Asian Heritage Month Film Festival 2026
“Community-led Efforts to Counter Hate, Misinformation, and Polarization by Fostering Critical Thinking and Social Cohesion” | Asian Heritage Month Film Festival programmed by Reelworld
Date: Friday May 1, 2026 | 7pm
Location: Innis Town Hall, University of Toronto, 2 Sussex Avenue, Toronto. Map
FREE ADMISSION. Please register __________
Time: 7pm
Feature and short film programmed, followed by live Q & A with the Directors
Description: Reelworld Screen Institute is honoured to celebrate 1g years of partnership with Asian Heritage Month. The Asian Heritage Month Film Festival, held in collaboration with Reelworld Film Festival, presents a curated program about families across borders. The event will feature a Shorts and Series Programme in addition to a Q/A featuring the filmmakers, moderated by Zaarin Bushra.
The AHM Film Festival promotes inclusivity and combats anti-Asian racism by highlighting the diverse stories and contributions of Asian Canadians. Through storytelling, the festival provides a platform for the voices and experiences of marginalized communities, fostering empathy and promoting unity. Selected films will immerse audiences in narratives that address the lived experiences of Asian Canadians, offering a deeper understanding of the ongoing impact of anti-Asian racism and other forms of discrimination.
In addition, direct interactions between artists and audiences will create opportunities for conversations that will help challenge stereotypes, interrupt biases, and encourage solidarity through open dialogue and shared perspectives.
Shook, Directed by Amar Wala
After a run-in with his estranged father, aspiring writer Ashish or “Ash” learns a secret that will force him to balance family, love and success while navigating the divide between the exciting city life he wants and his suburban reality.
Shorts Programme
Desync, Directed by Minerva Navasca
Ana, a young Filipina filmmaker, shoots a re-enactment of a fight she once had with her mother. Embodying cultural pressure from her mother to work beyond her limits for the sake of perfection, Ana rewrites every painful exchange into a perfect one.
With Time, Directed by Jenny Lee Gilmore
Alice must confront her unresolved past when her estranged mother, who has dementia, moves in, forcing her to provide the care she never received in her childhood while juggling her own responsibilities as a mother.
What’s Mine is Yours Directed by Haaris Qadri
Feeling inadequate as a father, Naim starts to notice unsettling changes in his wife’s behaviour and the increasing visits from his best friend Javed. With his son Talha also sensing that something is wrong, they quietly navigate their suspicions and the complexities of their family relationships.
Q/A Program
Moderator: Zaarin Bushra
Zaarin Bushra is a Toronto-based actor, filmmaker, and creative professional. She is the Program Manager at Reelworld Screen Institute, where she oversees the Emerging 20 Program and initiatives focused on the development of emerging creatives. Her work focuses on building pathways for racialized talent in Canada’s screen industries, fostering community, and advancing equity through storytelling and industry collaboration.
Panelists: Filmmakers Amar Wala, Minerva Navasco, Haaris Qadri, Jenny Lee Gilmore
Event co-organizers: Asian Heritage Month—Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc.; Toronto Public Library; Asian Institute at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy, University of Toronto; Richard Charles Lee Canada Hong Kong Library, University of Toronto; Chinese Canadian Photography Society of Toronto; Social Services Network; Cambridge Food and Wine Society
Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council. Asian Canadian Artists in Digital Age is funded by Canada Council for the Arts Digital Strategy Fund.