Sook-Yin Lee

Sliders

Pat

In his basement in San Francisco, boy-genius Quinn Mallory unlocks the doorway to an infinite number of Earths. During a test run, Quinn invites co-worker Wade Welles and his teacher Professor Maximillian Arturo to see his new invention. But an increase in power and an early departure leave all three, plus a washed-up soul singer named Rembrandt "Crying Man" Brown, lost in a parallel world. Now they must "slide" from world to world, not only adapting to their changing surroundings, but also trying to get back to their world. Will they ever make it home?

Shortbus

Sofia

In post-9/11 New York City, an eclectic group of citizens find their lives entangled, personally, romantically, and sexually, at Shortbus, an underground Brooklyn salon infamous for its blend of art, music, politics, and carnality.

Hedwig and the Angry Inch

Kwahng-Yi

Raised a boy in East Berlin, Hedwig undergoes a personal transformation in order to emigrate to the U.S., where she reinvents herself as an 'internationally ignored' but divinely talented rock diva, inhabiting a 'beautiful gender of one'.

Bad Company

Waitress

CIA operative Nelson Crowe is tasked with a deadly assignment: infiltrate a highly secret industrial espionage firm. Once inside, he teams with Margaret Wells, a master spy and seductive manipulator, in a plot to overthrow the organization's sinister president, which leads them into a darkly mysterious web of intrigue -- and shocking murder!

3 Needles

Tong Xiu, the Rice Farmer's Wife

A three-paneled look at the worldwide AIDS crisis: in Montreal, a porn actor schemes to pass his mandatory blood test; a young nun makes a personal sacrifice for the benefit of a South African village; in rural China, a black market operative posing as a government-sanctioned blood drawer jeopardizes an entire village's safety

Close to You

Emily

A trans man returns to his hometown for the first time in years. On his journey, he confronts his relationship with his family, reunites with a first love, and discovers a newfound confidence in himself.

Gifted and Challenged: The Making of 'Shortbus'

Sofia

A look at the unusual process used in the making of the film Shortbus (2006) featuring interviews, behind the scenes footage and clips from the feature film. Director John Cameron Mitchell starts with the concept of using real sex in a film with a positive message. The cast of unknowns is selected from homemade audition tapes and then a callback audition workshop. More acting workshops are used to develop the characters and script. The project overcomes a number of obstacles and the rest of the film's development is followed up until its premiere at the Cannes Film Festival.

Mood Indigo

Jenny

Suspense tale -- a pilot to a prospective series -- involving a criminal psychologist, struggling to rebuild his life after his wife is brutally murdered by a patient, and a lady lawyer who enlists his help in solving a baffling crime.

Boy Meets Girl

Judy

Angelina is a shy and whimsical Italian waitress who has moved from Italy to Canada to fulfill a family vow by marrying a man she's not in love with. Angelina settles into a neighborhood in Toronto's Little Italy longing for true love. Mike is a jaded and cynical copywriter for romance novels but has lost his faith in romantic love. In the days leading up to Valentine's Day, an enigmatic and amorous couple named Il Magnifico and Mrs. Jones set the whole neighborhood ablaze with romantic passion. While everyone seems to be falling under the spell of Cupid's arrows, Angelina and Mike meet and just might find the true love that they've been searching for.

Darkest Miriam

Susu Leung

Miriam Gordon lives in a fog of grief while working in a downtown public library branch. When a burgeoning love affair coincides with her receiving a series of oddly threatening letters, Miriam's sheltered existence is cracked open.

Endless Cookie

Radio Announcer

Exploring the complex bond between two half brothers — one Indigenous, one white — traveling from the present in isolated Shamattawa to bustling 1980s Toronto.

Escapades of the One Particular Mr. Noodle

Narrator (voice)

A comedy of obsession and assimilation that charts the true account of a first generation Chinese-Canadian's attempt to fit into a white suburb. After an alienated childhood, she lands a job at an unpopular pasta bar, walking the streets as a 10-foot egg noodle. A transformation occurs when her new persona, Mr. Noodle, supersedes her own identity - only to confront a similar alienation as a noodle-human.

Toronto Stories

Willia

Various lives intersect over the course of 48 hours in Canada's largest and most culturally diverse city.

A Fermenting Woman

Marielle

On the brink of getting fired from her restaurant by new owners, visionary chef and master fermenter Marielle Lau (Sook-Yin Lee) develops an incendiary new dish with a bewitching ingredient she’s convinced will save her career.

Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band

Self (archive footage)

Undeniably one of the most important and influential gay music acts in the last twenty years, Pansy Division pioneered the "queercore" genre long before other gay musicians had the confidence to come out of the closet, and without major record label support or mainstream radio airplay. Using original and archive footage and covering over fifteen years as a group, Pansy Division: Life in a Gay Rock Band is a fast-paced, intimate and humorous account of one of rock's most fearless acts. From their first days in San Francisco's underground music scene to a full-fledged stadium tour with Green Day and beyond, founding members Jon Ginoli and Chris Freeman overcome increasingly difficult line-up changes, prejudice and near-poverty to keep the band together and create music that has truly made a difference.

299 Queen Street West

During the rise of the music video era in the 80s, Canada launched "MuchMusic", a low budget TV network that revolutionized how the world's biggest stars connected with their fans and influenced the culture for the next three decades.

Death and Sickness.

Herself

Sook-Yin and Dylan are currently holed up in a house in Toronto capturing what happens on consumer cameras and mobile phones. Death and Sickness is a work of auto-fiction inspired by real-life events.

No Tickets at the Door

No Tickets At The Door is an in-depth look into Toronto’s diverse underground music scene and the myriad of challenges that musicians, promoters, and venues are facing during COVID-19. Questions about creative survival and perseverance during lockdown, as well as the overwhelming effects of merciless gentrification, are actively raised and discussed by the community. Part documentary, part love letter to the scene, filmmaker and musician Danny Alexander explores the creative impulses that are driving musicians today while paying close attention to the endangered status of Toronto as an incubator for the arts. Featuring interviews with prominent contributors such as Sook-Yin Lee, Dan Burke, Luna Li, Vypers, Alaska B, and TRP.P, owners of historic venues like the Horseshoe Tavern, and local politicians who are championing the arts, No Tickets At The Door examines the importance of music communities in the modern age and what is at stake if a city is no longer hospitable towards them.

Rest and Relax

Multiple Roles

REST AND RELAX is a film oddity about the anxieties of our time made by and starring artist/musicians Sook-Yin Lee and Dylan Gamble. Four stories explore life in the 21st century while surviving capitalism, sickness, and the internet.

Five Bucks at the Door: The Story of Crocks N Rolls

A documentary discussing the legacy and impact of the famous Crocks N Rolls bar, a music club in Thunder Bay, Ontario that featured many prominent artists throughout the 1980s. Numerous interviewees are profiled, as is the club's legendary founder and owner Frank Loffredo.