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All the Words, a short film by Angeline Javier, was inspired by her mother\u2019s journal.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019d always wondered what it was like for her to come to Canada in the 1980s,\u201d says Javier, whose documentary Please Handle With Care \u2014 a student film about the legacy of balikbayan boxes \u2014 was named best Manitoban short at the 2023 Gimli International Film Festival.<\/p>\n
With All the Words \u2014 a 10-minute short playing Saturday (5:15 p.m.) at Winnipeg\u2019s FascinAsian Film Festival \u2014 Javier delves into that wonder through the intergenerational stories of Claudia and Elisa, using both English and Tagalog dialogue to showcase the characters\u2019 differing diasporic experiences.<\/p>\n
Though the personal writing excerpts in the film were written and developed with her cast, the diary they hold in the film is the very same one Javier\u2019s mother escaped into when she first came to Winnipeg during her high school years.<\/p>\n
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<\/p>\n Angeline Javier explores intergenerational experiences in her film All the Words.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n As a teenager, Claudia (Ana Ilagan) exists in a bubble of solitude, living with her father (Chris Ilagan), who watches television and does crosswords to gain better command of the English language.<\/p>\n As an adult, Maricar Faderon plays Claudia, whose experiences are reflected in thought-provoking parallels with her teenage daughter Elisa (Kirstin Caguioa).<\/p>\n Among Javier\u2019s filmmaking inspirations are Filipino director Lino Brocka, specifically his 1975 film Manila in the Claws of Light, Before Sunrise director Richard Linklater and Korean-Canadian Celine Song, whose 2023 feature film Past Lives is a clear antecedent to All the Words.<\/p>\n The short was shot in 2024 and produced in large part with funds Javier received through the Winnipeg Film Group\u2019s Mosaic Award, a $10,000 prize that went toward production costs and equipment rentals. The award also included a one-on-one mentorship with Winnipeg artist Hazel Venzon, as well as a screening last month at the Black Lodge Studio along with work by local filmmakers Nathan Flores and Melvin Daligdig.<\/p>\n That type of community celebration is exactly what FascinAsian co-founder Alan Wong had in mind when the festival launched in 2021.<\/p>\n \u201cThe goal has always been to highlight and celebrate Asian stories in film, and it all happens to start Asian Heritage Month,\u201d says Wong, the former artistic director of the Gimli film fest.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s an opportunity to provide an additional platform and support for these underrepresented stories to be told.\u201d<\/p>\n \n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t Supplied<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n Sidney Phommarath\u2019s documentary Dear Nya is set in Laos.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n A multi-city festival with events in Edmonton and Calgary, FascinAsian features works by local artists including Javier, Quan Luong (Portraits, a profile of a night-market sketch artist in Vietnam, Saturday at 12:45 p.m.), Sidney Phommarath (the Laos-set documentary Dear Nya, Sunday at 12 p.m.), Evan Rivard and Gabriel Beso (the snackish comedy Friendchips, Sunday at 2:15).<\/p>\n But it also showcases a well-curated collection of Asian cinema from around the world, including the opening night feature Montr\u00e9al, ma belle (tonight, 7 p.m.).<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Presented in partnership with francophone fest Cin\u00e9mental and LGBTTQ+ fest Reel Pride, the latest work by Chinese-Canadian director Xiaodan He follows 53-year-old Feng Xia (Joan Chen, Twin Peaks), a wife and mother whose long-buried queer identity is awakened when she meets Camille, a spirited young Qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise (Charlotte Aubin.) The filmmaker will participate in a post-screening Q&A.<\/p>\n Saturday night\u2019s feature Akashi (7:30 p.m.) is described as a \u201cmultigenerational love story,\u201d which, like Javier\u2019s short, is told across parallel timelines. Writer-director-actor Mayumi Yoshida \u2014 a Japanese-Canadian artist \u2014 flits between British Columbia and Tokyo in the twisty romantic epic.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n Yoshida \u2014 who has been mentored by Palm d\u2019Or winning Japanese filmmaker Hirokazu Koreeda (Shoplifters) \u2014 will be in attendance for a post-screening Q&A with producer Nach Dudsdeemaytha.<\/p>\n Tickets and festival passes are available for all FascinAsian screenings at fascinasian.ca\/winnipeg-2026, where viewers can find the full festival guide.<\/p>\n Passholders get an added perk: proof of purchase grants access to the Dave Barber Cinematheque\u2019s upcoming series The Cinema of Edward Yang (May 8-13), featuring new restorations of the Taiwanese master\u2019s Taipei Story, Yi Yi, Mahjong, Confucian Confusion and A Brighter Summer Day.<\/p>\n winnipegfreepress.com\/benwaldman<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t Ben Waldman Ben Waldman is a National Newspaper Award-nominated reporter on the Arts & Life desk at the Free Press. Born and raised in Winnipeg, Ben completed three internships with the Free Press while earning his degree at Ryerson University\u2019s (now Toronto Metropolitan University\u2019s) School of Journalism before joining the newsroom full-time in 2019. Read more about Ben<\/a>.<\/p>\n Every piece of reporting Ben produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print \u2014 part of the Free Press\u2018s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press\u2019s history and mandate<\/a>, and learn how our newsroom operates<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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