HIFF Report: Asian American Invasion

Jonathan Yi's "Shift"

Saturday at the Hawaii International Film Festival felt like Asian American Day. First, I (finally) saw "AMERICANese." Writer-director Eric Byler was present for the intro and Q&A again for this second screening. He says HIFF feels like home to him because, well, it is (he grew up on Oahu), but also because it was at HIFF a few years ago that Roger Ebert plucked "Charlotte Sometimes" out of obscurity.

Later in the evening, Eric came back for a Q&A session after the "DisORIENTation Shorts Program" screening, which included the TV pilot he directed, "My Life Disoriented." Writer Claire Yorita Lee was also there, as was Jacqueline Kim, who had starred in "Charlotte Sometimes," "Red Doors," and many many other films, but was at HIFF yesterday to represent her directorial debut, a highly stylized futuristic short called "Present." Also in attendance were Grace Su who directed "Future Rock Stars of America," a documentary about Asian American music group Far East Movement; Jon Maxwell, director of "It's Not Just You, Tommy Chu!," a comic meditation on an Asian guy dating women of various races; and Jerry Chan, director of "Fast Money," a short starring the cute Archie Kao ("CSI") about Asian gang violence in California.

In the audience were fellow blogger Phil Yu (angry asian man) and "Lost" star Daniel Dae Kim.

The directors of the three other shorts that screened couldn't be there: Christopher Yogi, director of "Maps," who's an Iolani and ACM grad and current student at USC film school; J.P. Chan, director of "Dry Clean Only," the only film of the bunch set in New York CIty; and Jonathan Yi, director of the excellently made "Shift," which he completed while an undergraduate at NYU film school.

I also stopped by the Q&A for "Colma: The Musical" which I had seen earlier and loved. The audience was exhuberant after watching the film, and filmmakers/actors Richard Wong, H.P. Mendoza, and L.A. Renigen were a gracious bunch. Finally, I caught part of Ron Oda and Kris Chin's funny "Asian Stories (Book III)," which played to a packed theater.

The only non-Asian American films I saw were "Street Thief" (the faux frenetic camera work made me dizzy...I thought that shaky MTV stuff was over already!) and "A Dirty Carnival" (mildly entertaining but unoriginal, shallow, and overlong Korean gangster flick). Better stick to the Asian American stuff!

RELATED POSTS:
>> FilmHawaii Seminar: A Conversation with Eric Byler on Mon, 10/30
>> HIFF Report: Winners, Molesters, Mochi
>> HIFF Report: Monster, Matty, Mujeres
>> Technical Difficulties at HIFF, on Blog
>> Hawaii Films at HIFF
>> Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival
>> LVHIFF 2005: A Retrospective
>> Asian American Film Festivals

HIFF Report: Winners, Molesters, Mochi

THURSDAY:

• The HIFF Award winners were announced at the longest HIFF Awards ceremony I've ever been to. It was like the Oscars, it was so long! Not to mention the buffet line took an hour to clear and I paid $9 for a glass of wine. Sheesh! But who's complaining? Anyway, here are the award winners. The best feature and best Hawaii film awards each went to female-helmed films: Lisette Flanary's "Na Kamalei: Men of Hula" about Robert Cazimero's all-male hula halau, and Nia Dinata's "Love for Share" (from Indonesia). Best documentary went to Julie Bayer and Josh Salzman's "Time and Tide." All of the winning films will be re-screened on Sunday.

FRIDAY:

• Watched a really, really great documentary, Amy Berg's "Deliver Us from Evil," about how the Catholic Church ignores the rampant institutional problem of child molestation among its clergy. This is how documenataries should be made--it wasn't crassly manipulative like many of the more popular "maverick" docs of recent years have been. And the evasiveness of Catholic Church leaders in answering questions about their knowledge of the child rapes could not have been better scripted! I found myself thinking, are these guys for real? The film was released theatrically by Lionsgate this month, but the MPAA, in its infinite wisdom, has given its trailer a restrictive red-band rating, meaning it can only be shown before R-rated and NC-17 rated films. It did this not because there was swearing or graphic imagery in the trailer, but because of the "overt comments about child molestation throughout." Um...duh! Like, uh, that's what the film is about! Unfortunately, mainstream theater chains generally stay away from red-band trailers, so Lionsgate was compelled to release the film unrated. So if you want to catch this film (which you definitely should!), you'll have to seek out your closest arthouse theater.
• Sat through 14 5-minute episodes of "Hal and Bonz" by Katsuhito Ishii, who made "Taste of Tea," which I loved. The mochi "interviewer" in the animated series was thoroughly charming and bizarre. The voice of mochi, Shunichiro Miki, as well as Ishii were present for a Q&A. They too were thouroughly charming. This series is sure to be a hit with the "Beavis and Butthead" meets anime crowd.

Tonight, I'm off to support my fellow Asian Americans by watching and introducing Eric Byler's "Americanese," and the DisORIENTation shorts program. Also playing tonight are Richard Wong and H.P. Mendoza's "Colma: the Musical," a truly excellent, original, quirkily poignant musical, and Ron Oda and Kris Chin's funny "Asian Stories (Book III)."

