In its 11th year, the Film For Thought program features five feature films with focused themes of Change Making and Community. Scholar-led conversations with directors are scheduled throughout the festival. You can download the companion booklet, containing essays on all five films, HERE. Links to the films, the individual essays for each film, and the scholar-led conversations are provided below.
CANE FIRE
HAWAII PREMIERE
UNITED STATES 2020 | ENGLISH | 90M
DIRECTOR: ANTHONY BANUA-SIMON
NOV 5 – 29, 2020 | ONLINE
While utilizing footage of Hollywood films set in Hawaii and various corporate commercials that paint the islands as paradise, CANE FIRE examines years of economic and social exploitation of the Hawaiian culture, people, and their land. The documentary follows various perspectives of the residents on Kauai to shine a light on the indigenous working-class people who resist the forces of large corporations that cast them as “extras” in their own story.
HIHumanities Scholar: Stephanie J. Castillo
LINK to ESSAY
DOWN A DARK STAIRWELL
HAWAII PREMIERE
UNITED STATES 2020 | CANTONESE,
ENGLISH, MANDARIN,
MANDARIN WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 83M
DIRECTOR: URSULA LIANG
NOV 5 – 29 | ONLINE | HAWAII ONLY
NOV 15th | 2:00pm
A Conversation with Ursula Liang
When two peoples of color are pitted against each other in the gruesome coliseum that is the uneven criminal justice system of the United States, who wins? In 2014, Chinese American police officer Peter Liang killed Akai Gurley, an innocent, unarmed black man in an unlit stairwell of a New York City housing project. This heart-wrenching documentary directed by Ursula Liang is all the more important and relevant to watch today, as we reflect on how black lives matter.
HIHumanities Scholar: Danielle Seid
LINK to ESSAY
LANDFALL
HAWAII PREMIERE
UNITED STATES 2020 | ENGLISH,
SPANISH WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 91M
DIRECTOR: CECILIA ALDARONDO
NOV 5 – 29 | ONLINE
NOV 9th | 12:00pm
A Conversation with Cecilila Aldarondo
This visually striking, kaleidoscopic portrait of Puerto Rico in the aftermath of Hurricane Maria criss-crosses the island to document the resilience of a community banding together to rebuild. A compassionate and stirring cinematic essay, LANDFALL examines the dual environmental and economic crises of not only a natural disaster, but the disaster of American colonialism and its economic legacies.
HIHumanities Scholar: Mehana Blaich Vaughan
LINK to ESSAY
LUNANA: A YAK IN THE CLASSROOM
HAWAII PREMIERE
BHUTAN 2019 | DZONGKHA WITH ENGLISH SUBTITLES | 109M
DIRECTOR: PAWO CHOYNING DORJI
NOV 5 – 29 | ONLINE | HAWAII ONLY
NOV 10th | 5:00pm
A Conversation with Pawo Chonying Dorji
Musician Ugyen struggles to excel in his teaching career, despite having one of Bhutan’s more coveted jobs. He is in fact so unmotivated, that his superiors decide to give him a special position – teach at the country’s most remote school for a year. When Ugyen arrives in Lunana, he can hardly believe his bad luck landing in such a backwater. However, the charm of the village, its people, and the majestic Himalayas, may just win him over after all.
HIHumanities Scholar: Simon Seisho Tajiri
LINK to ESSAY
THROUGH THE NIGHT
HAWAII PREMIERE
UNITED STATES 2020 | ENGLISH | 72M
DIRECTOR: LOIRA LIMBAL
NOV 5 – 29 | ONLINE
NOV 13th | 12:00pm
A Conversation with Loira Limbal
To make ends meet, people in the U.S. are working longer hours across multiple jobs. This modern reality of non-stop work has resulted in an unexpected phenomenon: the flourishing of 24-hour daycare centers. Interweaving the lives of two working mothers and a childcare provider, THROUGH THE NIGHT speaks to the heartbreaking realities that face working families, and the acts of everyday kindness and generosity that bring us together.
HIHumanities Scholar: Elizabeth Colwill
LINK to ESSAY