Island films make San

Francisco film festival

A DOUBLE-BILL of Hawaii films was screened March 15 at the 17th annual San Francisco International Asian-American Film Festival.

“Wayfinders: A Pacific Odyssey” is a documentary about traditional Oceanic

voyaging, featuring Hokule’a navigators

Mau Piailug, of Satawal, Federated States of Micronesia, and Nainoa Thompson, of Hawaii.

“Hawaiian Sting,” written by Big Island

student Anthony Kahawai’i, is a short comedy with a Sovereignty message. Both films received underwriting from Pacific Islanders in Communications. This Honolulu-based, government-funded enti ty - dedicated to promoting Polynesian, Micronesian, and Melanesian films and videos - is the sister minority consortium

of the presenters df the SF filmfest, the National Asian-American Telecommunications Association.

PIC Programming Director Ann Moriyasu told PIM that while she believed some Oceanic pictures have previously been screened at the Frisco festival, “few Pacific titles get there.”

Asked if it was a good thing for Hawaii related films to be presented at the Bay Area venue, “Wayfinders” director Gail Evenari said: “Of course. It’s wonderful.

It’s hard to find a niche that focuses on Polynesian culture. It is a really good thing.”

Evenari, who lives near San Francisco and presented her documentary at the film fete there, said “Wayfinders,” which airs in Hawaii on PBS May 6, already has distrib utors. But as for exposure at the festival.

the director asked: “How can it not help?”

Regarding the fact that most festival films will be Asian, and not Pacific Islander, Evenari said she is “really pleased [her film] is included.”

But Ray Bumatai, star of Hawaiian Sting, told PIM: “Nobody knows what to do with Hawaiians. What do you lump them into? Caucasians put them into the Asian category. I’m not surprised. It’s the same thing in prisons,” declared Bumatai, one of the best Hawaiian actors ever.

Nevertheless, Bumatai stated that inclu sion of Hawaii films in the Frisco film fete “can be good, although some people may be upset by Hawaiian Sting’s [Sovereignty] message”.

“Some may see it as innovative. Hawaii is usually portrayed as schmaltzy, Hawaiians have subservient roles,” said Bumatai, who recently played a chef in the Lauren Bacall Doris Duke TV mini-series and appeared in “Martial Law” on televi sion. Bumatai plays a lead in Lani Loa, a still unreleased Francis Ford Coppola- Wayne Wang co-production with a

Sovereignty theme.

He is off to Tahiti soon for a BBC sit com, and is appearing in the new Disney surfer flick “Johnny Tsunami.” ■