HIFF Report: Monster, Matty, Mujeres

A round-up of some of my HIFF activities ('coz I'm sure you are all just dying to know what I've been up to):

TUESDAY:

• Saw Korean monster flick "The Host" by Bong Joon-ho. Went in with high expectations and came out thinking it was so-so. Having watched a bunch of Korean films now, I'm noticing that they (at least the ones I've seen) are more rambling than I'm used to. Pacing is a bit off, there's always one too many ba-dump-bump moments, and the actors drip with melodrama. Oh well, it was entertaining enough. I was a bit peeved though that I didn't get to give my prepared intro of the film. Here it is, in case anyone cares:
  
  THE HOST premiered to vast critical acclaim at Cannes, where it was acquired by Magnolia Pictures, which will release the film here in the US in January 2007. In South Korea, where THE HOST was released in July, the film became the highest grossing South Korean film of all time, breaking the record previously set by THE KING AND THE CLOWN, which is also screening here at HIFF. The film was partially inspired by an incident in 2000, in which an American mortuary chief at a US Army base in Seoul instructed his subordinates to dump 60 gallons of formaldehyde into a sewer that dumps out to the Han River. The monster in the film was designed by a Korean animator, and modeled at Peter Jackson’s WETA studios in New Zealand, which was also responsible for the special and visual effects in the LOTR trilogy and King Kong.
  
  That was it for Tuesday. Sadly, I missed "Memories of Matsuko."
  

WEDNESDAY:

• Went to NETPAC luncheon and met some cool peeps. NETPAC stands for Network for the Promotion of Asian Cinema, and is an international, non-profit organization with reps throughout the world including critics, filmmakers, festival organizers and curators, distributors and exhibitors, and film educators. HIFF's founder Jeanette Paulson Hereniko organized the event, and local folks like current HIFF exec direcor Chuck Boller, UH Academy for Creative Media (ACM) educators Anne Misawa and Wimal Dissanayake, and former ACM student and filmmaker Jay Hubert, were there. NETPAC sends out a jury to various film festivals to decide which film will get a particular fest's NETPAC Award. At this year's HIFF, NETPAC jurors included ACM chair Tom Brislin, Bangkok and Palm Springs Film Fest programmer Therese Hayes, and Manila-based film critic and Criticine founder Alexis Tioseco. Also there were Nguyen Nghiem Dang Tuan, director of "Jackfruit Thorn Kiss," and Corey Tong, film festival programming vet and producer of "The Land Has Eyes."
• Listened to (Filipino American!) cinematographer Matthew Libatique wax melancholic about the growing obsolescence of good ol' fashioned film. Digital formats are taking over the marketplace, and making filmmakers lazy in the process. Without the restrictions of film (cost, light, etc.) to rein cinematographers and directors in and make them really think carefully about their shots, the digital revolution has encouraged a free-wheeling lack of discipline that hurts the photographic craft. The big old traditional film schools still teach celluloid (thank God), but more and more film programs that don't use film are springing up. The UH's Academy for Creative Media is one of them, but that's because we have no film processing lab here, and have to ship our film to get processed on the mainland (= expensive!).
• Introduced "AMERICANese" and got to meet Hawaii-bred Eric Byler, Chris Tashima, and Shawn Wong. Had a schedule conflict so couldn't stay to watch it, but at the Q&A, Byler made an interesting point: he said that Asian American audiences see his films to see themselves up on the screen, and non-Asian audiences go expecting to see art films. Actually, I've noticed that a lot at HIFF and in movie-going in general: "ethnic minority"="artsy" to a lot of white audiences, no matter the genre or content of the film. This has got to stop. There's another screening of "AMERICANese" on Sat, 10/28 at 1:15pm. Also, don't miss my chat with Eric Byler on Mon, 10/30 at noon.
• I finally saw a film at the fest that I loved: Pedro Almodovar's "Volver." It will win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar and Penelope Cruz will get a Best Actress nod, I'm sure. The film will be released by Sony Pictures Classics next month. There are very few foreign films getting released in the U.S. these days (that portion of the "art film" market has been taken over by U.S. documentaries and Indiewood films), so go see this one!

In about an hour, the HIFF Awards Ceremony will get underway, and all the winning films will be announced and scheduled to re-screen on Sunday.

RELATED POSTS:
>> Technical Difficulties at HIFF, on Blog
>> Hawaii Films at HIFF
>> Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival
>> LVHIFF 2005: A Retrospective
>> Hawaii's "Digital Revolution" Continues
>> Asian American Film Festivals
>> Cultural Insensitivity

Act 221: Stop the Madness!

More hullabaloo about Act 221 has sprung up this week around the follow-up public forum to futher discuss the good and the bad of Hawaii's controversial high-tech investment tax credit.

Here are the pros and cons (again) in a nutshell, as reported by Sean Hao at the Hnl Advertiser. We should run a contest to see who can come up with the snazziest new pro- and anti- Act 221 comments, because we've heard it all before!

CON: "Lowell Kalapa, president of the nonprofit Tax Foundation of Hawai'i, said, 'I don't see an explosion of the high-technology industry in the state...They're feeding at the public trough. We need to make sure the pigs are getting fatter. If they're not getting fatter then why are we feeding them?"

PRO: "Rob Robinson, who runs an investment group whose members have benefitted from the credits, said, 'I think it's clear that the critics are wrong. What we don't have is data yet to show that I am right."

Will somebody/anybody come up with some reliable Act 221 data, puh-leeze?

>> Technology tax credits could cost $1 billion [Hnl Advertiser, 10/24/06]
>> Tech industry execs defend tax break [Hnl Advertiser, 10/26/06]

RELATED POSTS:
>> Tech Community: Act 221 Research Stinks!
>> New Data on Effectiveness of Act 221
>> Tax Dept. Clarifies Act 221 Standards
>> Press Massacres Hawaii's Film Tax Credits Again
>> Tax Incentives Suck...Who Said That?
>> Tech Comm'ty: Don't Denigrate Act 221
>> Act 221 = $108M So Far

Technical Difficulties at HIFF, on Blog

Ty Sanga's "Follow the Leader"

Not a good few days for technology--first there were some technical and operational glitches at the Hawaii International Film Festival in its first few days (understaffed, overworked, underpaid), and then blogger was down yesterday, so I couldn't tell you about HIFF. Ugh!

