Last night, TAAFI hosted the premiere screening of the new Disney•Pixar animated short Bao to a sold-out crowd here in Toronto, followed up by an intimate behind-the-scenes talk with the film’s director Domee Shi.

In Disney•Pixar’s “Bao”, an aging Chinese mom suffering from empty nest syndrome gets another chance at motherhood when one of her dumplings springs to life as a lively, giggly dumpling boy. But Dumpling starts growing up fast, and Mom must come to the bittersweet revelation that nothing stays cute and small forever.

Also, courtesy of TAAFI, Brown Bag received two free tickets to the sold-out screening to raffle off to our staff.

Rigging Supervisor, Rae Dickey was the winner of the grand prize tickets, and she shared her thoughts on seeing the film for the first time:

“It was very heartwarming and charming. I enjoyed the Canadiana tidbits that were included in the background elements to set the stage. The talk itself was entertaining and informative and gave me some neat things to think about for my own work. And I may have cried…”

Domee Shi started working at Pixar Animation Studios in June 2011, working her way up from story intern, to story artist on the Academy Award©-winning feature film “Inside Out” and to now, Pixar’s first female short film director. She has also worked on the feature films “The Good Dinosaur” and the upcoming “Incredibles 2” and “Toy Story 4.” In 2015 she began pitching some ideas for short films and soon was greenlit to write and direct Bao. A whimsical story loosely based on her own experiences growing up as an only child, and set in the Chinese community in Toronto.

Check out the trailer here, and don’t miss seeing this heartwarming new short, which plays before the new Incredible 2 movie, premiering on July 15.