Filmi 21! Virtual Edition
Filmi Toronto’s South Asian Film Festival Celebrating 21 Years!
December 27th, 2020
21st Filmi: Toronto’s South Asian film festival
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CLOSING NIGHT – Touring T.O.
FILMI PRESENTS – A NIGHT OF EPISODES
Sunday, September 28th, 2014
CLOSING NIGHT (WORLD PREMIERE)
FILMI: EPISODES SERIES
“TOURING T.O.”
Synopsis:
Touring T.O. is an eight part miniseries about two unlikely friends, Martin and Omar, and
their intern, Samantha. Together they run a lowbudget rickshaw tour company that
specializes in taking tourists to the unique and obscure landmarks of Toronto. If the
company fails, Omar will lose his work visa and be deported while Martin will be violating
the conditions of his parole and be sent back to prison. Together, the Touring T.O. crew
struggle to keep the company afloat while dealing with tourists as strange as the landmarks
they visit. It’s a scripted comedy that is part educational and part absurd. It is our love letter
to Toronto!
Episodes of “OUT OF TIME”, “GUIDESTONES” and #THATSAHOMEBOY will screen prior to the screening of “Touring T.O”
DIRECTOR: Stephen Papadimitriou
The challenges with Touring T.O. were the lack of money, the size of cast (41), and the
amount of locations scattered around the city. The only reason we made it through was
because we weren’t lacking in a passionate cast and crew. The dedication of the people
involved made everything possible.
Creatively my plan was to utilize all our limitations to our advantage. We designed the look
of the show based off the colours and tones we had available to us. Seeing that we had a
bright yellow rickshaw we decided that nothing else in the show (wardrobe, set dressing)
would be yellow. This, we hope, made the touring companies sole asset stand out every
time it was on screen.
The challenge of a large cast was offset by the fun of developing the characters and their
looks. We wanted to make each part, no matter how big or small, stand out and feel like
they had a life beyond the show.
Shawn Ahmed – Omar, CoWriter, Producer
Shawn Ahmed has worked as an Actor and Writer in Toronto and various parts of the
United States for over ten years. Most notably, he has been in Saw VI, Flight 93 (A&E), and
The Tracey Fragments (Dir. Bruce MacDonald). Currently, viewers have an opportunity to
catch Shawn on the T.V. series Odd Squad (PBS), the upcoming Feature Film A Date
With Miss Fortune (Dir. John L’Ecuyer) and on the Web Series’ The Bunch Gang Show,
Ryan Gosling Must Be Stopped, and Actorapists’. Shawn was also the cocreator of the
sketch comedy troupe Fade to Brown. Their TV special, Fade To Brown, continues to air
on OMNI TV. Shawn made his Directorial debut last year at Filmi with the short film Finding
Talib. Shawn has also enjoyed success on the stage, working at The Tarragon Theatre
(And Slowly Beauty…), Driftwood Theatre (Macbeth) and the historic Shakespeare &
Company in Lenox, Massachusetts (The Comedy of Errors, Revolutionary Moments,
More Words! More Play! and The Winters Tale). Currently, Shawn is receiving rave
reviews in Headstrong Collective and Urban Bard’s collaboration of Romeo & (her) Juliet).
Scott Leaver Martin, CoWriter, Producer
A Dora nominated actor, Scott has been working as an actor and writer for stage and
screen across Ontario for the past seven years. Scott’s most recent film work has included
Murdoch Mysteries (CBC), appearances for SPACE CHANNEL, and on the series
Ghostly Encounters. His most recent screenwriting work includes Touring T.O., an
eightpart miniseries for Bell Media releasing OnDemand this October, and the television
and web series Team Epic (BiteTV). As a playwright, Scott has worked with several
Canadian organizations including Next Stage Festival, Playwrights Workshop Montreal,
Scriptlab of Canada and the Canadian Musical Theatre Festival. Scott is a graduate of
Randolph Academy for the Performing Arts where he received his College Diploma in the
Performing Arts.
21st Filmi: Toronto's South Asian Film Festival 2021 
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