Anyway, so yes, Alejandro Gonzalez Innaritu's "Babel" kept going in and out of focus on opening night, and Eric Steel's "The Bridge" kept stopping and starting, until the projectionist finally declared the tape defective, and sent someone to pick up the original submission screener. The film, a documentary about people who jump off the Golden Gate Bridge to their deaths (captured by hidden, and sometimes manned, cameras) was quite a downer (surprise). What was disturbing to me was that the person the film chose to focus on the most was the one with the most dramatic suicide footage. Granted, the filmmakers did address the issue of how the behind-the-lens gaze disconnects the photographer from his subject.

Next, I saw "Undoing" by Chris Chan Lee (who also did "Yellow"), an Asian American noir set in L.A. It was nice to see so many Asian faces speaking American English on the screen, and the production values of the film were superb--producer Karin Chien, who was in attendance at the screening, said the film took 20 days to shoot, but over a year in post. Karin previously produced Greg Pak's "Robot Stories" and Michael Kang's "The Motel," which just opened last Friday in San Francisco. Her upcoming features include "Following Rosa" filmed in the Philippines, and "Jack and Diane" set in NYC.

I capped off Saturday night with "The Banquet," a Chinese adaptation of "Hamlet" starring Zhang Ziyi. The screening was sold out--oversold, in fact! So folks had to be turned away and given refunds. Beautiful choreography, production design, and costumes, and solid acting, but a little thin overall. Interestingly, the male lead was played by Chinese American Daniel Wu, born and raised in San Francisco, who says that he has no plans to enter Hollywood because it still does not know how to treat Asian males.

Last night, I saw Sundance fave "Eve and the Firehorse" by Vancouver-based Julia Kwan, about a little Chinese Canadian girl's confusion over religion and culture. Julia was there for a Q&A at the end. Unfortunately, there was no mic and the theater's background music played during half of the Q&A. Plus, during my intro of the film (I'm volunteering to do some of the intros as a favor to HIFF), I was heckled by a couple of rude, persnickety octogenarians who made snide comments about my not shouting loud enough (was doing the best I could do without a mic)--"Are you talking to yourself?" was the exact quote. I felt like I was back in NY, not Hawaii. Where's the aloha spirit? Mahalo to the hipster dude in the first row who came to my defense! Anyway, back to Julia. I asked whether Vancouver's role as Hollywood North has benefitted its local independent filmmakers. She said that while it's really great for technicians and craftspeople to have a steady stream of jobs, it doesn't really do much for the above-the-line folks. Local Canadian writers, directors, producers, and actors still take the backseat to imported Hollywoodites. Sound familiar? But she did say Vancouver's indie film scene is emerging.

Finally, I saw "Hawaii Panorama 4: Academy for Creative Media Night," which truly pleasantly surprised me. It seems that the films coming out of the nascent UH film school are getting better and better every year. There was some beautifully deft cinematography exhibited by Jay Hubert in "Chopsticks" by Henry Mochida and by Justin Adams in "Dao" by Jay Hubert. It's no wonder Jay is currently a cinematography student at the Beijing Film Academy. Roger Nakamine exhibited an adeptness at using local humor in "Sore Shoulders and Aching Jaws," "My Dad's Story" was a moving portrait of a local Filipino immigrant--director Joelle-Lyn Sarte's dad, Ty Sanga has a way with directing kids in "Follow the Leader," and Brian Makanoa put a 35mm lens on a Panasonic DVX100, and mixed that footage with 8mm footage to make a painterly experimental film, "Eve." HIFF may add another screening of HP4--check hiff.org for updates on that.

OK, today I'm seeing Halekulani Golden Orchid nominee "Memories of Matsuko" by Nakashima Tetsuya ("Kamikaze Girls") and "The Host" by Bong Joon-ho, which I cannot wait to see! See you there, and don't heckle me during the intros!

RELATED POSTS:
>> Hawaii Films at HIFF
>> Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival
>> LVHIFF 2005: A Retrospective
>> Asian American Film Festivals
>> Hollywood Studio System is "Inherently Racist"
>> Cultural Insensitivity
>> Indigenous Pacific Storytelling
>> Canada Back in Business
>> Local Filmmakers Left in the Dust
>> The Meaning of "Independent"
>> Honolulu: Hipster Haven

FilmHawaii Seminar: Eric Byler on Mon, 10/30

A CONVERSATION WITH FILMMAKER ERIC BYLER



Join us as Eric Byler, the provocative, award-winning, independent-spirited hapa writer-director of "Charlotte Sometimes" and "AMERICANese" chats one-on-one with the Hawaii Film Office's Mynette Louie about independent filmmaking, identity politics, Asian Americans in Hollywood, and how Hawaii has influenced his work.

Eric Byler grew up in Hawaii (Moanalua High School grad) and California before graduating from Wesleyan University with a film degree, and has completed three independent feature films.

His first, "Charlotte Sometimes," which he wrote and directed, was nominated for two 2003 Independent Spirit Awards (John Cassavetes Award for Best Feature under $500K and Best Supporting Actress for Jacqueline Kim). Roger Ebert hailed the film as "a breakthrough for Asian American filmmakers" and said, "with its authority and its mood and its tone and its tension, simply captures you, totally absorbs you." Byler then directed "Tre," which screened at the Hawaii International Film Festival last year.

