Hawaii International Film Festival: Kauai Showcase

Thursday Nov 21 6:00 Opening entertainment | Dinner 7:30 Yellow Rose | United States | 95M Rose, an undocumented 17-year-old Filipina, dreams of one day leaving her small Texas town to pursue her country music dreams. Her world is shattered when her mom suddenly gets picked up by Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Rose, facing this new reality, is forced to flee, leaving behind the only life she knows, and embarks on a journey of self-discovery as she searches for a new home in the honky-tonk world of Austin, Texas.

For centuries, women were forbidden to set foot into sake breweries, let alone be involved with its production. Today, women are the ones driving the most exciting changes within the ever-evolving sake industry in Japan. KAMPAI!: SAKE SISTERS invites audiences into the passionate lives of three pioneering women who are making their mark on the highly competitive, traditionally male-dominated world of sake.

Two kids—a quadriplegic and a mentally handicapped boy—find each other after they are abandoned by their parents at a foster home for children with special needs. They soon develop a very deep, complementary friendship. But after living 20 years together, the local government threatens to shut down their foster home. Will these INSEPARABLE BROS finally be torn apart? Or will they find a way to work together and persevere despite adversity?

This shorts program will include EIGHT short films. The films will be as follows: 808: HOW WE RESPOND, DOWN ON THE SIDEWALK IN WAIKIKI, DRIVING, FALL GUY ('Ohina), LIKE MADDAH ('Ohina), MO'O ('Ohina), MOLOKAI BOUND, OTHER PEOPLE ('Ohina).

Arriving in Beverly Hills from Calcutta in the early 1970s, hot yoga instructor Bikram Choudhury cultivated a celebrity following and built a global fitness empire, but by the 2010s, he battled numerous sexual abuse allegations and stories of an aggressive, cult-like training environment. BIKRAM: YOGI, GURU, PREDATOR shines a light on the women who took him down and explores the contradiction of how this healing discipline could both help and hurt so many.

Sasha Li (Anna Akana) is a spoiled rich girl. After burning through most of her trust fund, her father cuts her off and gives her an ultimatum to go back to China to work in the family's toy business. What begins simply as a way to regain financial support soon develops into a life altering journey of self discovery, as Sasha discovers her passion for toy designing and learns to reconnect with her estranged family.

Yong-Nam was one of the best rock climbers in college but hasn't had much luck elsewhere after graduation. For his mother's 70th birthday, he insists on having the party at Dream Garden, because his old crush, Eui-Ju (Im Yoon-a from GIRLS’ GENERATION) works there as the restaurant manager. But, when a disaster strikes, covering an entire district in Seoul with mysterious toxic gas, Yong-Nam must then use his “unique set of skills," with the help of Eui-Ju to get everyone to safety.

A group of tween girls chant into megaphones, marching in the San Francisco Trans March. Fists clenched high, they wear brown berets and vests showcasing colorful badges like “Black Lives Matter” and “Radical Beauty.” Meet the Radical Monarchs, a group of young girls of color at the front lines of social justice. Set in Oakland, the film documents the journey of the group as they earn badges for completing units including being an LGBT+ ally, preserving the environment, and disability justice, all chronicled during the 2016 Presidential election.

Hinako is a surf-loving college student who has just moved to a small seaside town. When a sudden fire breaks out at her apartment building, she is rescued by Minato, a handsome firefighter, and the two soon fall in love. Just as they become inseparable, Minato loses his life in an accident at sea. Devastated, Hinako cannot look at the sea, until one day, she randomly sings their favorite song and Minato magically appears in the water.

HAOLE, the latest film from local filmmaker James Sereno (PARADISE BROKEN) and novelist Chris McKinney (THE TATTOO) takes place in Kahalu’u, on the Windward side of Oahu. Thirteen-year-old David Kealoha dreams of escaping rural Hawaii. But when Jonah Morris, a white kid from Phoenix, Arizona moves into the neighborhood, tragedy strikes, irrevocably changing the trajectory of David's life and those closest to him.

Ki-taek (Song Kang-ho) and his wife and two kids are poor and unemployed, living in a basement apartment and scraping by with the use of handouts and the neighbors’ wifi. One day son Ki-woo learns that his friend is going abroad and leaving behind a prestigious tutoring job for a rich family. A plan is hatched. As Ki-woo manipulates his way in as the rich daughter’s tutor, the family begins to insert themselves into the lives of the wealthy household.