Backstory

Backstory

By Toronto Reel Asian International Film FestivalTV & Film
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Backstory episodes

  • Road Trip pt. 3 with Brian Hu (San Diego Asian Film Festival)

    Backstory hits up the west coast on this edition of the Road Trip series, joining Brian Hu, Artistic Director of San Diego Asian Film Festival, to discuss the long history of Asian American cinema, the importance of film criticism in a world of takes, and the future of Asian American filmmaking beyond Hollywood.

    San Diego Asian Film Festival is hosted by Pacific Arts Movement. Follow them on social media @pacartsmovement.

    Mentioned in this episode (get your Letterboxd ready):

    • Brian’s article for the LA Times: "The 20 best Asian American films of the last 20 years"
    • Asian American Filmmaking 2000–2009 - The Criterion Channel
    • Saturday School podcast, hosted by Brian Hu and Ada Tseng, specifically season 8 on Asian-American sci-fi
    • My Sight Is Lined with Visions: 1990s Asian American Film & Video, curated by Keisha Knight and Abby Sun, and its accompanying Criterion Channel collection
    • Brian’s essay for My Sight Is Lined with Visions: "They Were Asian American, But…"

      • More from the Road Trip series:

      • Part 1 with Selena Yip (Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival)
      • Part 2 with with Melissa Bisagni (Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival)

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

        • “Sailing” by Telecasted
        • “Anything You Can Dream” by The Whole Other
          • 39 min
        • Something Fishy

          Aram introduces Kelly to a quintessential Asian diaspora fast food meal. Plus, a preview of what’s to come on Backstory (more mukbang?).

          This episode was recorded on video! Watch it on Spotify or YouTube.

          Links

          • Writer Jane Hu on the Filet-o-Fish and her Chinese-Canadian upbringing

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

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

              • From the Backstory archives: S2E05: “Play Me” and last year’s playlist on YouTube and Spotify
              • For the TXT fans: TXT’s re-enactments of Weightlifting Fairy
              • For further reading: writer Cat Zhang on “The Endless Life Cycle of Japanese City Pop”
              • On city pop’s influence: Did you know Out of Time by The Weeknd samples Midnight Pretenders by Tomoko Aran?

                • 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

                    6. 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
                      6. 22 min
                    6. Road Trip pt. 2 with Melissa Bisagni (Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival)

                      Emerging from our winter and covid lockdowns, we take an audio road trip to visit with film festival friends along the East Coast. We talk about the joys and challenges of our respective cities and festivals and detail the intricacies of how the (festival) sausage gets made.

                      Road Trip pt. 2 features Melissa Bisagni, Festival Director at the Washington DC Asian Pacific American Film Festival.

                      https://www.apafilm.org/

                      &

                      Backstory co-host Kelly Lui calls in from a far away place! 

                      Music:

                      • “Sailing” by Telecasted
                      • “Anything You Can Dream” by The Whole Other
                        • 1 hr 13 min
                      • Road Trip pt. 1 with Selena Yip (Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival)

                        Emerging from our winter and covid lockdowns, we take an audio road trip to visit with film festival friends along the East Coast. We talk about the joys and challenges of our respective cities and festivals and detail the intricacies of how the (festival) sausage gets made.

                        Road Trip pt. 1 features Selena Yip, Festival Director at the Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.

                        https://paaff.org/

                        Music:

                        • “Sailing” by Telecasted
                        • “Anything You Can Dream” by The Whole Other
                          • 39 min
                        • 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
                            • 35 min
                          • Beans, Rice, and Everything Nice

                            Grayson returns to help Jen host this special Asian Media Year In Review trivia episode, with Kelly and Aram battling it out to defend their carbohydrate of choice. Happy New Year from the Backstory team!


                            Links

                            • Listen to the Backstory episode on Minari.
                            • For more on familycore / parentcore.
                            • The profile on Keanu.
                            • Take this quiz to find out which Keanu Reeves character you are!


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

                              • “Say Good Night”, Joakim Karud
                              • “Morpho Diana”, Rachel Collier
                              • Beans and Rice PSA
                              • Tampopo (1985)
                                • 38 min
                              • Unsung Untold

                                Aram and Kelly are joined by Tony, Althea, Ammar, Jen, and Ange to celebrate 10 years of Unsung Voices, Reel Asian’s annual summer workshop for first-time filmmakers. They reminisce over the untold challenges behind their first films, before being put to the test in a round of Unsung Voices trivia. Tune in to the very end to hear more Unsung Voices filmmakers share their favourite memories.

                                Follow the link here for an extended shownote and transcription: https://bit.ly/unsunguntold

                                1 hr 14 min
                              • Asian Representation with a Tornado Kick Twist

                                Ever wonder about the origins of the ninja or what it was like growing up in a video rental store in small town Ontario? Aram is joined by Grayson Lee in this episode to discuss the legacy of martial arts in cinema, Ninja Turtles merch, empowerment through orientalization, and terrible films that are also very good. Follow Grayson on Instagram @grime_ninja.

                                Click here for an extended shownote and transcript.

                                For a list of the films mentioned in this episode, check out our Letterboxd list. 

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

                                • “Say Good Night”, Joakim Karud
                                • “Morpho Diana”, Rachel Collier
                                • Jack Vs the Ninja
                                • Ninja Assasin - Raizo Saves Miko
                                  • 36 min
                                • Have You Seen This?

                                  Kelly walks Aram through his first (and perhaps last?) watch of CRASH LANDING ON YOU, 2019’s love story of the year (arguably). Will his love for the show crash and burn, or paraglide and land on his summer heart?

                                  This episode includes spoilers to the show CRASH LANDING ON YOU (2019). If you liked the format, please do check out Too Long; Didn’t Watch (@tldwpod on Twitter), whose podcast gave us the inspiration for this episode.

                                  Content Warning: minor swearing

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

                                  This episode uses the following multimedia samples and sources: 

                                  • "Say Good Night", Joakim Karud
                                  • "Morpho Diana", Rachel Collier
                                  • Episode 16 of CRASH LANDING ON YOU (2019)


                                    • 53 min

                                  About Backstory

                                  From the publisher's feed

                                  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.