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Asian Film Database

Earth (1998)

108min. Fiction, Colour
Language(s): Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi, Gujarati
Director/Filmmaker: Deepa Mehta (India)
Production Company: Kaleidoscope-India, Cracking Earth Films
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Trailer
Awards:  
Setting: India
Summary: Earth is a love story gone sour in 1940s Lahore (present-day Pakistan), in which Ayah, the protagonist Lenny's beautiful nanny and constant companion, is used and abused by the men around her, especially Ice-candy-man, even as she shares a loving relationship with Lenny herself. The Hindu Ayah's two Muslim suitors, Ice-candy-man and Masseur, are set up as contrasts, the former being at first carefree and funny but letting the beast within him surface when the violence and destruction starts later in the film; the latter being gentle and understanding and eventually killed for his efforts to help those in need of protection. (femfilm.ca)
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Eastbound (2004)

16min. Romance
Language(s):  
Director/Filmmaker: Rita Tse (Canada)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: The exquisitely art-directed short film Eastbound is an ode to a bygone era. Highly influenced by both Wong Kar-Wai's In the Mood for Love and Stanley Kwan's Centre Stage, footage of the 30's Chinese screen diva Ruan Lingyu is juxtaposed with the loneliness of the protagonist, a housewife who waits constantly for her husband's return.
Source: Reel Asian

 

Easter Parade (2010)

6min. Drama, Colour
Language(s): Sound
Director/Filmmaker: Paul Wong (Canada)
Production Company: Paul Wong Projects
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Excerpt
Awards:  
Setting: Nicaragua
Summary: Icon of Jesus is marched through town in the days leading up to Easter, the footage was recorded in San Juan del Sur, Nicaragua. Easter Parade was presented at 'One More Than Three' at Mountainview Cemetery as part of Paul Wong's '5', a Series of site-specific installations and events commissioned by the City of Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program. (paulwongprojects.com)
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EastVan 'John' (2008)

38min. Documentary, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Paul Wong (Canada)
Production Company: Assisted by the B.C. Arts Council and Canada Council
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Excerpt
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: An intimate portrait of a neighbourhood in transition, as the new owners of a house on Vancouver's east side survey their badly burned property prior to renovating and the former owner casually chats with Wong, a long time friend – all on camera. The resulting work is a tale of connectedness through friendship, kinship and addiction. (http://mikehoolboom.com/?p=59)
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Echoes (2003)

3min. Documentary, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Michelle Mohabeer (Guyana)
Production Company:
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: A woman reflects on the off-beat moments and stirrings of girlhood experiences that shaped her life. (CFMDC)
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Éclats nocturnes (2008)

60min. Inter-Arts, Colour
Language(s): Sound
Director/Filmmaker: Shanin Parhami (Iran)
Production Company:
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Trailer
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: This collectively created piece uses Khosro Berahmandi's enigmatic and meditative paintings as point of departure: performer and choreographer Geneviève La, musicians Shuni Tsou, Ziya Tabassian, Nicolas Caloia, and filmmaker Shahin Parhami will perform this unique kaleidoscopic work dedicated to the feminine. (shahinparhami.info)
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Ecliptic of the Night (2003)

3min. Uncategorized, Colour
Language(s):  
Director/Filmmaker: Hiromi Yoshiba (Canada)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary:

An enactment of the flow of newborn energy circling and traveling across the physical and psychological spaces, in varying gravities.

Source: Reel Asian

 

El Contrato (2003)

51min. Documentary, Colour
Language(s): English, Spanish
Director/Filmmaker: min Sook Lee (South Korea)
Production Company: National Film Board of Canada
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Film
Awards: Cesar E. Chavez Black Eagle Award
Setting: Canada
Summary: This documentary follows a poverty-stricken father from Central Mexico, along with several of his countrymen, as they make their annual migration to southern Ontario to pick tomatoes. For eight months a year, the town's population absorbs 4,000 migrant workers who toil under conditions, and for wages, that no local would accept. Yet despite a fear of repercussions, the workers voice their desire for dignity and respect. (National Film Board of Canada)
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Emily Hates Dogs! (2006)

1min. Drama, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Khanhthuan Tran ( Vietnam)
Production Company: Reel Asian Toronto International Film Festival
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: Commissioned for the Reel Asian Toronto International Film Festival's 10th anniversary, a 10-year-old's world is turned upside down by a gift from the sky (Vtape)
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Empty Orchestra (1997)

14min. Short, Colour
Language(s):  
Director/Filmmaker: Kira Wu (Canada)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: Empty Orchestra takes a look at popular culture through the triple lens of tabloid, TV, news reportage, and the personal narratives of karaoke singers.
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Encounter a Stranger (1997)

6min. Fantasy, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Atif Y. Siddiqi (Pakistan)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: Encounter is a twisted tale of rescue and romance, told in the narration. The images are poetic and have a photographic quality. They illustrate the state of the narrator/performer as a damsel in distress in an Indian S/M fantasy. (Vtape)
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Endocrine (1982)

Short
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Midi Onodera (Canada)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: The angst of coming out of the closet. Feeling trapped by the conventional body politic. Looming histories of oppressed women. Finding comfort within the safety of the social political womb. (midionodera.com)
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The End of The World (1999)

13min. Short, Colour
Language(s):  
Director/Filmmaker: Lin Hao-po (Taiwan)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary:  
Source:  

 

Enter the Dragon 1973-2008 (2010)

