A multigenerational love story shot across Vancouver and Tokyo is heading to theaters. Mayumi Yoshida’s debut feature Akashi opens November 13 at VIFF Centre in Vancouver, with Toronto screenings to follow later in the month.

The film follows Kana, a struggling artist in Vancouver who returns to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral after a decade away. She carries a secret shared only with her grandmother: her grandfather had another lover. Back in Tokyo, Kana reconnects with an old love, Hiro, while the film cuts between timelines to trace her grandfather’s decades-long affair. Kana confronts hidden family truths as she navigates love, sacrifice, and the choices between desire and duty.

Akashi won the Audience Award at the Vancouver International Film Festival and swept the Whistler Film Festival with five wins, including the Borsos prize for Best Canadian Feature.

Yoshida, born in Japan and raised across three continents, is a Vancouver-based director, actor, writer, and producer. She starred in The Man in the High Castle and was recently associate producer on the Apple TV+ series Sunny. In 2025, she was selected for JETRO and CAPE’s Beyond Japan Filmmakers Directing Program, where she was mentored by Hirokazu Koreeda.

The cast includes Yoshida, Hana Kino, Ryo Tajima, Chieko Matsubara, Kunio Murai, Shun Sugata, Bun Kimura, Sayaka Kunisada, Hiro Kanagawa, and Jess McLeod.

KinoSmith is releasing the film in Canada, and Rabbit House will handle the Japan release.