Inheritance

At dawn, Kelsey Akioka hikes out onto the Kalapana lava fields with a camera in hand and 80 lbs of gear on his back. We observe his methodical photography process amid one of nature’s most beautiful and chaotic events. Under the shade of a pop-up tent, he sells these photos at a small makeshift marketplace to apathetic tourists. By the end of the day, Kelsey returns home, exhausted and worn, to his son and elderly father. When he learns his friend is sacrificing his passion and moving away from home to pursue a better life for his family, Kelsey begins to question his own choices. As his frustrations spill into his home life, Kelsey must confront the turmoil stirring within him.

Directed by Erin Lau
Produced by Zoe Eisenberg

Director’s Bio: Native Hawaiian filmmaker Erin Lau has dedicated her life to creating stories for her community, exploring empathy, redemption, and legacy. She has grown as a director through opportunities with the Sundance Institute, Tribeca Studios, MTV, Points North Institute, Nia Tero, and Film Independent’s Project Involve program and Episodic Directors Intensive. She is currently developing projects tied to her home and is repped at UTA.

Plays in

Home as Character

The scent of your neighbor’s garden, the hustle and bustle of people flowing in and out of the bodega down the block, the laughter of children playing silly games in the street – home is more than just a setting. It’s the people, the places, the history, the memories, and the way they all come together. These short films all depict a home that can be described as a character in and of itself. From the quiet resilience of a city in “Kathmandu Monsoon” to the smoldering generational anger of Hawaiʻi in “Inheritance,” these films depict a home that holds as much weight and depth as the people that inhabit it.