Ba's Book opens Toronto Reel Asian tonight. Here's what Canadians can watch after opening night

Toronto Reel Asian opens its 30th edition tonight with Ba's Book. Ashley Duong, a Vietnamese Canadian director based in Montréal, grew up in Calgary knowing almost nothing about her father's route from wartime Vietnam through revolutionary Iran and into Canada. Anh Duong later wrote those years down in the memoir Dear Da-Lê. Her film takes both of them back to his ancestral village, where relatives stage scenes from the book, argue with them, and correct the record on camera.

Opening night is Wednesday, November 11, at 7:30 p.m. at Hot Docs Ted Rogers Cinema. Doors open at 6:45, and Duong stays for a Q&A. Gala tickets are $35 and include the afterparty at CBC Atrium at 9:30 p.m., with a suggested $10 donation at the door. She returns Thursday at 2 p.m. for a free artist talk in the Commons Lobby at 401 Richmond Street West, joined by actor Duy Nguyen and cinematographer Mrinal Desai. The film has already played TIFF, BFI London, and Lunenburg Doc Fest, and it won the Documentary Magazine Award at Cannes Docs. Reel Asian has not confirmed a digital ticket for Ba's Book, so if you want this one in Toronto, tonight is the screening to book.

If you miss opening night, or you are outside the GTA, these three from the anniversary program are the next stops.

Sunburn is the centrepiece gala on Sunday, November 15, at 7 p.m. at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 2. Tickets are $35, with a reception at CSI Spadina at 9:30. Serville Poblete, a Toronto-born Filipino Canadian filmmaker, follows best friends Vince and Shay through St. James Town on a blackout day so hot that the towers empty into the street. The film won Best Canadian Feature at TIFF 2026. Lightbox has already marked the show as rush, so plan on same-day tickets; open captions and live ASL are included. Outside Toronto, confirm digital dates on the film page. Some festival roundups put a Canada online window for Sunburn at November 19 to 29.

Film Club, Cyrus Sundar Singh's 2001 documentary, screens Saturday, November 14, at 10 a.m. at TIFF Lightbox Cinema 4. In 1971, the year Canada made multiculturalism official policy, an 11-year-old Sundar Singh joined an after-school film club of immigrant kids in Toronto. This reunion doc goes back to the short they made then, and to the racism, bullying, and belonging questions that still hang over the group. Sundar Singh and participants do a Q&A afterward, moderated by Reel Asian executive director Deanna Wong. Regular Lightbox features and shorts blocks are $18.

Strawberry Fields screens Tuesday, November 17, at 7:30 p.m. at Innis Town Hall. Rea Tajiri directed; Toronto author Kerri Sakamoto co-wrote. It was the first film shown at Reel Asian in 1997, and tickets for this return are free, with open captions. Irene, a Sansei woman whose parents will not talk about the war, leaves Chicago for San Francisco and meets Japanese American activists who push her toward that buried history. Tajiri joins the Q&A remotely; Sakamoto is in the room. The festival marks the title available online for the Canada-wide window.

Toronto, in person	Nov. 11–21 at Hot Docs, TIFF Lightbox, Innis Town Hall, 401 Richmond, and partner venues. Opening and centrepiece galas $35. Lightbox features/shorts $18. Innis features free. Tickets: reelasian.com.
Canada-wide, online	Nov. 16–29 on watch.reelasian.com (CineSend). Selected features and all shorts. Single digital features $18. Digital Festival Pass $50. Shorts Pass $35. Window opens 10 a.m. ET Nov. 16. Check each title page before you buy; not every gala is digital.

Goldscene's calendar listing and festival guide have the wider map. In person runs through Nov. 21. Online closes Nov. 29.