AKASHI: Mayumi Yoshida’s Generational Love Story Takes To Canada and Japan Releases Out Of EFM
Actor and film multi-hyphenate Mayumi Yoshida’s career is taking off a little more this week with her feature directing debut, Akashi. The project is a personal one for Yashida as it’s based on a true story she shares with her late grandmother, which Yoshida later conceived as a stage play in Vancouver and a shortfilm she made in 2017.
Thus, Akashi now takes life in feature film form, having since premiered at the Vancouver International Film Festival and Whistler Film Festival both last year, winning awards at both events. Additionally, Canada’s KinoSmith and Japan’s Rabbit House acquiring the film for their respective territorial releases. Experimental Forest Films and Musubi Arts are shopping the new movie to buyers at the EFM in Berlin.
Read on, and check out the slides below:
KINOSMITH & RABBIT HOUSE BOARD MAYUMI YOSHIDA’S DEBUT FEATURE AKASHI AT THE EUROPEAN FILM MARKET
BERLIN, GER (February 18, 2026) — Experimental Forest Films and Musubi Arts announced today that Mayumi Yoshida’s acclaimed debut feature Akashi has found partners in Canadian distributor KinoSmith and Japan’s Rabbit House at the European Film Market (EFM). Rabbit House, the Tokyo-based independent film distribution company, has boarded for the Japanese market and will release the film theatrically, taking all rights for Japan and KinoSmith will distribute in the Canadian market. This news comes after the EFM screening of Akashi in Berlin on February 14th.
Akashi is a multigenerational love story told across parallel timelines. Kana, a struggling artist in Vancouver, returns to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral, feeling out of place after ten years abroad. As she reflects on a secret only she and her grandmother shared—that her grandfather had another lover—she unexpectedly reconnects with an old love, Hiro. Intercut with the past, which traces her grandfather’s decades-long affair, Kana confronts hidden family truths and begins to navigate the complexities of love, sacrifice, and the choices that shape a life between desire and duty.
“We are absolutely thrilled to be working with Mayumi and the Akashi team on representing their film in the Canadian marketplace,” says KinoSmith’s Robin Smith. “Mayumi is a massive talent and both herself and her team have created a magical feature that is both gentle and nostalgic while being emotionally current and relevant – a rare feat for any filmmaker let alone a first time feature film director. We are so excited to bring the film to a larger audience across Canada in the near future.”
Shot in Vancouver and Tokyo, Akashi has won awards at every festival it has screened, including an Audience award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and a sweep at the Whistler Film Festival taking home five award wins including the coveted Borsos prize for Best Canadian Feature. Akashi stars Mayumi Yoshida (The Man in the High Castle), Hana Kino (Faceless), Ryo Tajima (Avalanche), Chieko Matsubara (Tokyo Drifter), Kunio Murai (Godzilla VS Gigan), Shun Sugata (Kill Bill Vol 1), Bun Kimura (Rental Family), Sayaka Kunisada, Hiro Kanagawa (Shōgun) and Jess McLeod (Normal).
“We’re truly excited to share the work of a remarkable new voice with you. The director of this film, Mayumi Yoshida, left Japan to follow her creative journey in Canada, pursuing her work as an actor while discovering and shaping her voice as a filmmaker,” says Hideaki Masuda from Rabbit House. “Her debut feature film, Akashi, showcases a sophisticated and skillful narrative structure paired with striking cinematography. Through a nuanced use of light, the film enhances emotional expression and brings each character’s vivid journey to life. We hope you will join us in discovering this special film that will surely grab your heart, and in following Mayumi Yoshida, whose voice is just beginning to reach audiences around the world.”
Born in Japan and raised across three continents, Mayumi Yoshida is a Vancouver-based director, actor, writer, and producer. She is an alumna of Women In the Director’s Chair, TIFF Writer’s Studio, TIFF Series Accelerator and WBD Access x Canadian Academy Writers & Directors Programs. Her directorial debut short film, Akashi, won Outstanding Writer at the NBCUniversal Short Film Festival and the music video she directed “Different Than Before” won a Vimeo Staff Pick, SXSW Jury Award, and was nominated for a JUNO Award. Recently, Yoshida was Associate Producer on the A24/Apple TV+ series Sunny. In 2025, she was selected for JETRO x CAPE’s Beyond Japan Filmmakers Directing Program, mentored by Hirokazu Koreeda. As an actor she is best known for her role as the Crown Princess in The Man in the High Castle.
Akashi was produced by Tyler Hagan (The Body Remembers When the World Broke Open), Nach Dudsdeemaytha (Mongrels), executive produced by Julie Waters, Evan Dyal, Mallory Schwartz, Kathleen Hepburn, and Justin Ambrosino. Hiroko Oda, of Flag Inc., was executive in charge of production in Japan. The film’s director of photography is Jaryl Lim (Mongrels) and composer is Andrew Yong Hoon Lee (Riceboy Sleeps).
Akashi was produced by Musubi Arts & Experimental Forest Films in association with Watermark Media and made possible with the support of Telefilm Canada, Canada Media Fund, Creative BC, Crave, A Division Of Bell Media Inc, and Hollywood Suite.
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