The 13th edition of the Montreal Asian International Film Festival officially opened on May 14 at Cinéma du Musée with an evening celebrating cinema, community, music, and food. Marking an exciting new chapter for the festival under its rebranded name, the opening ceremony reflected the collective effort of the many volunteers, interns, and creative team members who worked tirelessly behind the scenes to bring the event to life. From preparing the welcome table to installing festival posters designed by the MAiFF design team, the evening highlighted the dedication required to launch an international film festival.
The Opening Film Program showcased three distinctive works. The evening’s feature presentation was There Are No Words, an award-winning documentary by filmmaker Min Sook Lee, who attended the screening and participated in a post-film Q&A with audiences. The program also included Saekdong / Colour of Korea by pioneering experimental filmmaker HAN Okhi, presented as part of a retrospective honouring Asian women’s experimental cinema since the 1970s, as well as Red Star Alley, a paper-cut animation by Jenny Yujia Shi.
The opening night welcomed a large and enthusiastic audience, including filmmakers, artists, festival supporters, and distinguished guests, setting the tone for an exciting edition of the festival and reaffirming MAiFF’s commitment to celebrating Asian cinema and cross-cultural artistic exchange in Montreal.
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In partnership with Art Souterrain, MAiFF presented Tangible Narratives: An Evening of Asian-Canadian Short Films. Bringing together powerful diasporic voices from across Canada and beyond, the evening featured five moving and visually striking short films:
An Uninterrupted View of the Sea — directed by Mika Yatsuhashi
Washed My Hands of It — directed by Elmira Laki
Comme un fleuve (Như một dòng sông) — directed by Sandra Desmazières
Hitting the Noodles — directed by Shelly Seo Bahng
In the Blood — directed by Nungshimeren Longkumer
We were incredibly grateful to witness such a meaningful turnout and an engaging post-screening discussion with the filmmakers, including thoughtful questions and reflections shared by the audience. It was a truly fulfilling evening of connection, conversation, and community through cinema. A special thank you to all of the directors for their attendance, generosity, and openness in sharing their experiences and perspectives with us. It was an honor to have the opportunity to discuss these important works together and to create meaningful dialogue with our audience.
We also extend our heartfelt thanks to Frédéric Loury and the Art Souterrain team for helping make this event possible.
MAiFF collaborated with HTMlles Festival at Ada X to present the writing workshop, "Intercultural Flavours with Jinwoo Park and Veena Gokhale" ! Thank you very much to the authors Jinwoo and Veena, as well as to our collaborators at Ada X!
In this interactive workshop, participants engaged in food writing exercises paired with readings and presentations, group discussions, and delicious snacks from India and South Korea, all in line with the theme "tangibility" for the 13th MAiFF. “Intercultural Flavours” celebrates the beauty of multiculturalism and cross-cultural exchange through something that is familiar to all of us: food. Workshop highlights included:
- Readings and presentations from Jinwoo Park (Oxford Soju Club) and Veena Gokhale (Annapurna’s Bounty)
- Group discussions that encourage participants to reflect on personal experiences
- Food writing exercises that spark creativity and incite the senses
- Refreshments including snacks and drinks from India and South Korea!
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The screening on May 16 at Cinema du Parc presented 3 stunning films: The Golden Village, by Karen Cho; The Sounds of Things Ablaze, by Hayat Najm; Landscapes of Home, by Alice IL Shin. The Golden Village and Landscapes of Home are both documentaries that touch on the concept of landscapes, and how our perception of settings and places change over time.
The theatre provided an extremely warm atmosphere, with Karen Cho's family in attendance and many engaged audience members. We also held an enriching Q&A session with the directors, moderated by Jinwoo Park, which allowed the directors to shed some light on their films. While the turnout was less than expected, we are still glad for the opportunity to share this film with wider audiences and engage in new discussions.
The screenings on May 29 and 30 presented Manok (2025) by Lee Yujin and Days of Being Wild (1990) by Wong Kar-Wai. Both films received positive responses from the audience, full of cinephiles and students alike!
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MAiFF presented its first Media Arts Fee Schedule Workshop in collaboration with the Independent Media Arts Alliance (IMAA), held at Groupe Intervention Video (GIV). Huge thanks to IMAA, GIV, and everyone involved in facilitating these conversations and creating space for collective learning and solidarity.
The session offered emerging artists and cultural workers an important space to learn more about IMAA’s fee schedule, fair remuneration, and working conditions in the media arts sector. It was incredibly informative — and also a necessary reminder of the realities many artists continue to face.
One major takeaway: several well-known arts organizations still do not pay screening fees to artists. As an artist-driven organization, MAiFF remains committed to paying artists fairly and advocating for equitable compensation across the sector.
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Yesterday, MAiFF 2026 held its first free community screening at Providence St. Dominique. We were delighted to engage with the lovely residents and present a Korean documentary. A huge thank you to Daniel Champagne, Janet Lumb, and the entire Providence staff for their invaluable contribution to making this event happen!
Every year, Arts East-West organizes community outreach events in line with our mission to make Asian arts more accessible to everyone. Last year, we collaborated with Nyata Nyata, a contemporary dance collective. This year, our project focuses on our beloved seniors. Two locations were selected for 2026: Providence St. Dominique and the Korean Association of Montreal in the NDG neighborhood. True to our mission of promoting diversity and making Asian art accessible to all, we are building bridges between different cultural and generational groups through this initiative.
The film we screened was *A Man Who Heals the City* by Kim Hyun-ji. This documentary tells the story of a mysterious man—the owner of an herbal medicine shop who gives everything to everyone but has never been interviewed. We also screened the First Nations animated film *Walking in the Forest* by Diane Obomsawin and the short film *Master's Tale: The Perfect Jib Bap* by Shanghoon.
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