Ka Hoʻi – The Return

In KA HO‘I, an aging Hawaiian War Veteran grapples with the nightmares of his past, and the even scarier thought of being forgotten as the world around him seems to leave him in the dust. One night, he hears a familiar voice calling him from the beach, and what he encounters is beyond anything he could have imagined.

Directed by Mitchel Merrick
Producted by Gerard Elmore, Darrin Kaneshiro, Leanne K Ferrer, Cheryl Hirasa, Caleigh Dillion, Lopaka Kapanui, Jason Cutinella, Brian Keaulana
Written by Mitchel Merrick, Lopaka Kapanui

Director’s Bio: Born and raised in Hawai’i, Mitchel Merrick is a filmmaker who first developed his passion making home movies with the Sony camcorder he received as a birthday present when he was 10. After receiving his Bachelor’s of Media and Creative Technology from the University of Waikato in Aotearoa, he returned home to continue developing his craft. He had the honor of participating in ‘Ohina’s inaugural filmmaker’s lab and received mentorship for his script “Kālewa” under Joe Robert Cole (Black Panther). “Kālewa” received the Greenlight Award from ‘Ohina along with full funding to be produced, then went on to screen at dozens of festivals around the world. Since “Kālewa” (2018), he has produced a handful of other shorts, a feature film “Water Like Fire” (2020), and continues to work on elevating Hawai’i-centered stories through film.

Plays in

NHPI: Coming Home

Representing a diverse selection of cultures through an eclectic array of styles and mediums, these films by Native…