Akashi walked away with the top honor, the Borsos Award for Best Canadian Feature at the 25th Whistler Film Festival which wrapped on Sunday in British Columbia, Canada.
The film also won Best BC Director along with Best Performance for writer-director, Mayumi Yoshida, and Best Cinematography for Jaryl Lim.
Yoshida plays a Japanese artist living in Vancouver, who returns to Tokyo for her grandmother’s funeral, and finds herself caught between two worlds – the life she has built abroad and the one she left behind.
“This outcome is just beyond my expectations. I’m so grateful. Winning like this from the festival is like a huge, huge lead for us,” said Yoshida. “We’re still looking for distribution, so I’m hoping, and surely think, this will definitely boost the project and give it that exposure.
“It’s really hard for a film like ours to be seen and recognized, and these kinds of awards really amplify the project. Based on what we’ve been seeing and feeling in the theatres, and the response by the audiences, it’s giving us this feeling that, ‘okay… there’s something here.’ We’re doing something right.”
Chandler Levack’s Mile End Kicks also won multiple honors including Best Editing for Simone Smith and Best Screenplay for Levack.
Filmmaker Zacharias Kunuk earned the Borsos Award for Best Direction for Wrong Husband.
“This year’s Borsos Competition brought together 10 extraordinary films that each offered a powerful, distinct vision of Canadian storytelling,” said Robin Smith, director of film programming for WFF. “From bold new voices to masterful established talent, these works challenged, moved, and inspired our audiences in ways that remind us why the Borsos legacy remains so vital. I extend my heartfelt congratulations to all the filmmakers and my deepest gratitude to our jury, whose insight and care helped shape a remarkable 25th anniversary edition.”
The Career Achievement Award was awarded to director Park Chan-Wook who’s latest film, No Other Choice, screened at the festival.
Agatha’s Almanac by director Amalie Atkins received the World Documentary Award.
In the Mountain Culture Awards, Alison Reid’s The Art of Adventure captured the Feature Award and Nat Segal’s Beauty in a Fall earned the Short Award.
The Shortwork Awards including Best BC Student Shortwork went to director Christopher Berry for Pumpkin Head; Best International Short to director Marnie Blok for Beyond Silence; and Best Canadian Short to director Shervin Kermani for Ramón Who Speaks to Ghosts.
“We have seen a stunning collection of short films at this year’s festival. Our jury was struck by how Canadian filmmakers told such thought-provoking, daring and dramatic stories,” said Hayley Gray, senior short film programmer of WFF.
This year marked the inaugural presentation of the Haebler Family Fund Awards, created to recognize and uplift women and non-binary filmmakers with a combined prize of $5,000. The first-ever recipients are director Setareh Saleh, honored with Best Short for For Dawn, and writer-director Mayumi Yoshida, awarded Best Feature for Akashi.
The Screen BC Short Film Award was presented to After Party, directed by Kevin Ang.
“The film we chose will have an enormous impact. The talent of the creatives involved have the experience and skills, and they gave a stellar pitch,” said WFF pitch producer Kristyn Stilling on behalf of the pitch competition jury.
Earlier in the week, the festival also honored actor Cassandra Naud with the UBCP/ACTRA Northern Star Award for her performance in Influencers.
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