5min. Video Art, Colour
Language(s): SOund
Director/Filmmaker: Paul Wong (Canada)
Production Company: Paul Wong Projects
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Excerpt
Awards:  
Setting: China
Summary: Two seminal moments of recent media history are presented side by side. The closing scene from the film Enter The Dragon* starring Bruce Lee are juxtaposed with the first segment from the Opening Ceremonies of the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics. Enter The Dragon 1973-2008 is part of '5 Paul Wong Projects' commissioned by The City of Vancouver through its Olympic and Paralympic Art Program. (paulwongprojects.com)
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Erotic Exotic (1998)

19min. Experimental, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Atif Y. Siddiqi (Pakistan)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: Erotic Exotic is an experimental theatrical adaptation. Its poetic narrative of immigration from Pakistan to Canada speaks of discrimination. The themes of sexuality, gender and cultural identity are prominent in this camp illustration. In the first vignette, a high society transvestite comments on the status of women in Pakistan and how they are ill treated by men. In the second, she transforms into Pari, a dancer who is rebuked by an Islamic fundamentalist on the basis of homosexuality. In the third part Pari arrives in Canada to negotiate his desire for a western male in a song and dance routine that salutes Indian Cinema. (Vtape)
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Eroticism (2001)

8min. Short, Colour
Language(s): Japanese
Director/Filmmaker: Desiree Lim (Malaysia)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Japan
Summary: A video poem celebrating images of eroticism by five queer women in Japan. (Desiree Lim)
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Eve & the Fire Horse (2005)

92min. Drama, Colour
Language(s): English, Cantonese
Director/Filmmaker: Julia Kwan (Canada) 
Production Company: Red Storm Productions, Holiday Pictures
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Film
Awards: Winner of the Special Jury Prize (World Cinema - Dramatic), Sundance Film Festival; Winner of 5 Leo Awards, including Best Direction in a Feature Length Drama - Julia Kwan
Setting: Canada
Summary: After a series of misfortunes strike the Eng family, May Lin and her daughters, Eve and Karena, turn to Buddhism, Catholicism and ancient Chinese superstitions to try to take control of their destinies. But when the two young sisters decide they must achieve sainthood in order to save their wayward family, they go down a path that will forever change their lives. Seen through the eyes of an imaginative young girl, Eve & the Fire Horse takes you on a wondrous yet deeply felt journey, where family life is strange, childhood lonely and religion perplexing. (Telefilm Canada)
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Every time unique, the end of the world (2013)

13min. Experimental, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Kohei Usuda (Japan)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Film
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: An experimental film from Toronto about a filmmaker who tries to find a unique way to portray a typical day in his life (YouTube)
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Everything Will Be (2014)

86min. Documentary, Colour
Language(s): English, Cantonese
Director/Filmmaker: Julia Kwan (Canada) 
Production Company: National Film Board of Canada
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Film
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: Everything Will Be captures this fascinating transformation through the intimate perspectives of the Vancouver Chinatown's neighbourhood's residents, diverse merchants and new entrepreneurs, who offer their poignant reflections on change, memory and legacy. (Hot Docs)
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Evixion (1986)

78min. Drama, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Bashar Shbib (Syria) 
Production Company: Chbib Productions
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Film
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: Imagine a surreal narrative, without dialogue, in a style reminiscent of the 1920s silent era and seen through the lens of moving voyeuristic camera that records the odd whereabouts of an unseemly group of marginal tenants. An aging homosexual (Armand Munroe) and his drug-addicted lover (Piotr Lysak), a couple of fitness-freak yuppies (Mark Bérubé and Daphna Kastner), an eccentric Haitian lady and her son (Dalours Thornhill and Roland Smith), a punkish, crazy diva (Kennon Raines), as well as other bizarre and incongruous characters united to prevent their eviction. Watch them unravel in anarchy while they fight against the foul manoeuvres of an ingenious but nasty landlord (Jean-Claude Gingras) and his accomplice (Claire Nadon) who wants them evicted once and for all... (IMDb)
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Exit Upon Arrival (2010)

3min. Video Art, Colour
Language(s): No Sound
Director/Filmmaker: Paul Wong (Canada)
Production Company: Paul Wong Projects
Trailer/Excerpt/Film: Excerpt
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: In vertical split screen we see and hear two shifting views of the artist entering and exiting via a set of swinging doors. Going in and out of the light the top frame sees the performer in a wide shot, the bottom frame in medium range. Exit Upon Arrival was presented at 'One More Than Three' at Mountainview Cemetery, part of Paul Wong's '5', a series of site-specific events commissioned by the City of Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Public Art Program. (paulwongprojects.com)
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Exposure (1990)

8min. Documentary, Colour
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Michelle Mohabeer (Guyana)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: Exposure is an experimental documentary that explores issues of race, sexuality and cultural identity. A dialogue between two lesbians of colour (Japanese-Canadian and Afro-Caribbean women) is intercut with photographs, texts, paintings and voice-over. (CFMDC)
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Except You! (2000)

10min. Short, Colour
Language(s):  
Director/Filmmaker: Chan Lee (USA)
Production Company:  
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting:  
Summary: A disagreement over the counter becomes a war of stereotypes between a Korean storekeeper and a black customer as they rant in rage… with exceptions.
Source: Reel Asian

 

Exquisite Corpse (2008)

11min. Short
Language(s): English
Director/Filmmaker: Omar Majeed with six other directors (Pakistan)
Production Company: Basement Arts
Trailer/Excerpt/Film:  
Awards:  
Setting: Canada
Summary: This piece is episode three of season six of 'Sex TV'.
Source:  

 

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