Ashley Sugimoto

✌️It’s taken me a minute to put into words what this season at @viffest has meant to me. And though this caption is (typical of me) very long, there still aren’t enough words to sum it up - but I tried! This year, I returned to VIFF for round 2— helping lead the Artist & Industry programs, particularly Amp & Catalyst, 2 cohort programs which invite emerging filmmakers, musicians, and creative teams to participate in VIFF every year! I spent months building systems, jurying, on-boarding, and facilitating the experience of 117 cohort members and 70 delegates, helping program & produce 22 events, designing assets to help spread the word, and watching it all come to life in real time. There’s an addictive rhythm to festival work—everything moves fast, overlaps, and demands all of your attention. When a team member quit mid-season, it put me in what I can only describe as a difficult position. Balancing a new, unexpected role, and my existing programs at once meant a lot of pivoting, a lot of trust, and a lot of learning on the go. It stretched me in ways I didn’t anticipate, but it also showed me how much I was capable of when supported by the right people. I am inexplicably thankful for the friendships I’ve built (many of whom are shown in this slideshow); through late nights, tears shed, hugs received, and smiles given throughout my 14-16hr days these last 3 months. There aren’t words to express my thanks, in particular, to @aniasfura who listened closely, acted swiftly, and fought relentlessly for me this year. Or to @ramibrahim99 , for your support and comraderie. To @rwcalder , my unexpected partner in crime this year, and my 2 other wonderfully talented program curators, @luvla65 and @mangomariam , without whom, I would have struggled more to find so much joy in what were often hard times. Special shoutout goes to @yellowbird888 for trying to get me to urgent care after I took an unfortunate tumble on opening night To VIFF—thank you for the trust, the laughter, and the chance to make something special together. Let’s do it again next year! ❤️

It’s been a couple weeks since DOXA wrapped, and I still don’t quite have the words. I came in as a coordinator, thinking I’d just be lending support—but I ended up programming my first-ever festival!! I didn’t expect to step into the role of programmer—but that’s what ended up happening. And it changed everything. We received over 1000 submissions. I sat with them. Took notes. Got overwhelmed. Started again. Slowly, we whittled that list down to a top 300, then to the final 69 films that made it into this year’s program. Choosing films, I learned, wasn’t just about what was good. It became about what belonged together. Which stories needed to be in conversation with each other. I learned how much intention curation really asks of you—and how deeply collaborative the process can be. It was also the first time I realized that my own creative practice, which I’ve always hoped would centre community stories, doesn’t just have to live in the act of filmmaking. Curation is its own way of carrying stories with care. I hadn’t seen that path before—but I do now. I also found myself moderating 40-minute panels after some of the most emotionally challenging screenings in the festival. These were not easy conversations, but I learned how to build trust, how to open space through consent, and how to hold a room with tenderness when the subject matter is raw. These moments—talking with filmmakers, with audience members, with people who saw themselves reflected onscreen—were some of the most honest and moving connections I’ve ever had in a work setting. To @naudar.men , @ozzozgungun , and @sarahbesque888 , thank you for taking a chance on me and for your guidance. To @mariannethodas , my friend, partner in programming and thought collaborator—I’m so grateful I got to do this with you. And to @pruebaker_ , @natejohnson101 , @annesaaah , @mayyithen , Eirinn McHattie, and Cyn Williams: whose care, and friendship made this experience unforgettable. This was one of the most rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. I hope I get to do it again. And if I do—I’ll know exactly why I’m there. 🤍

And that’s a wrap on summer 2025 🌞🌻🍷👯‍♀️

2025 so far part 4?? Summer ☀️

Oops this might be 4 parts… 2025 so far part 3! Mexico for a dear friend’s wedding 🌴pictured: he caught the bouquet! 💐

2025 so far part 2! After waaaaay too long (5 years 🤯), I got a little reunion moment with my first baby (sister) 👯‍♀️

2025 in 3 parts starting with Run N Gun: I am woefully behind on this, but I did it! I went back to the wonderful chaos that is Run N Gun this year. These are just a few of the moments that stuck with me. It’s hard to sum up a contract like this one. I’m a filmmaker, and while I’m taking some time before my next project, I’m working in spaces that give me the opportunity to serve the community i create within. As someone who dabbles in working for quite a few of the local film festivals, Run N Gun will always take 1st place for having a good time even when i’m drowning in spreadsheets! It’s all fun and jokes until someone breaks the 500 year old railing at the Orpheum…

We’d like to take the time to introduce and acknowledge our gratitude for our amazing members of the Board with Recorded Movement Society! 🌟 ✨𝗕𝗼𝗮𝗿𝗱 𝗼𝗳 𝗗𝗶𝗿𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝘀✨ Pedro Chamale @pedrowyourboat Sonia Medel @lapacha_sonia_vida Flory Huang @flory.huang Ashley Sugimoto @ashleysugi Crow Martens @caustic_corvid F-O-R-M was first developed in 2015 as part of @maiwolfe ’s Artistic Internship with Company 605. Through this internship, @company605 supported and incubated F-O-R-M for three festivals before it grew into an independent non-profit organization: Recorded Movement Society (RMS). As F-O-R-M continues to grow and embody an awareness of movement-on-screen artists and audiences in so-called Vancouver, across so-called Canada, and internationally – so does RMS – thanks to the support of our Board of Directors 🤗🌱 Slide 2: Photo by: Brendon Hart Photography Slide 3: Photo by: @emzlabyrinth Slide 4: Photo by: Kezia Nathe / @kezianathe Slide 5: Photo by: Jon West Slide 6: Photo by: Crow Martens #10YearsofFORM #FORMVancouver #FORMvancouver2025 #FilmFestival #DigitalFestival #HybridFestival #YVRFilm #VancouverArtists #VancouverFilmFestival #MovementOnScreen #EmergingArtists #YouthArtists #YoungArtists #DanceFilm #2025festival #YouthFestival #DanceFilmFestival #ShortFilms #RecordedMovementSociety

