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share“[My] film’s structure adopts Polynesian perceptions of non-linear time, where past, present, and future intertwine. The past coexists with our present and future.” –Karin Williams
This quote could frame this year’s Pacific Shorts Showcase. These award-winning shorts from filmmakers throughout the Pacific involve journeys across time, space, culture, and religion. From a docu-art piece about a young man who travels from luxury resorts to a time when his tīpuna first settled to animated queer mythic love story inspired by the Hawaiian concept of aikāne, these stories trace the interconnections between self and community and the power of belief.
Program curated by Sunny Huang.
Pre-recorded Q&A available with rental.
In this program
Burning of the Gods
Directed by Karin Williams
With his island at risk from industrial tourism and environmental degradation, a boy travels back in time to reconnect with his ancestors.
BUTTERFLY/BATAPLAI
Directed by Veialu Aila-Unsworth
A Papua New Guinean/American woman challenges her evangelist father’s strict rules to find her voice as a makeup artist.
He Karu, He Taringa
Directed by Tahuaroa Ohia
A story about how a takiwātanga (autistic) child sees and hears the world.
Trenton: To the Moon and Back
Directed by Josh Leong
Two indigenous brothers from the Solomon Islands escape a cult posing as a leadership training organization, finding refuge in a small, conservative town in rural Georgia.
Aikane
Directed by Daniel Sousa, Dean Hamer, Josh Wilson
The romantic adventures of a valiant island warrior, a mysterious young man, and an octopus.