At this year's HIFF, you can catch Byler's third feature, "AMERICANese," an adaptation of Shawn Wong's landmark novel American Knees. Like the book, Byler's film examines Asian American identity politics through the relationship mini-dramas of a second generation Chinese American man. "AMERICANese" stars Chris Tashima, Joan Chen, Sab Shimono, and former Miss Teen USA and Oahu native Kelly Hu, and won an Audience Award and the Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival.

Byler also has a short project showing at HIFF this week: "My Life Disoriented," which screens with the DisORIENTation Shorts Program, tells the story of two sisters who struggle to fit in after their family relocates to a town with few Asian Americans. Byler first gained notice with his short film "Kenji's Faith," which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and was nominated for a Student Academy Award.

Monday, October 30 @ Noon

Location: Hawaii State Art Museum Multi-Purpose Room, 1st Floor, 250 S. Hotel Street (@ Richards St.)

Parking Options:
* Metered parking on Iolani Palace Grounds (enter on King St.)
* Alii Place garage, 1099 Alakea St.
* Municipal lot (Smith/Beretania)
* Chinatown Gateway (Bethel/Hotel)
* Macy's (King/Bethel)
* Mark's Garage (Nuuanu/Bethel)
* Pioneer Plaza (Merchant/Fort)

>> FREE << Members of the local film industry and the general public are invited to attend.

Presented by: Hawaii Film Office, Department of Business, Economic Development, and Tourism, State of Hawaii

Special thanks to: Anderson Le of the Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival

The FilmHawaii Seminar Series is presented by the Hawaii Film Office periodically throughout the year to inform and educate the members of the local film industry and the film-interested public on practical topics related to the business of film and television production.

[DOWNLOAD THE FLYER]

RELATED POSTS:
>> Hawaii Films at HIFF
>> Hawaii at SFIAAFF
>> Random Hawaii-Related Film News
>> US Indies at LVHIFF
>> Independent Spirit Award Winners

Hawaii Films at HIFF

Stephanie Castillo's "Strange Land: My Mother's War Bride Story"

The 26th Annual Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) kicked off last night with screenings of "Babel" and "Duelist." There are 254 films from 47 countries this year! How to choose what to watch? How about starting with films made in Hawaii or about Hawaii or by current or former Hawaii residents?

Hawaii Panorama 1
Fri, 10/20, 6:15pm

• BARRY is the lovable drug dealer next door trying to impress a girl, and the latest short from prolific local filmmaker Gerard Elmore, whose "Valtor the Great vs. the Universe" won the best short film award at last year's HIFF.
• RUCKUS is the name of a boy band made up of pathetic 30-somethings in this short by Dean Ishida.
• CRIMINALLY INEPT is a comic caper set in metro Honolulu and the first feature by Iolani grad and current USC film school student Ryan Ishii. The film will be shown with related music video HIP HOP FELONS featuring a cameo by director and honorary local boy Bryan Singer ("Superman Returns," "X-Men"). There's also an after party for the film upstairs at the Dole Ballrooms.

Hawaii Panorama 2
Sun, 10/22, 3pm

• THE INTRUDER (Titus Chong, 5 min) - A mysterious woman trespasses into a playboy's sloppy crib to clean up his act.
• THE CLEANER (Martin Troy, 8 min) - Two hired guns sent to off a mobster get more than they bargained for.
• SURVIVOR (Lena Kaneshiro, 4 min) - A local woman straddles two different worlds--the corporate world and her down-home hood--with ease.
• THE ENEMY (Hanzo Hamamura, 10 min) - The "Chosen One" from Japan chop-sockys his way across Oahu.
• THE GOOD OL' BOYS (Michael Perez, 13 min) - Goofballs bungle a break-in.
• BROWN (Renato Fontaine, 10 min) - Fil-Am love triangle. Fontaine is a former ACM student whose film "Promise of Paradise" screened at HIFF last year
• HER (Brett Wagner, 5 min) - NYU film school grad Wagner explores the gender-bending twists in an island couple's relationship. Originally screened at Showdown in Chinatown.
• QUICK FIX (Andrew Ma and Vince Keala Lucero, 5 min) - An agitated man's missing keys lead to an intimate encounter with a prostitute. Ma is a former ACM student and Lucero is best known for his turn as a scantily clad Hawaiian man in last year's HIFF trailer. Originally screened at Showdown in Chinatown.
• MAYORS, MIMES, MEMBERS & MERCHANTS (Roger Wilko, 20 min) - Honolulu city councilmembers clash with Waikiki street performers.

Hawaii Panorama 3: The Tide is High
Sun, 10/22, 6:15pm
"The Tide is High" depicts the antics of two women, fresh out of UH-Manoa, who open a Chinatown coffeehouse. Stars local actors Stephanie Sanchez, Jenn Boneza, Kalai Miller and Dezmond Gilla.

Hawaii Panorama 4: ACM Night
Mon, 10/23, 8:45pm

This is the annual showcase of shorts by students at UH's Academy for Creative Media. Buy tickets early--this show always sells out fast!

