Check Out These STORYHIVE Alumni at VIFF 2025
Posted on October 3, 2025
The Vancouver International Film Festival is back in full swing from now until October 12, 2025, featuring an exciting lineup of local and international cinema. We’re thrilled to have two TELUS STORYHIVE alumni showcase their incredible films at the festival this year! Grab your tickets and check out these impactful Canadian stories.
TELUS STORYHIVE Storytellers to watch at VIFF 2025
Akashi (Mayumi Yoshida, 2025)
Rooted in themes of artistic expression, family and identity, Akashi follows a struggling visual artist who returns to Tokyo to attend the funeral of her grandmother 10 years after moving to Vancouver. As she digs 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.
Originally a play, then a TELUS STORYHIVE short (2017 Digital Shorts - Female Directors Edition), Akashi now returns in its feature-length form.
Watch the short film on TELUS Optik TV Video on Demand channel 9, Stream+ and STORYHIVE’s YouTube channel.
Screening and Q&A:
October 5, 2025: 6pm, Vancouver Playhouse Theatre
October 9, 2025: 3pm, Granville Island Stage
Treasure of the Rice Terraces (Kent Donguines, 2025)
In this vibrant film, Filipino Canadian filmmaker—as well as TELUS STORYHIVE Program Manager and alum—Kent Donguines travels back to the Philippines to reconnect with his roots. In a nation with over 134,000 years of history and centuries of colonization under Spanish, American and Japanese rule, Kent notes a shared feeling of weakened traditional identity among many Filipinos he knows and meets.
A vital part of their heritage, the centuries-old practice of tattooing was banned by colonizers and even shunned by Filipinos. Kent travels to Buscalan, a secluded mountain community, to discover more about the revival of Indigenous Kalinga tattoos. Guided by 107-year-old master artist Apo Whang-od, he learns the deep history and symbolism behind the tattoos.
Screening and Q&A:
October 5, 2025: 8:30pm, International Village 9
October 6, 2025: 3:30pm, Granville Island Stage
There you have it! A huge congratulations to these two filmmakers for their upcoming film screenings. Happy film fest-ing!