Cannes, France (May 20, 2026) — Experimental Forest Films and Musubi Arts announced today that Canoe Film has boarded Mayumi Yoshida’s acclaimed debut feature, Akashi. Canoe is handling International sales, excluding Canada and Japan, for the award-winning feature and has taken the film to market in Cannes. Yoshida is also at the Marché du film de Cannes as a part of the Film Market Access Program.
"We are thrilled to be kicking off conversations with international buyers in Cannes for Akashi,” says Caroline Stern, managing director and owner of London and Vancouver-based Canoe Film. "Mayumi is a true talent and her debut aligns perfectly with the kinds of projects that we support; a beautifully crafted contemporary story with a strong core audience and really broad cross-over appeal."
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.
While Canoe handles the rest of the world, Canadian distributor KinoSmith is releasing the film in Canada and Rabbit House will release the film in Japan. Shot in Vancouver and Tokyo, Akashi has won numerous awards on its festival run, 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.
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.
It was also just announced that Yoshida has expanded her team with the addition of Echo Lake Entertainment in the US. She will be represented by Echo Lake Entertainment, an industry-leading management and production company based in Beverly Hills, California. She will be working with literary managers Frank Wuliger, Kara Hume, and talent manager Lauren Feinstein. She is also repped by Katy McCaffrey at Gersh for literary in the US and in Canada by Tyman Stewart and Sohrab Merchant at Characters Talent Agency for both literary and talent.
Akashi was made possible with the support of Telefilm Canada, Canada Media Fund, Creative BC, Crave, A Division Of Bell Media Inc, and Hollywood Suite.
About Canoe
Canoe Film launched in London in 2017 in response to an expressed need by Producers for greater transparency, flexibility and engagement in the international sales and distribution of their films. Canoe’s model is based on the idea of bringing the distribution function “in-house”, working with Producers from the early stages to maximise the creative and commercial potential, and subsequently delivering and implementing a bespoke global distribution strategy. In 2025, the company opened a Vancouver office to better serve filmmakers on both continents. Canoe premieres a limited 5-6 Feature Films and Documentaries each year.
About Experimental Forest Films
Experimental Forest Films is an award-winning production company based on unceded xʷməθkʷəy̓əm (Musqueam), Sḵwx̱wú7mesh (Squamish) and səlilwətaɬ (Tsleil-Waututh) territory in Vancouver, B.C.
Founded by filmmakers Kathleen Hepburn and Tyler Hagan, Experimental Forest Films is committed to socially relevant, nuanced storytelling that celebrates creative risk and cinematic vision. Their films have premiered at TIFF & Berlinale and their most recent project, THE BODY REMEMBERS WHEN THE WORLD BROKE OPEN won the prestigious Toronto Film Critics Association Best Canadian Film Award (2020) and was picked up for distribution by Ava DuVernay's ARRAY Releasing.
About Musubi Arts
MUSUBI ARTS is an independent film production company based on unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh territory in Vancouver, B.C.
Founded in 2020 by Mayumi Yoshida and Nach Dudsdeemaytha, Musubi Arts strives to build a bridge between cultures through storytelling. We focus on character driven stories that put under represented artists in the foreground, with care and authenticity. The company’s first feature film MONGRELS (directed by Jerome Yoo) received the FIPRESCI Prize as well as the Special Jury Prize at Tallinn Black Nights Film Festival (2024).
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