• FOLLOW THE LEADER (Ty Sanga, 11 min) - Kenji learns about discrimination when a local mom and pop shop refuses service to one of his moke peers. Director Ty Sanga screened "Plastic Leis" at last year's HIFF.
• SORE SHOULDERS AND ACHING JAWS (Roger Nakamine, 22 min) - Nick blows an opportunity to massage his would-be sweetheart and spends Saturday night in a karaoke bar with a foul-mouthed, pidgin-talking troublemaker.
• DAO (Jay Hubert, 13 min) - Xiao, a pregnant woman trapped in an abusive relationship, meets Leilani, a neglected child who may give Xiao the courage to save herself. From the filmmaker of last year's "Tunnels."
• MY DAD'S STORY (Joelle-Lyn Sarte, 19 min) - A man escapes plantation labor in the Philippines to find a better life in Hawaii, only to find himself in Hawaii's plantation fields.
• CHOPSTICKS (Henry Mochida, 15 min) - A cross-cultural love story between an American and Chinese living in Tokyo.
• EVE (Brian Makanoa, 10 min) - A clockmaker makes a mechanical girl who comes to life.

Hawaii Panorama 5
Wed, 10/25, 6:30pm

• SUNDAY WIND (Michael Wurth, 10 min) - Three farmers--2 Hawaiians and 1 Japanese--go on their routine Sunday walk in the forest. But it's not just any Sunday, it's December 7, 1941. Wurth's film offers a civilian perspective of a day that will live in infamy. It was shot and produced by Shawn Hiatt and features the late Ray Bumatai's final screen appearance.
• SUITE FOR 2 (Robert Pennybacker, 10 min) - A visual poem about lovers exploring true intimacy, starring former KHON reporter Donalyn Dela Cruz and Lopaka Kapanui.
• NA KAMALEI: MEN OF HULA (Lisette Marie Flanary, 56 min) - Documentary about Robert Cazimero's Na Kamalei, which has been Hawaii's only exclusively male hula academy for 30 years. The film traces the Hawaiian man's disconnection with the hula (denounced by American Protestant missionaries as a heathen dance) through the hula renaissance of the 1970s when men overcame stereotypes and completes its journey at a recent Merrie Monarch Festival.
• DARK CLOUDS (Taylour Chang, 12 min) - The narrative fiction companion to Punahou student Taylour Chang's documentary UNRECHT (screening in the Student Showcase), about the little known internment of Germans in Hawaii in WWII.

Hawaii Night
Thurs, 10/26, 7:30pm

HIFF's annual Hawaiian movie and music showcase at the Hawaii Theater.

• THE SHIMMERING - An ethereal piece based on the shark tale It Swims When You Sleep by Hawaiian singer-songwriter Keola Beamer. Followed by a performance by Keola Beamer.
• MADE OF MUSIC: THE STORY OF JOHN CRUZ - Documents the life of Na Hoku Hanohano award winner John Cruz, from hanabata days in Palolo Valley, to years of struggle on the East Coast, to ultimately achieving personal and professional equilibrium back in the islands he loves. Followed by a performance by John Cruz.

Student Showcase
Sat, 10/28, 10am

11 films by high school students from around the Hawaiian Islands.

• CALL TO OUR PEOPLE (Kamaka Pili, Kamehameha Schools, 11 min)
• CHILDREN OF MAUNALUA (Amanda Suiso, Kaiser High School, 5 min)
• DEVIL'S TRILL SONATA (Kamehameha Schools, 7 min)
• FALL (Dana Yoshizu, Hawaii Baptist Academy, 3 min)
• MARVEL BOY (Aaron Kim, Hawaii Baptist Academy, 5 min)
• MY TRIP TO AOTEROA NOVEMBER 2005 (Kalalea Ka'uhane, Kanuikapono School, 5 min)
• REMEMBERING... (Randel Jim, Kamehameha Schools, 34 min)
• REWIND (Dana Yoshizu, Hawaii Baptist Academy, 29 min)
• SHADES OF GREY (Aaron Kim, Hawaii Baptist Academy, 16 min)
• TI CEREMONY (Camtin Ragudo, Kanuikapono School, 5 min)
• UNRECHT: AN UNTOLD CHAPTER OF HAWAII'S PAST (Taylour Chang, Punahou School, 28 min)

Strange Land: My Mother's War Bride Story
Wed, 10/25, 8:30pm
Stephanie Castillo, one of our foremost documentary filmmakers ("Simple Courage," "An Untold Triumph," "Remember the Boys") examines her own mother's experience as one of the first war brides to come to Hawaii from the Philippines.

Mabuhay with Aloha: The Hawaii Filipino Experience 1906-2006
Sun, 10/29, 7pm
Emme Tomimbang commemorates the 100th anniversary of Filipinos in Hawaii (which is also, incidentally, the 100th anniversary of Filipinos in the U.S.) in this documentary that covers the whole history of Filipinos in Hawaii.

AMERICANese
Wed, 10/25, 6pm and Sat, 10/28, 1:15pm
Moanalua grad Eric Byler ("Charlotte Sometimes," "Tre") adapts Shawn Wong's landmark novel American Knees, an affecting Asian American story of love marred by issues of sex and race. Stars Asian American heavy hitters Chris Tashima, Joan Chen, Sab Shimono, and former Miss Teen USA and Oahu native Kelly Hu. This film won an Audience Award and the Jury Prize for Outstanding Ensemble Cast at the 2006 South by Southwest Film Festival.

DisORIENTation Shorts Program
Wed, 10/25, 9:45pm and Sat, 10/28, 6:15pm
A potpourri of Asian American short films that includes MAPS by Iolani and ACM grad and current USC film school student Christopher Yogi. MAPS is a 6-minute film about a young traveler that sneaks into a bookstore after hours and becomes intrigued by the deaf girl who lives there. Another Eric Byler project, MY LIFE DISORIENTED, is also part of this program. It tells the story of the Fung sisters who struggle to find acceptance after their family relocates to a town lacking in Asian Americans.

