Hawai‘i Floral designer Debbi Barrett creates unique works rooted in traditional culture. A health crisis renews her connection to Hawaiian plants and practices.
Acclaimed Korean artist Yun Suknam dedicates her life to painting 100 life-sized portraits of women freedom fighters who defied Japanese Occupation. This is a sample reel for a work in progress.
Aspiring singer songwriter ISMAY (Avery Hellman) embarks on a journey of creative self discovery while exploring the trail blazed by music icon Lucinda Williams.
THE LAST RODEO profiles a high school rodeo athlete as she must choose between maintaining her Hawaiian Paniolo family traditions, or leave Hawai‘i and move to the continental United States for college. Currently in post production.
$avvy explores why it’s critical for women to understand and take control of their personal finances. $avvy investigates the historical, cultural and societal norms around women and money. With incisive humor and captivating honesty, $avvy questions why women often take a backseat to their finances and why it’s so important now more than ever for women to take control of their financial futures.
REEL WĀHINE OF HAWAI‘I short film series chronicles the lives of trailblazing and emerging women filmmakers who tell uniquely Hawai‘i stories through the lens of a camera. These six new films take a behind the scenes look at the careers and creative processes of these outstanding Hawai‘i women filmmakers: Meleanna Aluli Meyer, Joy Chong-Stannard, Joan Lander, Hinaleimoana Wong-Kalu, Kimberlee Bassford and Zoë Eisenberg. Each film is a collaboration between a working female Hawai‘i director and an aspiring young woman filmmaker which she mentors through the creative process. The series is produced by Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking with major funding by the National Endowment for the Arts.
2023 Emmy™ Award, Award of Merit, Special Mention, The IndieFest 2022. Official Selection, Hawai‘i International Film Festival 2021, Melbourne Women in Film Festival, Made in Hawai‘i Festival.
Series producers: Shirley Thompson & Vera Zambonelli
Directors: Heather H. Giugni, Erin Lau, Anne Misawa, Shirley Thompson & Vera Zambonelli
Sixty mile an hour winds, tinder dry hills, firestorm tornadoes that melted cars while traveling the length of a football field every three seconds—in October 2017, Sonoma County lost 22 lives, 5200 structures, and awoke to the deep pain of climate change. Embers of Awakening blends the powerful personal stories of fire survivors with interviews from scientists, activists, politicians, and other community members to inspire each viewer toward positive engagement and action.
2023 Northern California Emmy Award nomination, Award of Merit for Editing The IndieFest 2022, Official selection AV Fest 2022.
Director/Producer: Phyllis Ann Rosenfield
Editor, writer, producer: Shirley Thompson
Sixty mile an hour winds, tinder dry hills, firestorm tornadoes that melted cars while traveling the length of a football field every three seconds—in October 2017, Sonoma County lost 22 lives, 5200 structures, and awoke to the deep pain of climate change. Embers of Awakening blends the powerful personal stories of fire survivors with interviews from scientists, activists, politicians, and other community members to inspire each viewer toward positive engagement and action.
Award of Merit for Editing The IndieFest 2022, Official selection AV Fest 2022.
It’s the Christmas season and a Chamorro family from Guam living in Northern California is busily preparing for their annual Nobenan Niñu Jesus. Through the preparation of kélaguen and singing traditional songs, the grandchildren learn about their culture and Chamorro language—a language that they do not speak—but will happily sing alongside their grandparents. The nobena practice, often led by women, continues to preserve and perpetuate the Chamorro language and values and brings together extended families across spaces.
