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Reel Wāhine of Hawai‘i Season 1

From the mothers of Hawai’i independent filmmaking to cutting edge artists at the top of their game, REEL WĀHINE OF HAWAI’I is a series of portraits of Hawai’i’s top women filmmakers. The subjects represent pioneering filmmakers as they recount their roles, philosophies, challenges and triumphs in building the Hawai’i film industry and telling unique local stories through a camera lens.

Season 1 features: Connie M. Florez (Indie film producer), Ciara Leinaʻala Lacy (director, OUT OF STATE), Jeannette Paulson-Hereniko (Producer, THE LAND HAS EYES, and founding director of Hawai‘i International Film Festival), Victoria Keith (Camerawoman and news producer, THE SAND ISLAND STORY), Anne Misawa (Cinematographer, UH Mānoa ACM Professor) Heather Haunani Giugni (Producer, FAMILY INGREDIENTS, Founder of ʻUluʻulu: The Henry Ku‘ualoha Giugni Moving Image Archive of Hawai‘i

Directed by: Heather Giugni, Leah Kihara, Laurie Sumiye, Shirley Thompson and Vera Zambonelli.

Series producers: Shirley Thompson & Vera Zambonelli for Hawai‘i Women in Filmmaking

hawaiiwomeninfilmmaking.org

Why Can’t I Be Me? Around You

Albuquerque’s Rusty Tidenberg, auto mechanic and drag-racing aficionado, shocked friends and family by coming out as trans. Followed for eight years by filmmaker Harrod Blank, Rusty guides us through the aftermath of her transition, as growing acceptance among her straight-talking Southwest community still doesn’t ease her romantic and professional woes. A sensitive and unpredictable love letter to people who fight to be unapologetically themselves.

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Directed by Harrod Blank with Sjoerd Dijk

Film website: harrodblank.com

Is Your Story Making You Sick?

Heal your story, heal your world. A powerful look at how we can transform our lives and our health through changing our “story.”

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Frances Causey

Website: story.movie

A Dangerous Idea

The documentary A DANGEROUS IDEA: Eugenics, Genetics and The American Dream reveals how biologically determined politics has historically disenfranchised women and people of color, provided a rationale for state sanctioned crimes committed against America’s most vulnerable citizens, and now gains new traction under the Trump administration.

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Stephanie Welch

Mañana Seguimos/Tomorrow We Carry On

“Tomorrow, We Carry On” highlights Dulce Garcia, the Dreamer who risked the life she leads in America to sue the President for rescinding the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program. Winner of the 2019 San Diego Latino Film Festival Migrant Voices competition.

Editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Marlene “Mo” Morris

Producers: Jed Riffe, Marlene “Mo” Morris

25 Texans in the Land of Lincoln

Ellen Brodsky’s delightful film about a young group of Texas history students who embark on a quest to return General Santa Anna’s wooden leg to Mexico. Don’t know who Santa Anna is? Watch the trailer!

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Ellen Brodsky

Reel Wāhine of Hawai‘i: Victoria Keith

Documentarian and camerawoman VICTORIA KEITH (Sand Island Story) produced and directed dozens of films highlighting Hawaiian culture, and the environmental and sustainability challenges of living on islands.

Director, producer, writer: Shirley Thompson

Series producers: Shirley Thompson & Vera Zambonelli

Life on the Ganges

On the banks of the Ganges, in India’s holiest city, the gods descend to earth once a year to celebrate. And the boatmen carry the faithful who come to honor them.

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Indira Somani

The Long Shadow

Director Frances Causey examines the impact of white privilege on American society today through the lens of her family’s colonial past as slave owners.

Trailer editor: Shirley Thompson

Director: Frances Causey

Website:  thelongshadowfilm.com/

Crossing Spaces

Short film docu-series featuring three women from Micronesia who are transforming their lives and the lives of their families through higher education. Part of the Pacific Pulse online series, Pacific Islanders in Communications.

Editor/Producer: Shirley Thompson.

Director/Producer: Dr. Lola Quan Bautista