>> Full HIFF Film Listing
>> HIFF Blog
>> Isle film fest grows into global blockbuster [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/20/06]

RELATED POSTS:
>> Hawaii Int'l Film Fest Announces Line-Up
>> HIFF Trailer Shoot
>> Hawaii Film Panorama at LVHIFF
>> LVHIFF 2005: A Retrospective
>> September "Showdown in Chinatown"
>> 'Ohina Short Film Showcase: Aug 4-5
>> In Production: Super 16 Short Film "Chief"
>> Hawaii at SFIAAFF

Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival

Last year, the Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival was launched to feature indigenous films from the Pacific. The fest will be held again this year, in conjunction with HIFF, at UH Manoa's Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies. Fest organizers are UH's Academy for Creative Media, Kawaihuelani, Hawaiian Language Department, and Kamakakuokalani, Hawaiian Studies. Here are the details:

DATES: 10/23, then 11/1-4
LOCATION: Kamakakuokalani Center for Hawaiian Studies at UH Manoa, 2645 Dole St
COST: All events are FREE
HIGHLIGHTS:

• Features, shorts, and documentaries by and/or about Pacific Islanders and native peoples
• Panel discussions every day of the festival from 11am-12:30pm on topics ranging from film financing to intellectual property to the media's impact on the Hawaiian language
• Panel on "Preparation and Protocols: Filming With People Who Inhabit Sacred Spaces, Historic places and Contested Sites" on Mon, 10/23, 11am-12:30pm. Hawaiian filmmaker Na'alehu Anthony moderates this panel about how to be pono when filming at locations where the indigenous culture must be considered. Panelists are native filmmakers Lisette Flanary, Vilsoni Hereniko, and Leah Kihara, and part-Hawaiian state film commissioner Donne Dawson.
• "A Presentation by Maori Film Director Taika Waititi" on Fri, 11/3, 8pm. Waititi is a Maori filmmaker whose short, "Two Cars, One Night," was nominated for an Oscar.
• Other invited guests are Bird Runningwater from the Sundance Film Institute, Mexican writer Guillermo Arriaga ("21 Grams"), Mark Bauman from National Geographic All Roads Film Project, Maori actor Cliff Curtis ("Whale Rider"), and Indian filmmaker Larry Blackhorse Lowe ("Fifth World").

>> Hawaiinuiakea Film Festival

RELATED POSTS:
>> Free Native Film Showcase on Mon, 9/25
>> Indigenous Pacific Storytelling
>> Hawaii Looks to New Zealand
>> Hawaii vs. Hawaiian
>> Be Pono!
>> Respecting Host Cultures While Filming
>> Culture Clash

Don't Miss "To You Sweetheart, Aloha"

"To You Sweetheart, Aloha" (Photo: Walking Iris Films)

One of my favorite made-in-Hawaii films will be airing on PBS Hawaii (ch. 10/11) this Thursday, 10/19 at 8pm. "To You Sweetheart, Aloha" by S. Leo Chiang and Mercedes Coats documents the life of charming 94-year-old ukulele master Bill Tapia. What starts as a pretty standard biography takes an unexpected turn: the film's focus quickly shifts to an uneasy romance between Tapia and Alyssa, his 26-year-old manager. Don't miss this film!

>> Documentary explores extraordinary life of Bill Tapia [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/16/06]

Tech Community: Act 221 Research Stinks!

Hawaii's high-tech community is railing against a recently released draft study of Act 221, our high-tech business investment tax credit, saying that the analysis of the limited data available was plagued with inaccuracies, contradictions, and a lack of objectivity. The study was commissioned by the State's Tax Review Commission and produced by Marcia Sakai, dean of the University of Hawaii-Hilo's College of Business Administration, and Bruce Bird, a professor of accounting and finance at the University of West Georgia. The techies do agree with the study's authors that there is too little data available from the Dept. of Taxation, and do support a thorough examination of the effectiveness of Act 221. However, the manner in which the meager data available was interpreted did not befit a "responsible analysis."

More specifically, a group of local high-tech industry leaders said this in a commentary in the Honolulu Advertiser this Sunday (earthquake day):

The study, focused on the investment tax credits, uncovered some promising data on significant investment and job growth already being realized.

But this positive data was lost in interpretation.

The way the data were interpreted, the multiple contradictions, and how the study was conducted, does not meet the level of accuracy and objectivity required in a responsible analysis. The professors themselves acknowledged inaccuracies and limitations regarding their findings and their omission in failing to talk to the basic
participants of Act 221/215.

Industry members agree that a study on the tax credits should be done. Understanding its effectiveness is important to everyone. But such a study must be accurate, objective, adequately consider both quantitative and qualitative factors, clearly establish criteria for effectiveness and directly address issues related to law's intent.

They then go on to list some of the contradictions presented in the study, and highlight the benefits of Act 221 that the study failed to address. Due to the intense outcry from the tech community regarding the poor study, Tax Review Commission chair Isaac Choy has postponed the final release of the study till the end of this month.

Act 221 has been polarized, politicized, and controversial since its inception, which makes it all the more urgent to have an objective, fair study (backed by clear, current, accessible data) analyzing its benefits and flaws. Until such a study exists, we will continue to fight blindly over the merits of Act 221. We're all waiting with bated breath.

