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Backstory

Backstory

By Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival presents “Backstory the Reel Asian podcast”, a podcast that highlights artists and issues relating to the Asian and Asian Canadian media landscape. Hosted by Aram Collier and Kelly Lui, the Reel Asian programming team is here to talk film, shop, and tea.

Uploaded monthly. Except when it isn’t.

Backstory is written and hosted by Aram Collier and Kelly Lui, and is produced by Seungwoo Baek.
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Creative2Creative, Take One (feat. Albert Shin, Gloria Ui Young Kim) -- pt. 2

BackstoryMay 07, 2020

00:00
48:19
Backstory Live! Film and Facial Hair w/ Imran Khan and Nedda Sarshar

Backstory Live! Film and Facial Hair w/ Imran Khan and Nedda Sarshar

Recorded live at Reel Asian 27 in November 2023, Imran J. Khan, director of the feature film "Mustache" and Nedda Sarshar director of the short film "Unibrow" discuss filmmaking and facial hair while snacking on classic Canadian butter tarts. Reel Asian's own Samir Ballou is their guide.


*please excuse our tech difficulties, so if you're watching on video, it'll be old school B&W...

Dec 05, 202316:14
Backstory Live! Take the S-Express to DQ

Backstory Live! Take the S-Express to DQ

Recorded live at Reel Asian 27 in November 2023. Filmmakers from our S-Express showcase of Southeast Asian short films (try to) talk about film while tasting DQ (Dairy Queen) treats for the first time.


Featuring Mickey Lai (dir. A Worm, Whatever Will Be, Will Be), the team from "Ms. Pontianak" Alina Wong JinKei (director), Raja Adam Iskandar (producer), and Sheldon Chong (editor Cruel), and Reel Asian's own Kelly Lui and Christine Vu.

MS. PONTIANAK - IG: @ms.pontianak, @rajaadamisk, CRUEL - IG: @shel.dunnn A WORM... - Mickey - IG: @mickeylai23

Minikino Film Festival Bali - @minifilmfestival


*please excuse our tech difficulties, so if you're watching on video, it'll be old school B&W...

Dec 05, 202323:34
Backstory Live! "The Golden Screen" w/ Jeff Yang ft. Madelyn Chung

Backstory Live! "The Golden Screen" w/ Jeff Yang ft. Madelyn Chung

Recorded live at Reel Asian 27 in November 2023, culture critic and author Jeff Yang discusses his new book "The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America" with Madelyn Chung, Founder and Editor in Chief at the RepresentAsian Project.


In this episode they discuss the trajectories of Jeff's career tracking Asian American popular culture from early print magazines to the rise of a new generation of Asian American mainstream films.


Look to buy "The Golden Screen: The Movies That Made Asian America" anywhere you buy books!


Jeff Yang

@originalspin


Madelyn Chung, RepresentAsian Project

@representasianproject


*please excuse our tech difficulties, so if you're watching on video, it'll be old school B&W...

Dec 05, 202301:16:14
Backstory Live! BIG FIGHT IN LITTLE CHINATOWN ft. Karen Cho and Friends of Chinatown TO
May 24, 202356:08
Food for Thought with Jasmine Gui

Food for Thought with Jasmine Gui

Backstory returns after a post-festival hiatus to usher in the launch of the fourth edition of TACLA’s Youth Critics Initiative (YCI), an annual incubator that guides emerging writers over the course of six months to produce critical works in a variety of formats in conversation with Reel Asian’s festival programming. Recorded in October during preparation for the 26th edition of the festival and fourth edition of YCI, co-editor Jasmine Gui joins Kelly and Aram to chew on all things critical and reflect on the program’s evolution over the years.

On the menu: hamster facts, authorizing oneself and the process of scrutiny, what to do with absence and erasure, the origins of haterism, and why you should be on Team Rice.

Links: 

This episode uses the following samples and sources:

  • “Lost the way”, Horthy Kristóf

  • “Say Good Night”, Joakim Karud  

  • “Morpho Diana”, Rachel Collier

May 23, 202347:05
RA26: Romeo Candido Artist Talk w/ Amanda Parris
Apr 01, 202348:40
Backstory Live! UNIDENTIFIED ft. Jude Chun
Jan 24, 202351:47
Backstory Live! - THE GRIZZLIE TRUTH ft. Kat Jayme
Dec 14, 202254:28
Backstory Live! - RICEBOY SLEEPS ft. Anthony Shim and Seung-yoon Choi
Dec 07, 202201:30:20
Haunted Haw Flakes
Nov 01, 202256:09
Road Trip pt. 3 with Brian Hu (San Diego Asian Film Festival)
Aug 24, 202238:56
Something Fishy
Jul 12, 202221:37
Songs for the Soul-stice

Songs for the Soul-stice

Kelly and Aram are back with another highly curated (and definitely not algorithmic) selection of k-pop tracks for the summer. Recommended for finding yourself (and discovering your inner bad boy) on a late night drive.

