Hawaii International Film Festival

Today it is estimated there are nearly two million people dancing hula in Japan—a figure greater than the entire population of Hawaiʻi. With more people dancing hula in Japan than in Hawaiʻi where the native art was born, this explosive growth has created a multi-million dollar industry based on culture as commodity. What motivates Japanese students and teachers to dance hula and how is it translated into a foreign culture? How do native Hawaiians participate in this cross-cultural exchange?

Run time 81 min.

CLICK HERE to watch a trailer.

Preceded by short film Voices of the Forest

This program will include eight short films, including four ‘Ohina films.

Films include:

808: How We Respond

Down on the Sidewalk in Waikīkī

Driving

Fall Guy (‘Ohina)

Like Maddah (‘Ohina)

Mo’o (‘Ohina)

Molokaʻi Bound

Other People (‘Ohina)

Total run time: 106 minutes

This film is an intimate journey into the life and work of Māori master carver Rangi Hetet. At 82, Rangi is one of the last traditional Māori carvers alive today who learned their craft in an era that straddled the ways of the old tohunga whakairo (master carvers) and those of the modern world. “Carving does not exist alone as a skill–it exists within a body of knowledge and that knowledge exists and is held by a whole community of people.” Run time 133 min.

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Thirteen-year-old David Kealoha dreams of escaping rural Hawai‘i, but when Jonah Morris, a white kid from Phoenix moves into the neighborhood, a series of events irrevocably change the trajectory of David’s life and those closest to him.

Run time 90 min.

CLICK HERE to watch a trailer.

Preceded by a short film, Crossing the Line