The portrayal of Hawaii onscreen has ranged from war dramas about Pearl Harbor to “The Descendants” and “50 First Dates” to “The White Lotus,” and most recently “Last Goal Wins.” Now, the tropical paradise in the Pacific finds a new lens — and voice — in Christopher Kahunahana’s feature debut “Waikiki.”
While the film fumbles through a stripped down script and stumbles towards a surrealist attempt at reframing the threats of tourism, “Waikiki” still offers a voice from a Native Hawaiian about his homeland. Sundance Lab alum Kahunahana wrote and directed the drama which follows hula dancer Kea (Danielle Zalopany) as her personal life crumbles.
Kea tries to hide the black eye her boyfriend Branden (Jason Quinn) pummeled into her; she tries to plaster a smile onstage while dancing and keeps her spirits up to deflect questions about her injury to curious young students where she teaches. But it’s when...
While the film fumbles through a stripped down script and stumbles towards a surrealist attempt at reframing the threats of tourism, “Waikiki” still offers a voice from a Native Hawaiian about his homeland. Sundance Lab alum Kahunahana wrote and directed the drama which follows hula dancer Kea (Danielle Zalopany) as her personal life crumbles.
Kea tries to hide the black eye her boyfriend Branden (Jason Quinn) pummeled into her; she tries to plaster a smile onstage while dancing and keeps her spirits up to deflect questions about her injury to curious young students where she teaches. But it’s when...
- 10/27/2023
- by Samantha Bergeson
- Indiewire
Do you ever wonder what happens to the hundreds of millions of tennis balls used by professional and amateur players each year?
Tennis balls are made of several materials, including plastic, which can be hard to break down in a natural way. In addition, most of the estimated 300 million balls manufactured worldwide head to landfill, where they can take over 400 years to decompose.
A recent investigation by CBS News looked into the issue of non-recyclable tennis balls and highlighted some of the potential uses and ways people are combating the environmental impact of these objects.
Firstly, Jason Quinn, director of Colorado State University's Sustainability Research Laboratory, said in the investigation that tennis balls have plenty of uses once they reach their shelf life, and the objects contribute little to environmental waste.
"Anyone who would say you shouldn't play tennis because of the tennis balls is misinformed. In terms of the impact,...
Tennis balls are made of several materials, including plastic, which can be hard to break down in a natural way. In addition, most of the estimated 300 million balls manufactured worldwide head to landfill, where they can take over 400 years to decompose.
A recent investigation by CBS News looked into the issue of non-recyclable tennis balls and highlighted some of the potential uses and ways people are combating the environmental impact of these objects.
Firstly, Jason Quinn, director of Colorado State University's Sustainability Research Laboratory, said in the investigation that tennis balls have plenty of uses once they reach their shelf life, and the objects contribute little to environmental waste.
"Anyone who would say you shouldn't play tennis because of the tennis balls is misinformed. In terms of the impact,...
- 9/8/2023
- Tennis-Infinity
Offering a literal behind-the-scenes glimpse of the iconic tourist spot, Christopher Kahunahana’s splendid debut feature, Waikiki, is a succinct emotional dive into the complex intergenerational trauma that plagues many Native Hawaiians. Foregrounding the stark economic divide between the resorts and the city, Kahunahana’s film is purportedly the first film written and directed by a Native Hawaiian. A marvel of economic storytelling, Waikiki spotlights the social and spiritual erosion of colonial tourism on the indigenous population.
The film follows Kea (Danielle Zalopany), a hard working native Hawaiian who is balancing three jobs while living out of her van, and saving enough money for a room. One drunken night, after a fight with her abusive boyfriend (Jason Quinn), she flees in her van – hitting a homeless man, Wo (Peter Shinkoda) in the process. Distraught, she puts Wo into her van, eventually shuttling him around as she attempts to maintain her rotating jobs.
The film follows Kea (Danielle Zalopany), a hard working native Hawaiian who is balancing three jobs while living out of her van, and saving enough money for a room. One drunken night, after a fight with her abusive boyfriend (Jason Quinn), she flees in her van – hitting a homeless man, Wo (Peter Shinkoda) in the process. Distraught, she puts Wo into her van, eventually shuttling him around as she attempts to maintain her rotating jobs.
- 10/31/2020
- by Christian Gallichio
- The Film Stage
"A combination of beauty, pain, and longing..." An official trailer has debuted for a strange, mesmerizing new film titled Waikiki, marking the feature directorial debut of native Hawaiian filmmaker Christopher Kahunahana. One of the quotes in this trailer even says this "marks the emergence of a New Hawaiian Cinema" which actually might be the case. As much as that is superlative, this film seems like it might be the first of its kind - showing us a side of Hawaii we've never seen before. When a hula dancer on the run crashes into a broken spirit of a man (a mysterious homeless guy in the dead of night), they begin a journey into a hidden world, developing a connection through humanity, nature, and their culture. The indie film stars Danielle Zalopany as Kea, along with Peter Shinkoda, Jason Quinn, Kimo Kahoano, Nick Masciangelo, and Kainoa Mcgee. There's tons of peculiar,...
- 10/28/2020
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
Recently, CBS served up the new, official synopsis/spoilers for their upcoming "Hawaii Five-o" episode 9 of season 6. The episode is entitled, "Hana Keaka" is Hawaiian for "Charade," and it turns out that we're going to see some pretty interesting stuff go down as Five-0's latest investigation has Danny going undercover as a college professor, and more! In the new,9th episode press release: Five-0 Goes Back To School When A College Professor Is Killed And Danny Goes Undercover As His Replacement, On "Hawaii Five-0," Friday, Nov. 20. Press release number 2: Five-0 will go back to school when a college professor is killed and Danny will go undercover as his replacement. Guest stars feature: Taylor Wily (Kamekona), Andrew Lawrence (Eric Russo), Kekoa Kekumano (Nahele Huikala), Julie Benz (Inspector Abby Dunn), Micah J.K. Ramos (Brandon Aquino), Chelsea Ricketts (Casey Lehrer), James Duval (Kaili Huikala), Dominic Hoffman (Dean Andrew Letoa), Anela...
- 11/13/2015
- by Andre Braddox
- OnTheFlix
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