Check out the YouTube playlist here.

Links

This episode uses or mentions the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • “Say Good Night”, Joakim Karud
  • “Morpho Diana”, Rachel Collier

Kelly’s picks:

  1. Good Boy Gone Bad by TXT
  2. C.I.T.T. by Moon Byul
  3. H.S.K.T. by LeeHi feat. Wonstein
  4. Good Night Good Dream by Nerd Connection
  5. SUPER TEARS by Bakyun the everyday

Aram's picks:

  1. We Ride by Brave Girls
  2. 오랜만에 by George
  3. Lilac by IU (Citypop remix)
  4. Number 1 by Loona
  5. DIVE by Luli Lee
Jul 02, 202221:36
Road Trip pt. 2 with Melissa Bisagni (Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival)
Apr 06, 202201:12:28
Road Trip pt. 1 with Selena Yip (Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival)
Apr 06, 202238:28
The FuturePast

The FuturePast

Is it too late to say Happy New Year? Kelly and Aram talk about new year traditions while reflecting on the past (festival) year and look ahead to what's to come. Including a possible truce in one of their long standing conflicts?


This episode uses or mentions the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • View of the Valley - Trevor Garrod
  • Aerodynamic - Daft Punk
Feb 22, 202234:40
Beans, Rice, and Everything Nice
Jan 05, 202237:20
Unsung Untold
Nov 10, 202101:13:02
Asian Representation with a Tornado Kick Twist
Oct 25, 202135:50
Play Me 🖭

Play Me 🖭

Episodes with music are only available on Spotify.

Aram and Kelly exchange their summer k-pop playlists to chill away the heat waves. You can find Aram and Kelly's summer mixtape here (https://bit.ly/backstory-playlist) or here (https://bit.ly/backstory-spotify-playlist).

Follow the link here for an extended shownote and episode transcript: https://bit.ly/backstory-playme

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • "Say Good Night", Joakim Karud
  • "Morpho Diana", Rachel Collier
  • "Haru Haru", Big Bang
  • "View", SHINee
Jul 01, 202152:26
Have You Seen This?
Jun 16, 202152:21
One Year Later (feat. kim hayung, Khanh Tudo, Seb Decter)
Apr 02, 202155:51
The Serious Funny Business (feat. Franco Nguyen of TallBoyz)
Mar 04, 202137:12
Minari-acting

Minari-acting

Aram and Kelly (and Seungwoo) talk about MINARI (2020) and give their earnest first reacts.

Follow the link here for an extended shownote and episode transcript: http://bit.ly/s2e2-shownotes

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • “Say Good night”, Joakim Karud
  • "Morpho Diana", Rachel Collier
  • "Rain Song", Emile Mosseri, Han Ye-ri
Feb 25, 202122:13
New Karate Kids on the Block
Jan 28, 202119:25
We’re Back! The Reel Asian Film Festival in 2020
Jan 06, 202156:41
Irrational Summer Loves: It's Love that Never Ends
Aug 21, 202034:39
Irrational Summer Loves

Irrational Summer Loves

Aram and Kelly share their summer movie picks with each other. What starts out as a congenial display of friendship and shared love for the cinema devolves into a thunderdome-styled fight to the bitter end of their friendship in defense of their honour and film tastes.

Content Warning: horror, violence on screen, gore, decapitation, body mutilation, nudity, death

Follow the link here for extended show notes and the episode transcript: https://bit.ly/ep6-shownote

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • KARATE KID PART II (1986), dir. John G. Avildsen
  • HAUSU (1977), dir. Nobuhiko Obayashi
  • STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK (1984), dir. Leonard Nimoy
  • "Be Mine", by Amine Maxwell
  • "All The Stars", by Kendrick Lamar, SZA
  • "Main Title: Theme from 'Jaws'", by John Williams
Aug 01, 202042:55
Big Sky, Wild Mushrooms (feat. Howie Shia, Anne Koizumi) -- pt. 2

Big Sky, Wild Mushrooms (feat. Howie Shia, Anne Koizumi) -- pt. 2

Aram and Kelly continue their talk with animator extraordinaire Howie Shia and master puppeteer Anne Koizuimi in an attempt to answer the question: "what is an animation?” This episode includes Anne Koizumi's live commentary of IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES (https://youtu.be/nI85ahkSmSA). The first part of the conversation included Howie Shia's live commentary of MARCO’S ORIENTAL NOODLES (https://youtu.be/IobYgrLpCX8). Both of their works can be found on YouTube and on CBC Gem.

