2025 Mulan International Film Festival Returns to Toronto with 38 Pan-Chinese Films

Written by Fête Chinoise Editorial team
Images Courtesy of Mulan INternational Film Festival

August 8th – 17th | Innis Town Hall, Toronto, Canada

Festival Visual

The 2025 Mulan International Film Festival returns to Innis Town Hall from August 8–17. Dedicated to fostering an appreciation of pan-Chinese cinema in Canada, the 6th edition will showcase 38 films over 10 days. Spanning eras, regions, and languages, this year’s program offers a vital platform for engaging with the richness and diversity of pan-Chinese storytelling.

This year’s festival opens with Chinatown Cha-Cha by Luka Yuanyuan Yang, a documentary that follows a group of trailblazing Chinese American women, once stars of San Francisco’s Chinatown nightclubs, as they return to the stage in their 70s to 90s with timeless grace. The festival closes with Bunnylovr by Katarina Zhu, fresh from its premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. A Q&A session with the filmmakers will follow both screenings.

“We chose Chinatown Cha-cha as our Opening Film because we’ve noticed, in recent years, a growing number of elder immigrants—especially women—often having moved here to join their children, joined us as audience. These diverse group of retired women embrace their new lives with remarkable energy: they learn English, practice tai chi, join community programs, and take photos everywhere they go. Even with limited language, they navigate supermarkets and shops with ease and confidence. In newcomer English-as-Second-Language classes, more than half the students are often women (while their husbands tend to be less eager to try new things). That fullness and vitality of spirit deeply resonate with the women at the heart of Chinatown Cha-cha.”

— SHEN Wei, Artistic Director

We are delighted to support the Mulan International Film Festival once again this year, and we proudly share in its mission to cultivate awareness and appreciation for Chinese culture and heritage from a contemporary Canadian perspective.

Scroll down to explore this year’s featured films and the directors behind them!

Fountainhead

This programme shines a spotlight on emerging filmmakers, celebrating their originality and creative voice. This year, there will be three Fountainhead Shorts screenings, each followed by a Q&A with the directors. These filmmakers bring diverse cultural and educational backgrounds to the screen, offering fresh, compelling narratives rooted in Chinese and Asian cultures.

• Shorts Screenings:
  August 9 (Sat), 7:15 PM;
  August 10 (Sun), 7:15 PM;
  August 11 (Mon), 8:00 PM

Featured directors:

Shorts Screening I: LIN Yihan, Arnold TAM Jing Wah, WANG Yu, Jaro MINNE, QIU Runfeng, and Badlands Film Group

Shorts Screening II: Kangdrun, CHENG Yu, FAN Wenyi, LIN Kangjing, ZHNAG Yaoyuan

Shorts Screening III: QU Zhizheng, LIU Chongyan, SUN Kun, JIN Chengyi, ZHENG Miaoxin

Lili vs. Leviathan

This programme celebrates the strength, identity, and voices of women in cinema on screen and behind the camera. Featuring female filmmakers and actresses, the selection offers powerful perspectives through the lens of female creators. Highlights include:

• Montages of a Modern Motherhood《虎毒不》(2024) – August 9 (Sat), 4:30 PM

• Fly Me to The Moon《但願人長久》(2023) – August 16 (Sat), 7:30 PM

• All Quiet at Sunrise《世界日出时》(2025) – August 15 (Fri), 6 PM

• Pavane for an Infant《搖籃凡世》(2024) – August 16 (Sat), 4:45 PM

Featured directors:

Oliver CHAN Siu-kuen, Sasha CHUK, ZHU Xin, CHONG Keat Aun

YIN AND YANG

The Yin and Yang programme highlight films that explore social issues such as gender inequality, identity, expression, and sexual orientation, promoting equality and solidarity. This year’s highlights include the Canadian premiere of Geng Jun’s Bel Ami《漂亮朋友》, which earned Zhang Zhiyong the award for Best Leading Actor, Wang Weihua and Chen Hoping for Best Cinematography and Best Film Editing, and the Audience Choice Award at the 61st Golden Horse Awards.
Full lineup:

• Love Bound《爱的牵绊》(2024) – August 9 (Sat), 2:30 PM

• 1 Girl Infinite《不可能女孩》(2025) – August 10 (Sun), 2:30 PM

• Some Woman《一些女人》(2021) – August 12 (Tue), 9 PM

• Bel Amu《漂亮朋友》(2024) – August 16 (Sat), 4:45 PM

• When She Looks At Me: Yin and Yang Shorts Screening – August 17 (Sun), 5:15 PM

Featured directors:

CHEN Shanshan, Lilly HU, Quen WONG, GENG Jun

LAI Yuqing, ZHANG Lin, Amie SONG, ZHANG Yichuan

Retrospective

This year, the Retrospective Programme shines a spotlight on acclaimed Hong Kong writer and screenwriter Lilian Lee (李碧華), whose evocative stories of love, destiny, and the supernatural have profoundly shaped Chinese-language cinema. It also features contemporary documentaries that offer a reflective lens on heritage and identity. Highlights include:

• Kawashima Yoshiko (The Last Princess of Manchuria) 《川島芳子》(1990) – August 10 (Sun), 5 PM

• Rouge《胭脂扣》(1987) – August 11 (Mon), 6 PM

• A Terra-Cotta Warrior《秦俑》(1989) – August 12 (Tue), 6 PM

• Farewell My Concubine《霸王別姬》(1993)– August 14 (Thu), 7 PM

• Green Snake 《青蛇》(1993) – August 16 (Sat), 2:30 PM

Documentary: Gaze & Reflection

• Obedience《十方之地》(2024) – August 9 (Sat), 2:30 PM

• Nest《巢》(2023) – August 10 (Sun), 2:30 PM

• Many Undulating Things《湧浪之间》(2019) – August 12 (Tue), 9 PM

---

---

More from Fête Chiniose