>> Tech credit's value lost in flawed analysis [Hnl Advertiser, 10/15/06]
>> Report on tech tax credits comes under fire [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/13/06]

RELATED POSTS:
>> New Data on Effectiveness of Act 221
>> Sean Hao on Confidentiality of Film Tax Credit Info
>> Tax Dept. Clarifies Act 221 Standards
>> Pennsylvania: Screw Tax Credits, We Give Cash!
>> More Film Tax Incentive Success Stories
>> Press Massacres Hawaii's Film Tax Credits Again
>> Tax Incentives Suck...Who Said That?
>> Tech Comm'ty: Don't Denigrate Act 221
>> Act 221 = $108M So Far

Film Studio Being Developed in Kapolei

Los Angeles-based real estate developer SHM Partners recently announced its agreement with Campbell Estate to lease 22 acres in Kapolei (in west Oahu) to build a film studio facility. The company, which built the Los Angeles Center Studios, plans to build a 200K square-foot studio here that will include 4 sound stages, offices, and a construction mill.

Currently, there is only one large professional sound stage in the state--that's at the state-owned and operated Hawaii Film Studio--so any new stages would be welcome additions to our local film industry infrastructure.

>> Film studio planned [Hnl Advertiser, 10/14/06]

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>> Film Studios: If We Build 'Em, Will You Come?
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>> New Mexico + Hollywood = "Tamalewood"

Yes Earthquake, No Power

Just a quick post, mostly to capitalize on the "Hawaii earthquake" search term that'll probably soon hit its peak in number of searches. ;)

Anyway, yes, a little after 7am on Sunday, a 6.7 earthquake centered in Kailua-Kona on the Big Island shook the whole state. It was quite freaky--my building swayed like a boat and creaked really loudly! As of this writing, about half of Oahu (the most populous island) is still without power (luckily, I am not one of them, having gotten power/water back around 11pm).

Well, this makes catastrophic power failure #3 for me--the first was as a baby during the "Summer of Sam" '77 blackout in NYC, the second was the '03 NYC/Northeastern U.S. outage--and 3's a charm!

Oh, gotta say one thing: mainstream media people, listen up once and for all! Stop calling Hawaii residents "Hawaiians." That term should be reserved for Native Hawaiians, meaning the people who are indigenous to the Hawaiian islands! In November 2005, the AP Stylebook updated the proper usage of this term. And yet, the AP itself misused it in a headline today: Hawaiians check for quake damage. Boo!

>> Hawai'i rattles, then loses power statewide [Hnl Advertiser, 10/16/06]

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>> Hawaii vs. Hawaiian

Surfers Paddle From Oahu to Kauai for Autism Documentary

Don and Beau King (Photo: Cindy Ellen Russell / Hnl Star Bulletin)

Big name big wave surfers Laird Hamilton and Dave Kalama trekked 78 miles in 19 hours over land and sea to get from Oahu to Kauai. While paddling on their surfboards, the two endured stormy winds and squalls--all for the purpose of promoting their friend Don King's documentary "Beautiful Son," about his autistic 6-year-old son Beau. King, arguably the top surf and water cinematographer, made the film to bring awareness to the struggles of raising an autistic child. King said that he hopes the trek made by Hamilton and Kalama will raise $40,000 to help the documentary gain wider distribution.

>> 2 surfers paddle to Kauai from Oahu in 19 hours [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/11/06]
>> Big wave surfers complete island journey [AP via Hnl Advertiser, 10/11/06]

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>> Documentary: "HIV in Hawaii: Local People, Local Stories"
>> Premiere of PBS Doc "The First Battle"
>> Amateur Documentarian Highlights Homeless Problem
>> PBS Celebrates Asian Pacific American Heritage Month
>> Documentary on Little Known Pearl Harbor Story
>> Upcoming Educational Films
>> Listen and Learn

Hawaii's Nature Police Launches 24-Hour Hotline

Watch out you ruthless filmmakers who would trample on nature and all things holy to get the perfect shot: The state's Department of Land and Natural Resources (DLNR) just launched a toll-free 24-hour enforcement hotline that the public can call to report violations of natural and cultural resources laws (littering, vandalism, desecration, etc.). Callers will be asked to provide as much detailed information as possible.

Here's the #: 643-DLNR (3567)

Enforcement duries will be carried out by DLNR’S Division Of Conservation And Resources Enforcement (DOCARE), or what I like to call the "nature police." DOCARE's 120 officers have full police powers, and enforce all state laws and rules involving state lands, parks, shores, historical sites, forest reserves, aquatic life and wildlife areas, coastal zones, and conservation districts.

So, filmmakers: if your good will didn't stop you from stomping on our precious plants, maybe now your good sense will.

>> DLNR Launches New 24-Hour Enforcement Call System [DLNR Release, 10/10/06]

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>> Be Pono!
>> Respecting Host Cultures While Filming
>> "Lost" Restores Landscape It Had Trampled
>> 10 Things I Learned From Our First FilmHawaii Seminar
>> Permits, Hawaiian Style
>> Forbidden Shoot
>> Hawaii Newbies, Read This
>> Culture Clash
>> Film Makes Bush an Environmentalist!

Solution to Runaway Production: Homebody Celebs!

Reese Witherspoon recently insisted that her latest project, "Rendition," be shot in Los Angeles instead of Toronto. The reason for her request was simple: she wanted to be near her family. The production complied, and the film will start shooting in L.A. next month.

The Hollywood Reporter today listed other examples of big stars keeping productions from running away to cheaper locales, like Julianne Moore and "Far From Heaven" (Toronto to NY) and David Duchovny and "X-Files" (Vancouver to L.A.). THR also claimed that Adam Sandler tried to shoot as much of the Hawaii-set and shot "Fifty First Dates" in CA as possible. While that may have been true, we also know that Sandler loves Hawaii and does try to bring projects out here.

