Awards, Adrift in Tokyo and Closing Night Gala

Japan might as well be synonymous with cute. The closing night film at this year's Reel Asian Film Festival was Satoshi Miki's Adrift in Tokyo and it was absolutely adorable. Though the backbone of the story isn't new --- two strangers meet and embark on a journey together meeting a barrage of characters along the way. The people they meet often serve a comedic purpose, uber-stereotypes of Japanese culture. The two soon discover that they have much more in common than they thought and actually fulfill gaps in each other's lives. The film is presented in a whimsical, quirky and cute manner that is typical of Japanese comedies. It's absurdist moments are interlaced with touching and poignant exchanges between the characters as well as gorgeous shots of Tokyo, giving the viewer an initimate glance of the city. The film is as much an ode to Tokyo as it is an examination of the relationship between the main leads. Adrift in Tokyo was the perfect film to close out the festival.

Of course, the perfect way to end a festival is with a party, and the closing party at Nirvana delivered. There was amazing food, an easy-going vibe and the DJ was busting out the jams, getting people of all ages moving and grooving on the dance floor. Fun times had by all. I'm paying for it today...

Empty Orchestra LIVE! and RAMeN

Karaoke roughly translates to "empty orchestra" in English, the name this night was named after. The evening was broken down into two sections: the karaoke part accompanied by short films and the RAMeN live music showcase. Empty Orchestra LIVE! featured performances by local karaoke superstars paired with short films made by Canadian filmmakers and artists such as Alison S. M. Kobayashi and Ann Marie Fleming. The songs ranged from hip hop to Fleetwood Mac, but the highlight was definitely a live performance of "Teddy Bear" by The King himself, or at least Filipino Elvis impersonator, Steve Comilang. Complete with rhinestones and jumpsuit, Comilang stole the show and even threw the cheering audience the scarves he wore around his neck at the end of his set.

RAMeN showcased Toronto bands Radius and Helena and Opopo as well as New York's Kite Operations. The evening was hosted by Singaporean spitfire, Masia One, who even busted out some of her own rhymes. I'd say Kite Operations really did it for me. Normally I don't like noise music, but I was so impressed with their stage presence, that they won me over. Their sound is surreal, intense, eardrum-shattering noise-pop. I definitely wished I had brought earplugs last night as I got lost listening to their music while watching them twitch, thrash and jam onstage. It was worth the ringing in my ears afterwards!

CinemAsia Sabu Soiree

Though the night wasn't the official kickoff for the Reel Asian Film Fest, it was an excellent precursor to the festival. The night began with the Canadian premiere of Japanese filmmaker Sabu's film Monday, a spooky and sometimes silly movie about a salesman who finds himself in a hotel room but cannot remember how he got there or what happened the night before. As he begins to peel back the layers and jog his memory, he becomes horrified by what he recalls. Without giving away too much, there is a truly scary scene involving the salesman, gas, a gas mask and a number of pale devils descending in an elevator. I've always suspected that eastern portrayals of horror and the underworld are more horrifying than western portrayals, and this scene definitely confirmed it. That scene is simple yet effective; it still sits heavily in my mind days later. The thing that struck me about this film was the psychological turmoil the main character went through. I'd say it's safe to say that the psychological thrillers are way scarier than horror films featuring monsters or UFOs. What we have to fear the most isn't an outer force but an inner demon, and Monday does an excellent job of portraying that using wit, satire and just the right amount of surrealism.

Additional Mentions | Full Boat; Ordinary Shadows, Chinese Shade; Aki Ra's Boys

A good time was had by all during the festival and a special mention should go out some more films that I had the chance to see but not the time to write about till now:

FULL BOAT

Thursday night's screening of shorts was undoubtedly a memorable experience. In fact, Machine With Wishbone and Up The Rabbit Hole, which were two of the films presented turned out to be festival award winners. Here's a little recap of each film.

Running (Heart, Mind, Body, Spirit)
Directed by Anne-Marie Fleming

In Running, which was commissioned by The Victoria Symphony Orchestra's Reel Music Competition, Fleming created an animation that complemented an original score by the French Canadian composer Maxime Goulet. Her charming use of squiggles and doodles facilitated a wonderful sense of movement, which matched the music well. As Stickgirl (the main character) lead viewers on a little journey of whimsical tornadoes and more, I couldn't help but be delighted by the sense of childhood imagination that it stirred from within.

