Descendants of the Past, Ancestors of the Future screened as part of the Asian Heritage Month Film Festival in Toronto, Canada on Sunday, May 27, 2017. The event took place at Innis Town Hall Theatre at the University of Toronto. The event, with the theme Unity in Diversity: Fusion of Communities in Canada, featured a short film showcase followed by a Q&A with director Albert M. Chan and Golden Globe, Emmy, and Drama Desk nominated actress Tina Chen. The event continued with a panel discussion with director Nayani Thiyagarajah and a screening of her feature documentary Shadeism: Digging Deeper. Admission was free.

The film tells the tale of Andrew (Albert), the son of Chinese immigrants, who is about to become a father to a baby girl. Before she is born, however, Andrew desperately needs to understand how his mother (Tina Chen) and her own father could have lived apart for most of their lives.

The event was presented by the Asian Heritage Month—Canadian Foundation for Asian Culture (Central Ontario) Inc. in partnership with Reelworld Film Festival and was programmed by Gave Lindo, Executive Director of Reelworld Film Festival. Asian Heritage Month Festival is partially funded by the Government of Canada through the Department of Canadian Heritage and the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.