Backstory

In preparation for his summer movie showdown last month, Aram had trained for weeks on end. He’s visited every local waterfall to train under, sparred with burning logs and smouldering bbq pits, and reached out to his closest confidants about their secret takes on Karate Kid II. In this episode, Aram shares with Backstory podcast the conversations he’s had with his friends and loved ones about the...

Aram and Kelly share their summer movie picks with each other. What starts out as a congenial display of friendship and shared love for the cinema devolves into a thunderdome-styled fight to the bitter end of their friendship in defense of their honour and film tastes. Content Warning : horror, violence on screen, gore, decapitation, body mutilation, nudity, death Follow the link here for extended...

Aram and Kelly continue their talk with animator extraordinaire Howie Shia and master puppeteer Anne Koizuimi in an attempt to answer the question: "what is an animation?” This episode includes Anne Koizumi's live commentary of IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES ( https://youtu.be/nI85ahkSmSA ). The first part of the conversation included Howie Shia's live commentary of MARCO’S ORIENTAL NOODLES ( https://...

Aram and Kelly talk with animator extraordinaire Howie Shia and master puppeteer Anne Koizuimi in an attempt to answer the question: "what is an animation?” This episode includes Howie Shia's live commentary of MARCO’S ORIENTAL NOODLES ( https://youtu.be/IobYgrLpCX8 ). The second part of this conversation, which includes Anne Koizumi's live commentary of IN THE SHADOW OF THE PINES ( https://youtu....

In celebration of Asian Heritage Month, Aram and Kelly take a trip down memory lane(s) to reconnect with friends of the festival. They talk with Chris Chin, festival and operations manager for Reel Asian, about the festival's latest archival campaign "#untiltomorrow", which bring together works featured at past Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. Content Warning : light swearing Follow...

We continue on our conversation with Albert Shin and Gloria Ui Young Kim, delving deeper into the themes of creative distance and formative films. Albert and Gloria interview each other and become the first ever guests to make the gauntlet run of “7 RA Questions”. Follow the link here for the episode transcript: https://bit.ly/backstory-ep2-transcript Content Warning : mention of abuse, sexual vio...

In this inaugural episode, Aram and Kelly host Albert Shin ( Disappearance at Clifton Hill ) and Gloria Ui Young Kim ( Queen of the Morning Calm ) to talk about their respective works. Albert and Gloria interview each other and become the first ever guests to make the gauntlet run of “7 RA Questions”. Follow the link here for the episode transcript: https://bit.ly/backstory-ep1-transcript Content...

This is where our story begins.  We will be here last Thursday of every month, with a few exceptions.  Backstory podcast is written and hosted by Aram Collier and Kelly Lui. It's edited and produced by Seungwoo Baek, and is presented by Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival. If you  have any questions or want to say hey, reach out to us at backstory.ra@gmail.com . The episo...