Toronto is known as a city of film festivals. But for nearly 30 years, the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival has done more than screen films. It has built a cultural home.

In this episode of Mission Critical, Lance sits down with Deanna Wong, Executive Director of Reel Asian, to explore what it really means to steward a platform that shapes how Asian stories are told, funded, and remembered in Canada. From growing up searching for a single non-stereotypical Asian face on television, to witnessing the global impact of films like Crazy Rich Asians, Everything Everywhere All at Once, and Turning Red, Deanna reflects on the long arc of representation (and why progress still feels fragile ...