Youth Critics Initiative

Youth Critics Initiative
OPEN FOR APPLICATIONS!!

Program Timeline

Youth Critics Initiative (YCI) is back with our 6th cycle of long-form criticism incubation!!

Six critics will be selected and assigned to work with one of three mentors, who will also be their primary editor.
The program will feature meetings involving all mentors and participants and more intimate sessions between 1 mentor and 2 participants. Mentor profiles are available below.

Applicants will be required to produce one larger project of criticism featuring a mix of formats (examples include writing, collage, zines, mixed media, video essays, podcasts or anything else you might pitch) that covers a few films, events in the festival.

Check out our last cohort’s pieces!

Participants will receive a festival pass to the 29th Toronto Reel Asian international Film Festival and a $150 honorarium upon successful completion of their work.

Application Form

Deadline: end of day September 1st, 2025. (We will accept applications until 4 a.m. on September 1st.)
All applicants will be notified by early September.

Questions or any requests for accessibility support with the application process can be sent to hello.tacla@gmail.com!

this year’s collage poster is by keiko hart

Who can apply?

Applicants who identify as part of the Asian diaspora, aged 18 – 35 living in Ontario (or who are willing to be in ON for a bit) are able to apply.

It is a pre-requisite that you attend the in-person Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival in November. Cohort members who do not attend will not be allowed to continue with the program.

A note: TACLA is unfortunately not able to provide unlimited equipment to enable these projects to happen. Applicants who choose these formats will need to verify that they have the equipment to produce their own pieces (especially in the context of audio and video work).

A note on AI

As an incubator focused on writing in our current ecosystem, we will have open conversations on the spectrum of opinions about AI use over the nine months (including its entanglement with larger issues like climate change and surveillance technology), but this program will prioritize skill acquisition for people that would like to develop style, and technical abilities to write.

We do not support the use of generative AI in the creation of the final project, and mentors will be at their discretion to check in with you on your process and your work. The use of AI or large language models like ChatGPT in your work may disqualify you in your application or result in your inability to continue with the program.

Mentors

Vince Ha (he/him)

keywords: Queer narratives, speculative ludics, transnational and transcultural media
mediums: photography, filmmaking, curation, writing
link to sample work

Vince is a media researcher, educator, and filmmaker. His research broadly examines the impact of global queer Asian cinema on local visual ecologies, particularly the attitudinal and social shifts within queer diasporic communities. As a mentor, he welcomes recovering praise-seekers to work through their perfectionism, often a side effect of having tiger parents, and encourages them to engage in trenchant yet playful, evocative criticism.

Jasmine Gui (she/her)

keywords: post/decolonial, documentary, aesthetics, mixed media, bio/necro-politics, affect
mediums: collage, blackout, video essay, comics, writing, exhibition, zines
link to sample work

Jasmine is a Singaporean-born interdisciplinary artist and a PhD candidate at York University in the English department, working in decolonial (transnational and diasporic) Asian literature and media. Her work uses a critical deconstructive reading, and rigorous writing / mixed media approach. She is also a seasonal programmer with the Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival.

keiko hart (They/Them)

Keywords: in-betweeness, queer reckonings, new media, ambiguity, hybridity
Mediums: performance art, curation, community organizing, gaming, writing
link to sample work

keiko bounces between artist and curator, reader and writer, east and west, land and sky, irl and url. Their practice utilizes digitally mediated performances to query race, gender, sexuality, geography, and language. During their MFA studies in Criticism and Curatorial Practice at OCAD U, they attempted to map the location of identity and its (mis)perceptions/interpretations through live-streaming stream-of-consciousness writing. They remain curious and are still (re)searching.

Schedule (2025-2026)

Sept 17: Session #1: Orientation & Hellos!

Sept 24: Session #2 with keiko hart

October 8: Session #3 with Vince Ha

Oct 10-27: Curriculum reading sessions with mentor

Oct 29: Session #4: Festival 101 (Tips & Tricks)

Nov 5-16: 29th Toronto Reel Asian International Film Festival

Nov 13: Session #5: Festival hang and check-in

Dec 1: Verbal pitches due

Dec 13: Written outlines due

Jan 7, 14 – Session #6 and 7: Writing Intensives with Jasmine Gui

Feb – March: Edit/Review meetings

March 25 – Session #8: Presentations

April 8: Final pieces locked

May: Publication in taclanese

*session programming will be a mix of in person and online

Learn more about the impetus behind YCI here:

Youth Critics has successfully produced five cohorts of writers and we are incredibly proud of the work that our critics have put in to engage, wrestle with and think through art being produced by other members of the communities we claim belonging to.

Critical engagement for us is relational. We have witnessed the impact of critical literacy and community engagement in the ways we nurture nuanced dialogue and creation. Documenting these conversations allows us to build frames to better understand the evolving perspectives in larger socio-cultural atmospheres and movements. Documentation also generates archival material, and a thoughtful genealogy for the Asian Canadian creative community.

TACLA