Self Portrait
Directed by Khanhthuan Tran

This was Tran's first project during his residency at the Canadian Film Centre. Residents were asked to make introduction films about themselves and as Tran explained in a post-screening Q&A, he decided to literally film himself making a drawing of himself and this was exactly what viewers saw, Tran delineating his own reflection on a clear surface with the camera filming from underneath. In watching the film, viewers were taken through the process as the artist's face gradually became masked by his own delineated image.

Transfer Point
Directed by Jenny Lin

Lin's Transfer Point examines the movement of Montreal's urban transit system with a silly melange of eccentrically drawn characters. Complemented by a percussion of sequenced bangs, thumps and whacks, the film marvellously captures the rhythmic routine of commuting. Her wacky drawings, which intelligently became less and less sensical, injected the audience with good laughter.

Discopedia
Directed by Ho Tam

In his interpretation of the nightclub scene, Tam discusses desire and the illusion of love in the form of commonly heard phrases and pick-up lines typed across the screen. Various clips of men dancing to heavy techno in a dark, misty club make up the film.

Catalogue
Directed by Blair Fukumura

By contrasting a series of catalogue images from the 60s and 70s to photos of the technology enriched present, Fukumura aptly discusses how current notions of conformity and alienation are not that different from the past. The filmmaker narrates the collage of images with a remarkably clear and smooth voice, threading in mild sarcasm and bringing humour to the entire observation.

Machine With Wishbone
Directed by Randall Okita

This extremely cinematic live-action film, which was very cleverly executed on a tight budget, follows the movements of Arthur Ganson's kinetic machines. Reminiscent of some sort of Tim Burton minimalism, the film was genuinely an interesting delight of curiosities for the eyes to dissect.

Around The Corner From Solitude
Directed by Stefanie Wong

With each stroke gradually building the lines of an image, Wong attempts to illustrate the time-consuming nature of embroidery with this animated piece. The ultimate product is a pretty raindrop pattern, however the film's focus lies within the journey and labour than its outcome. The cute and funky stringed music, which accompanied the piece was great, it was like slow motion blue grass. This minimal and charming short was my favorite for the evening.

Up The Rabbit Hole
Directed by Asa Mori

This dark little animation of a six-nippled, bowl-haired gnome struck a rather curious chord among viewers. The film follows our little gnome friend through a series of darkly bizarre situations as she comes across a dead rabbit then gets her head stuck in a TV. The entire experience was strangely comedic and slightly disturbing.

ORDINARY SHADOWS. CHINESE SHADE.
Directed by Paul Wong

Paul Wong is indeed somewhat of a pioneer in media arts. And if people (such as myself) did not know what that really meant, seeing Ordinary Shadows. Chinese Shade. certainly explained a fair amount. His unconventional style of documentary film-making embraced the technical abilities of the 80s thus giving the film a funkier edge than most others. Without convention al subtitles, viewers were forced to use what images and text they were given to make their own interpretations. By not creating a spoon-fed, easy-to-swallow story, it was really up to viewers to either sit back and absorb or consciously engage to find more definite meaning.

AKI RA'S BOYS
Directed by Lynn Lee and James Leong

This film really struck the relevance chord for me. Without the magical framings of tourism, viewers had the chance to follow 12 year-old Boreak in his daily activities. Though he had lost his arm to a landmine six years ago, the documentary showed him radiating with a childish spirit of joy and mischief. The film brought light to the aspirations and limitations of a nation in recovery by giving viewers a strong explanation of the impact of landmines. In addition, viewers had the opportunity to get a glimpse into landmine removal initiatives by Cambodian's like Aki Ra, who was at one time a child soldier specializing in the same deadly devices.

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival | Opening Night Gala Party

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival commenced on Wednesday and there was no better way to celebrate than with a party!  The Century Room was filled with high spirits as festival goers buzzed about the kick-off film, The Drummer, starring Jaycee Chan (Jackie Chan's son).  Familial associations aside, we heard some great reviews about the film.  We also got a chance to join in the merriment, check out the photos.

Joseph Aquino, Krystle Alarcon

Alden Habacon and Michelle Kay