100% Locally Funded, Locally Produced Documentary "One Voice" to Screen at Hawaii International Film Festival
A film about the annual Kamehameha Schools song contest and the students that partake in this time honored tradition makes its debut at the Hawaii International Film Festival October 15. The film "One Voice" was created to instill within the people of Hawai'i a sense of ethnic pride as well as respect for local culture and traditions.
- Honolulu, HI (1888PressRelease) September 27, 2010 - As Hawaii celebrates a record setting year for film and TV productions in the state, it is important to note local films such as ONE VOICE that are 100% produced and funded here in the islands.
Presented by Pacific Islanders in Communications (PIC), ONE VOICE, a documentary about ten Kamehameha Schools student song leaders and their journey to Song Contest, will make its Hawaii premiere at the Hawaii International Film Festival (HIFF) on October 15th at Dole Cannery Stadium 18 Theaters.
"We are excited to showcase this film because it demonstrates the talent and experience of filmmakers that exist here in Hawaii both in front of the screen and behind-the-scenes," says PIC president, Ruth Bolan.
ONE VOICE follows the students as they prepare for the Song Contest, detailing their contributions to preserving and perpetuating the Hawaiian culture. Through the stories and the lives of these contemporary high school students, the audience will experience Hawaiian culture as it has survived, flourished and grown through the universal power of music and song.
Bolan says the film allows everyone to experience this extraordinary competition. "The Kamehameha School Song Contest is a unique tradition of cultural celebration. The film gives viewers a front row seat into Hawaii's heritage, demonstrating our love for community, passion for Hawaiian music, and the story of a people who nearly lost their language and culture."
Preparations for filming begin months before the contest. The film follows the song leaders for an entire year as they prepare for the March 2008 competition. The theme for that year was Ola ka 'Olelo Oiwi o ka 'Aina - celebrating Hawaiian language revitalization.
The annual competition involves tremendous amounts of preparation and rehearsal. Following the elected student song directors, we see how the tradition creates an indelible experience that builds class unity, instills cultural pride, and builds character. Song Contest is the event students anticipate all year long, and each year the competition among the classes is intense. While the film follows the lives of several song directors as they prepare for the Song Contest, it also explores their world outside of school by meeting their families, or 'ohana, and revealing their hopes and dreams for the future.
ONE VOICE embodies the aloha spirit that is at the center of a dynamic and thriving Hawaiian society in the 21st century, while paying tribute to the long and glorious history of Hawaiian music and culture. For the students, it all culminates in one night of competition, when they sing with one voice. The documentary is a testament to their song, a film that is a living, breathing, singing celebration of the Hawaiian people.
ABOUT THE DIRECTOR/PRODUCER:
As a filmmaker and hula dancer, One Voice director Lisette Marie Flanary creates documentary films that celebrate a renaissance of traditional Hawaiian culture in the modern world. A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Flanary is the writer, producer and director of Lehua Films based in New York City. Her award- winning movie "Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula," was part of the Independent Lens series on PBS in 2008, and screened in numerous film festivals both in the U-S and abroad. The film premiered at the Hawaii International Film Festival's Sunset on the Beach event in 2006, where Flanary received the Hawaii Filmmaker Award and an Audience Award for Best Documentary. In 2007, "Na Kamalei: The Men of Hula" garnered an Emerging Director Award at the New York Asian American International Film Festival, the Audience Award at the San Francisco Asian American Film Festival, Best Non-Fiction Feature at the VCFilmFest and Best Documentary at the San Diego Asian American Film Festival.
Currently, Flanary is in pre-production on the final film of her trilogy entitled "Tokyo Hula," which focuses on the intense popularity of hula dancing in Japan. And, One Voice won her a nomination for Best Director of a Documentary at the 2010 Los Angeles Asian Pacific Rim Festival
Executive Director of Pacific Islanders in Communications and film producer, Ruth Bolan graduated with Honors from Harvard University, where she ran the Experimental Theater at the Loeb Drama Center. Her first job was at the John. F. Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. working with Artistic Director Peter Sellars. She then produced theater on and off Broadway. While in New York, she was Spalding Gray's manager and produced works for American Playhouse and HBO. In Hollywood, she ran the Film Division of Overland Entertainment and founded her own Media Development Company. Recently, in Honolulu, she was the Executive Director of the children's theater Lisa Mastumoto's Ohia Productions. She has been the Executive Director of Pacific Islanders in Communications since April 1, 2005.
Co-producer Heather Haunani Giugni is a passionate Hawaiian media content collector who celebrates her community through the lens of a camera. For more than 25 years, Giugni has been the guiding force behind Juniroa Productions, which has produced hundreds of short and long programs about Hawaii and its native people. Giugni also mentors, produces, directs, writes and connects the Hawaiian dots that help tell the story of Native Hawaiians, to a global audience. Since 2006, she has produced the Kamehameha Schools Song Contest's live broadcast. She also produces the highly acclaimed Merrie Monarch Festival, broadcast locally and viewed worldwide, via the Internet. Most recently, Giugni established a digital film and video archive for the State of Hawaii. Her success can be attributed to great collaborations, including a partnership with PIC on One Voice.
ONLINE PRIZE GIVEAWAYS
PIC is sponsoring an online contest asking participants to answer weekly questions about the movie, the Song Contest tradition, and fun, local facts. The winners will receive prizes and gift certificates from local businesses, and will qualify to win the grand prize, which is a two-night stay at the Waikiki Beach Hotel during the HIFF Sunset on the Beach screening of ONE VOICE (for residents) and two roundtrip plane tickets from the Continental U.S., American Samoa and Guam to attend HIFF in October (non-Hawaii residents). The contest goes until October 10th.
Major supporters of the film include the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, PIC, and Juniroa Productions. There has also been an outpouring of support and cooperation from the Kamehameha 'ohana.
RELEASE DATES
ONE VOICE is slated to debut on Opening Weekend of HIFF on Friday, October 15, 2010 at Dole Cannery Stadium 18 Theaters. Additional screenings may be added during the festival from October 14-24 at Dole Cannery, as well as a screening at Sunset on the Beach in Waikiki on October 23.
About Pacific Islanders in Communications:
The mission of Pacific Islanders in Communications is to support, advance, and develop Pacific Island media content and talent that results in a deeper understanding of Pacific Island history, culture, and contemporary challenges. Established in Honolulu in 1991 as a national nonprofit media arts corporation, PIC is a member of the National Minority Consortia, which collectively addresses the need for programming that reflects America's growing ethnic and cultural diversity. Primary funding for PIC and the Consortia is provided through an annual grant from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
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