There are also many examples of directors keeping productions at home (and thereby building their local film industries): Spike Lee, Woody Allen, and Martin Scorsese and NYC, Peter Jackson and New Zealand, Paul Thomas Anderson and the San Fernando Valley, and Robert Rodriguez, who took the money he earned from "Spy Kids" to build an Austin studio, complete with soundstages and post-production facilities, which later became the primary production site for "Sin City."

The moral of the story? If you wanna grow and sustain your local film industry, develop your homegrown talent.

>> Homebody actors good for California business [THR, 10/11/06]

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>> Local Filmmakers Left in the Dust
>> Hawaii Looks to New Zealand
>> IFP Hawaii?
>> Film Incentives That Aren't Tax Credits
>> Hawaii Film Panorama at LVHIFF
>> Hawaii on YouTube

UH Unveils New Render Farm

Last Friday, the University of Hawaii's Academy for Creative Media (ACM) officially unveiled its new render farm housed at Leeward Community College. Composed of equipment previously used by Square USA and Qube! software created by PipelineFX, the new render farm will make it much faster to process animation and digital effects.

ACM head Chris Lee said, "Since many programs in the state, including Leeward Community College, ACM and Wai'anae High School, will be sharing this resource, we expect the system to have a major impact on Hawai'i's digital media education system and the length and quality of work that students are able to produce."

Lee initially raised $200K from PipelineFX, the Ko 'Olina Foundation, the James and Abigail Campbell Foundation, and producer-director Roland Emmerich for the project. On Friday, it was announced that the Kellogg Foundation will contribute an additional $145,600, which will be used to further increase rendering capacity.

Qube! is a leading render farm management software for creating animation, computer graphics, and game design and architecture programs. It has been installed at NYC's School of Visual Arts, NYU's Digital Arts program, Electronic Arts, and LucasArts.

>> ACM Announces Completion of Animation Renderfarm [ACM News Release, 10/2/06]
>> Lights! Cameras! Animation! [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/8/06]
>> Computer System Gives Students Film Animation Abilities [KITV4, 10/6/06]

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>> PipelineFX CEO Quits
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New Data on Effectiveness of Act 221

In Saturday's Honolulu Advertiser, Sean Hao continued (as any good, responsible reporter should) to raise questions about the effectiveness of industry-specific state tax credits. Hao reported on the recently released draft of a study conducted for the state's Tax Review Commission on how well the Act 221 high tech investment tax credit is working for Hawaii. The final report will come out at the end of the year, but here's a summary of the Commission's preliminary findings:

• Between 2001-2004, the number of tech-related jobs in Hawaii appeared to have dropped by 2.7% to 13,106 jobs. (In contrast, companies benefitting from Act 221 claim that 4,000+ jobs were created between those years.)
• The relative share of technology jobs vs. jobs overall has also dropped.
• Since 2001, Act 221 has helped stimulate approximately $185 million in investments into Hawaii companies.
• Since 2001, the state has committed $110 million in credits (including credits not yet claimed, but projected to be claimed in future years).
• One co-author of the report estimated that the total cost of Act 221 between its lifespan (2001-2010) could top $600 million.
• The report concluded that there is a lack of information about Act 221, making it tough to tell whether Hawaii is benefitting from the credits. Recommendations include creating more state accountability for the credits, simplifying the eligibility criteria, and making info available to the public in a more timely manner.

Of course, different people had different things to say about about the findings. Here are some of the opinions Hao reported:

• On the $185M investment capital stimulated by Act 221: Report co-author and dean of UH Hilo's College of Business Administration Marcia Sakai said that this is good for local companies, but only an intermediate step of Act 221--what matters is what those dollars will actually do (e.g., create jobs, build industry, spark innovation, etc.).
• On jobs created: The report's authors cautioned that it takes time for start-up companies to add jobs. Also, Ann Chung, VP of government and community affairs for the Hawaii Science & Technology Council, believes that state job creation numbers aren't accurate because of the disconnect between how the tech industry reports job data and how the Dept. of Labor tracks and inteprets it.

Apparently, tech industry reps will get to submit their concerns to the Commission before the final report is published. If I hear more about how to do that, I'll let you know.

>> Isles' tech jobs drop despite tax credit [Hnl Advertiser, 10/7/06]

RELATED POSTS:
>> Sean Hao on Confidentiality of Film Tax Credit Info
>> Tax Dept. Clarifies Act 221 Standards
>> Pennsylvania: Screw Tax Credits, We Give Cash!
>> More Film Tax Incentive Success Stories
>> Press Massacres Hawaii's Film Tax Credits Again
>> Tax Incentives Suck...Who Said That?
>> Tech Comm'ty: Don't Denigrate Act 221
>> Act 221 = $108M So Far

Hawaii Int'l Film Fest Announces Line-Up

The 26th Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival recently announced its film, speaker, and seminar line-up. Highlights include talks with Kevin Smith, Ken Watanabe, and Matthew Libatique; at least 6 feature films by Asian Americans/Canadians; and a slew of Hawaii independent films. Jurors for the Golden Orchid Awards are SXSW film fest producer Matt Dentler; former NY Times film critic, visiting Harvard lecturer, and radio commentator Elvis Mitchell; and actor Kal Penn ("Kumar" of "Harold & Kumar...").

More from me on the fest later. Here's some more info on it in the meantime:

>> HIFF brings fest to beach [Hnl Advertiser, 10/3/06]
>> Filmmaker Kevin Smith to be film fest guest [Hnl Star-Bulletin, 10/2/06]
>> Shimabukuro to perform at film fest [Pacific Business News, 10/1/06]

And the official site...
Hawaii International Film Festival

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>> LVHIFF 2005: A Retrospective
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