Follow the link here for an extended show notes and episode transcript: https://bit.ly/ep5-shownote

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • SPIRITED AWAY (2001), dir. Hayao Miyazaki
  • IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES (2020), dir. Anne Koizumi
  • “Say Good night”, Joakim Karud
  • “Jar Hut”, Morusque
Jul 02, 202043:01
Big Sky, Wild Mushrooms (feat. Howie Shia, Anne Koizumi) -- pt. 1

Big Sky, Wild Mushrooms (feat. Howie Shia, Anne Koizumi) -- pt. 1

Aram and Kelly talk with animator extraordinaire Howie Shia and master puppeteer Anne Koizuimi in an attempt to answer the question: "what is an animation?” This episode includes Howie Shia's live commentary of MARCO’S ORIENTAL NOODLES (https://youtu.be/IobYgrLpCX8). The second part of this conversation, which includes Anne Koizumi's live commentary of IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES (https://youtu.be/nI85ahkSmSA), will be available next week. Both of their works can be found on YouTube and on CBC Gem.

Follow the link here for an extended show notes and episode transcript: https://bit.ly/ep4-shownote

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • AGO Creative Minds: Art and Social Justice (LINK)
  • MARCO'S ORIENTAL NOODLES (2017). Dir. Howie Shia
  • “Say Good night”, Joakim Karud
  • “Jar Hut”, Morusque
  • "Slowly", Smith the Mister
Jun 25, 202039:01
#untiltomorrow (feat. Chris Chin)
May 28, 202001:05:30
Creative2Creative, Take One (feat. Albert Shin, Gloria Ui Young Kim) -- pt. 2

Creative2Creative, Take One (feat. Albert Shin, Gloria Ui Young Kim) -- pt. 2

We continue on our conversation with Albert Shin and Gloria Ui Young Kim, delving deeper into the themes of creative distance and formative films. Albert and Gloria interview each other and become the first ever guests to make the gauntlet run of “7 RA Questions”.

Follow the link here for the episode transcript: https://bit.ly/backstory-ep2-transcript

Content Warning: mention of abuse, sexual violence, kidnapping.

Plugs

  • Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019) is now available for streaming and download on iTunes, Google Play, and other major digital platforms in Canada. Watch the trailer at https://youtu.be/TjNYN5bqi8I.
  • Queen of the Morning Calm (2019) will have a virtual screening on May 28th, at 9PM Eastern Time, hosted by the Canadian Film Fest. Check it out on SuperChannel. Watch the trailer at https://youtu.be/pILn_gorUHY.

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • "Paul Newman", Inside the Actors Studio (1994), Dir. Lou Del Prete
  • "Say Good Night",  Joakim Karud
  • "Jar Hut", Morusque
May 07, 202048:19
Creative2Creative, Take One (feat. Albert Shin, Gloria Ui Young Kim) -- pt. 1

Creative2Creative, Take One (feat. Albert Shin, Gloria Ui Young Kim) -- pt. 1

In this inaugural episode, Aram and Kelly host Albert Shin (Disappearance at Clifton Hill) and Gloria Ui Young Kim (Queen of the Morning Calm) to talk about their respective works. Albert and Gloria interview each other and become the first ever guests to make the gauntlet run of “7 RA Questions”.

Follow the link here for the episode transcript: https://bit.ly/backstory-ep1-transcript

Content Warning: mention of abuse, sexual violence, kidnapping.

Plugs

  • Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019) will be available for streaming and download starting May 4th on iTunes, Google Play, and other major digital platforms in Canada. Watch the trailer at https://youtu.be/TjNYN5bqi8I.
  • Queen of the Morning Calm (2019) will have a virtual screening on May 28th, at 9PM Eastern Time, hosted by the Canadian Film Fest. Check it out on SuperChannel. Watch the trailer at https://youtu.be/pILn_gorUHY.

This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources:

  • Love Letter (1995), Dir. Shunji Iwai
  • Disappearance at Clifton Hill (2019), Dir. Albert Shin
  • Queen of the Morning Calm (2019), Dir. Gloria Ui Young Kim
  • "Say Good Night",  Joakim Karud
  • "Jar Hut", Morusque
Apr 30, 202056:45
Backstory
Apr 22, 202002:40