs. This wicked stop-motion animation was influenced by Frances Leeming, Choi’s teacher at Queen’s University. Jong Wook Choi spent his childhood in England, Korea, Hong Kong and Canada. Choi graduated in film studies at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario.

ALI SHAN
Dir. Yung Chang | Canada | 2009 | 7:00 MIN.
A poetic voyage inspired by childhood memories takes director Chang across the ocean to Taiwan and a breathtaking sunrise at the peaks of a historical mountain, Ali Shan. Yung Chang is an award-winning documentary filmmaker who graduated in film production from Montreal’s Concordia University. His work Up the Yangtze recently won best documentary at the Golden Horse Awards in Taiwan.

PERMUTE
Dir. Lydia Fu | Canada | 2008 | 4:30 MIN.
Existential heroine Lulu is caught in a film-noir cityscape fraught with mystery, anxiety and apprehension. Lydia Fu is a Vancouver-based filmmaker. She graduated in chemistry at the University of Chicago and in media arts at the Emily Carr University of Art + Design.

NOCTURNE FOR THE FIREFLIES
Dir. Victoria Cheong | Canada | 2009 | 7:45 MIN. 
In the dark of the night, a parade of little girls travel through the forest, bringing to life the magic of folk tales and children’s lullabies.Victoria Cheong graduated from Ryerson University’s film school. Her recent work includes a VHS music video for Toronto musician Gentleman Reg and a video-dance integration (with dancer Allison Peacock).

FOUND
Dir. Paramita Nath | Canada | 2009 | 6:19 MIN.  
Found is about Toronto poet Souvankham Thammavongsa, who was born in a Lao refugee camp in Thailand. Nath beautifully brings together Thammavongsa’s words and his father’s abandoned scrapbook into a moving visual poem.
Found was awarded the TSV Visionary Video Award for being “a memoir film done exceptionally well and for its haunting poetry by Souvankham Thammavongsa.” Paramita Nath was born in India and moved to Canada 12 years ago to pursue studies in music. She received a BA in music from Memorial University of Newfoundland and an MA in interdisciplinary fine arts from York University in Toronto.

FISH IN BARREL
Dir. Randall Okita | Canada | 2009 | 7:00 MIN.
In a stunning cinematic exploration of a young man’s internal struggle, director Okita questions what lies below the surface. Randall Okita was born in Calgary and and is currently a director in residence at the CFC in Toronto.  His 2008 short film Machine with Wishbone has screened internationally and won the Reel Asian Most Innovative Production award.

REX VS. SINGH 
Dir. Richard Fung, John Greyson and Ali Kazimi | Canada | 2009 | 29:38 MIN
In 1915, two Sikh mill workers, Dalip Singh and Naina Singh, were entrapped by undercover police in Vancouver one year after the infamous Komagata Maru ship, which was carrying immigrant passengers from British India, was stranded at the Vancouver harbour. This experimental video reveals an untold piece of Canadian history through four different interpretations of the court trial: a period drama, documentary, musical and conceptual deconstruction. Richard Fung is a Trinidad-born, Toronto-based video artist and cultural critic whose work deals with the confluence of race and queer sexuality and with issues of post-colonialism, diaspora and family. Winner of the Bell Canada Award for Outstanding Achievement in Video Art, Fung currently teaches at the Ontario College of Art & Design. Ali Kazimi was born and raised in India and is an internationally acclaimed documentary filmmaker. He currently teaches film and video at York University in Toronto. His documentary Continuous Journey is a provocative and multilayered film essay that interweaves photographs, newsreels, home movies and official documents. John Greyson is a prolific video artist, filmmaker and writer whose work has been screened in numerous international festivals and venues. Greyson currently teaches film and video at York University and recently completed his new feature, Fig Trees.