Happy Asian Heritage Month. We are stronger together. #asianheritagemonth #aapiheritagemonth #solidarity #japanesecanadianartist #japanesecanadian

🎵💜✨They said remember this moment in the back of your mind💜🎶 ✨ I've been asked a lot over the last 3 years why I like Taylor Swift. Taylor isn't perfect and while I wish she'd use her privilege to take a firmer stance on politics or world events like what's beginning to happen in Syria right now, going to the Eras tour on Sunday wasn't about Taylor. It was about me. I remember where I was every time I heard each of her albums for the first time, but I'll just tell you about the first: 💚 It was summer 2007 and I'm 11, listening to Tear Drops on my Guitar behind a closed door. I'm visiting my dad for the first time in Vancouver, but in 2 weeks I'd go back to school where I'd reunite with my first real crush for the first time since school ended for the summer. I was nervous and excited. I'm 28 now and while I've been growing up, so has her music and thank god because man are there so many different forms of heart break in adult life. Taylor's music is something I've always enjoyed alone. Not because I've been embarrassed, but because loving her music was the one of the only things I could keep for myself growing up. It was one of the only things I could truly say was mine. So when my dad asked me if I'd go to the final Eras show by myself I said HELL YEAH! My dad listened to the news, watched tiktoks, scoured StubHub for the chance that I might be able to go to this show because he was on the other side of that door in 2011, and he had been listening along, every time I thought I was alone. Im so greatful to him for giving me that experience. I'm so greatful I got to go alone. The footage in this reel is mostly of me reacting because this experience was for that 11 year old version of me, and I wanted to see her shine in this 28 year old face of mine again. I'm glad I went alone because no one else in my life would have understood the significance of Taylor bringing back Long Live and turning it into the goodbye trifecta by mashing it together with New Years Day and the final song on her discography. Thanks @sugi_knows_best for the experience of a lifetime and to @hostie73 for bearing with me over the last few weeks as I entered my #deluluera!

❣️It's officially been 2 weeks since we wrapped #VIFF2024!❣️ As a Catalyst program alumni, getting to work with @viffest this year felt very full circle. As a local filmmaker, it felt like a dream come true! Though I'd always imagined working for VIFF in a more film-focused capacity, I'm so grateful to have been offered the opportunity to fill in as Amp Event Coordinator instead. We artists always talk about this gap between filmmakers and composers, and how we can work to "bridge" it. What stages do we bring our songwriters and composers in, and what do we say to them when we do? I'm a product of one of Canada's greatest film institutions and I still wouldn't have been able to tell you the answer to those questions before this contract. I don't think I've ever seen a program work so hard to make a real difference there until I was working to make VIFF's Amp Music in Media Summit happen. Amp completely rehauled anything I thought I knew about Vancouver's music industry or the potential these events had to make change in a community! I also thought I knew what my role would entail, but as the actual festival week came around, it became so much more. Instead of just a couple rounds of my favourite cooridnator game ("empty the inbox"), I had the chance to help facilitate 2 separate cohort programs. Thanks to my ride or die, @laurensailer , for being my rock. I'd say we were in the trenches together, but I'd be lying because we were truly a dream team from start to finish! To @rwcalder and @luvla65 , thank you both for welcoming me to your established team with open arms (and for the warm hugs when we finally got to work together in person). To the 90 cohort members who brought their kindness to VIFF Amp this year, THANK YOU! I'm so proud to know all of you, and can't wait to keep up with what's next for you. I can count on one hand how many times I've come out of a contract feeling like I did an amazing job, AND that the company I worked with knows it too. For that and for the amazing friends I've made along the way, @viffest , I don't think there are enough words to express how grateful I am. See you all again next year?? 🌸🙇🏻‍♀️

🍣🌸The Chef and the Daruma won Audience Choice at @viffest ! 🌸🍣 (swipe to see me make a rookie mistake on set) I'm a bit late to the game, and still reflecting on my time working with VIFF this year (more on this another time), but I'm so overjoyed to finally brag about this incredible documentary I worked on last year. When I was asked to come on board as a production coordinator for this film, I had just moved back from Japan and was feeling... kind of lost. It had been years since I'd set foot on a film set. When I was a film student years prior, I'd been told by someone I looked up to that the stories I wanted to tell - my community's stories - would never translate on-screen. So I took a long, LONG break from filmmaking, and when I moved back to Canada, it was because I decided it was time to try again. I wanted to come back to help tell my community's stories. The prospect of re-entering the film scene felt good, but I worried; what if I was too inexperienced to take this on? Even worse, what if my outdated experience let the team down? What if I couldn't find the Daruma dolls that the team wanted to gift participants in the film? But then I did. And then I cast the actors for recreation scenes, found locations using mostly pins on Google Maps, an apple orchard owned by a very kind and generous couple in Comox, and even found some crew in Japan without being on the ground. Working on The Chef and the Daruma was a re-awakening for me creatively and proved that, much like Tojo-san says himself, persistence is key. You must never stop trying new things. Fall down 7 times, get up 8. I'm so grateful that I was given a chance to get back up to help pull this heartwarming film together! I'm so proud of this film, and what it contributes to the Japanese Canadian tapestry. Getting to see a story that represents my community in theatres with an audience is an experience I'll not soon forget. If you get a chance to see it at VIFF, it's back in theatres until the end of October! 👺⛩️🍣