Skip to main content
Akashi film image; woman looking out from the back window of a car

Akashi

あかし

Northern Lights

This event has passed

World Premiere

Ten years after moving to Vancouver, struggling visual artist Kana Yamamoto (Mayumi Yoshida) returns to Tokyo to attend the funeral of her beloved grandmother. Arriving in Japan, she rekindles a tentative flame with her bashful ex-boyfriend, Hiro (Ryo Tajima), an aspiring thespian who vanished from her life a decade prior. As Kana digs deeper into her grandmother’s past, she uncovers a family secret that prompts her to reconsider everything she thought she knew about love, duty, and belonging.

A feature adaptation of writer/director/actor Mayumi Yoshida’s autofictional short film of the same name, Akashi’s largely black-and-white cinematography evokes the solemnity of Kana’s grief, with select scenes brought to life in vivid colour. Themes of identity, class struggle, and artistic aspiration coalesce as the film shifts between the past and present to explore contrasting tales of star-crossed romance. Awash in synth soundscapes and driven by emotionally resonant performances, this tender drama asserts love’s ability to bridge any and all distances.

 

Oct 5 & 9: Q&A

 

Presented by

Telefilm logo

Media Partner

Global BC logo    CKNW logo

Director
Cast

Mayumi Yoshida, Hana Kino, Ryo Tajima, Sayaka Kunisada, Bun Kimura, Yuriko Onuma

Credits
Country of Origin

Canada

Year

2025

Language

In Japanese and English with English subtitles

Film Contact
Links
18+
105 min
BC Spotlight Drama Family Relations Women Directors
Musubi Arts, Experimental Forest Films

Book Tickets

This event has passed.

Credits & Director

Executive Producer

Julie Waters, Evan Dyal, Mallory Schwartz, Tyler Hagan, Kathleen Hepburn, Nach Dudsdeemaytha, Justin Ambrosino, Mayumi Yoshida

Producer

Nach Dudsdeemaytha, Tyler Hagan

Screenwriter

Mayumi Yoshida

Cinematography

Jaryl Lim

Editor

Nach Dudsdeemaytha

Production Design

Neil Colango

Original Music

Andrew Yong Hoon Lee

Mayumi Yoshida headshot

Mayumi Yoshida ​吉田真由美

Mayumi Yoshida is a director, actor, and writer born in Japan, raised in three continents, and currently based in Vancouver. Her international background brings a unique “in-betweener” point of view to her storytelling. She is an alumna of the Warner Bros. Discovery Access x Canadian Academy’s Writer/Director Program, TIFF Writer’s Studio, and Beyond Japan Filmmakers Program, where she was mentored by Hirokazu Koreeda. Her Juno-nominated music video “Different Than Before” won the Jury Award at SXSW and screened at Oscar- and BAFTA-qualifying film fests.

Filmography: Akashi (2017)

Missing VIFF? Check out what's playing at the VIFF Centre

Frankenstein

Dir. Guillermo del Toro
149 min

Frankenstein and Guillermo del Toro might have been made for each other. The movie does not disappoint, a ripping yarn of grand adventure, spectacle, hubris, passion and XXL body parts, a tale of the fantastic that rings the imagination. Screening in 35mm.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema

Checkpoint Zoo

Dir. Joshua Zeman
107 min

The amazing true story of the rescue of thousands of animals trapped on the frontline at an Ecopark when Russia invades Ukraine in 2022.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

An Taibhse (The Ghost)

Dir. John Farrelly
92 min

A winter caretaker and his troubled teenage daughter take up residence in a remote country mansion in this harrowing mid-19th century Irish makeover of The Shining.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Oddity

Dir. Damian McCarthy
98 min

The aptly-titled Oddity is a fiendish and disturbing horror movie about a blind seer, her murdered twin, and the psychiatrist widower's new girlfriend...

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre
More info

Sold Out

Predators

Dir. David Osit
96 min

"Punk'd for pedophiles." That's what Jimmy Kimmel called Chris Hansen's true crime/reality TV show, To Catch a Predator (2004-07). Two decades on, David Osit examines why the show made such an impact, for good or ill, and sits down with Hansen himself.

VIFF Centre - Lochmaddy Studio Theatre

The Outcasts

Dir. Robert Wynne-Simmons
95 min

One of earliest examples of "folk horror", The Outcasts (1982) draws on Irish mythology and folktales to eerie effect. Simple Maura is rumoured to have spent the night with the mythical fiddler Scarf Michael, with dire consequences for all... Screening followed by a panel discussion on Irish horror.

VIFF Centre - VIFF Cinema