HIFF Film Festival Diary - Day 2 (pt.2)

Louis Vuitton Hawaii Intl. Film Festival (LVHIFF) Diary

Day Two (Part 2) - read Part 1 here

Monday, October 13th

3:00pm hour
We all convince Aaron to chill with us at the "Metal Samurai" bbq. We take the shuttle back to hotel to wait for Jason, but he's late 'cause he's still at the store buying all the bbq stuff. No problem! This just means more time for more brew!

4:00pm
We hang out on Aaron and Bob's balcony overlooking the Waikiki strip just reflecting on the fact that our little DIY films are screening next to the big dogs at HIFF. We all share production war stories from Morning Comes So Soon and Shiro's Head. It's so identical, it's uncanny! The more we get to learn about each other's backgrounds, the more we find out how our common passion for filmmaking plays a huge part in our giving back to where we come from. We also vent to each other about how people don't realize how much work it takes to make even a DIY film. We talk about family, about Guam and the Marshall Islands, our tats and how Aaron saw prostitutes fighting last night.

4:42pm
Jason calls my cell. I tell him that I've invited Aaron and Bob. "Oh , from "Morning Comes So Soon? Cool." He's on his way. We finish our brew and head out to meet him in front of the Marketplace by the hotel.

5:00pm
We see a '92 Toyota Corolla pull up. It's Jason. He's full of energy, extremely kind, always on the go and talks a mile a minute. My first impression of him is that he's a really cool guy - very humble, driven and young. He looks like he's in his early-mid twenties. How does HIFF do it? How is it possible that every representative from HIFF happens to be a very nice, down-to-earth person? Not once have I encountered anyone from the fest who has their "better than thou" nose in the air. Coming from Guam, this just makes me feel right at home. I would've never thought that the people of Hawaii (especially as a state) would be this hospitable. Whoever's in charge of recruiting the HIFF staff should be given some kind of medal. Really.

5:20pm
We arrive at Ala Moana Park and head over to the little concrete table and bench underneath a huge tree. We're chilling right next to the cool sailboats near the dock with the awesome city skyline behind it. On the ground, we see Jason's younger brother Ryan trying to keep the little hibachi grill up to par for the big bbq ahead. We meet up again with Li Lin Wee the writer/director of Gone Shopping, her husband Charlie and one of their young and energetic cast members, Sonja. Also there is Hawaii director from Blood of the Samurai, Aaron Yamasato.We're the second group to arrive.

We mingle a bit with everyone and fly some of Sonja's kites. I break one of them by getting myself tangled in it. Dang.

5:45-ish pm
The Metal Samurai guys show up smiling happy with all the food and some drinks. Director Kanesaki-san, Producer Fukushima-san and Producer Takahashi-san. Everyone realizes it won't be enough for all of us, so Li Lin, myself, Kanesaki-san and both Aarons decide to make a store run. Kanesaki-san is laughing at his producer Takahashi-san because he's trying to throw a football around with Bob and Don.

6:00pm hour
While going to the store, I discover that Li Lin is enrolled at the Tisch school of film in Singapore - the only Tisch school outside of the states and that Aaron Yamasoto is really funny. It was weird to be in a car full of filmmakers. It seemed like a punchline to a joke that hasn't been invented yet. We get to the store and Aaron Condon and I go after the important stuff. 2 cases of Bud Light. ;) Leave it to us islanders to be so refined.

6:30-ish pm to ???
We get back to the bbq and the succulent aroma of marinade is in the air. Slack-key music is coming from the CD player, laughter and stories are everywhere as we all pop a squat and just chill. This is exactly my speed. The skyline is lit with city lights and the moonlight shines on the water. The vibe is positive, fun and carefree. It's a great second day here at HIFF.

As the night goes on, the vibe just gets better. The small hibachi grill is the brunt of running jokes. The highlights ranged from conversations about the effects of globalization to a freestyle rap performed by Aaron and Don while Bob beatboxed.We really connected with Li Lin, Jason and the Marhsallese. I discover that Jason is an aspiring screenwriter and that it took the director of Metal Samurai, Kanesaki-san only seven days to shoot the four episodes of Metal Samurai. As the beer ran out, I told everyone that dessert was ready. And by dessert, I mean the 2nd case of Bud Light. The Metal Samurai crew erupt in cheers and yell, "Dessert!". Ahhh yeah, happy to oblige! We were later joined by Andersen Le, the high profiled Programmer for HIFF, along with the filmmakers of Cape No.7.

The only reason that the night came to an end is because it had to. The park closed at 10pm. We all reluctantly packed up and headed for the parking lot. Even in the parking lot it was just a love-fest. I'm telling you - it took like 15 minutes for people to leave because no one wanted to. Everyone was giving each other goodbye hugs as we've all forged new relationships that night. The Metal Samurai crew was leaving first thing in the morning, so we gave the dudes a "Banzai" farewell. Myself, Aaron, Bob and Don yell numerous "Metal Samurai" cheers in unison. In return, the Metal Samurai guys cheer back as their car leaves.

Li Lin and Daiwi tell us that they'll make it a point to see Shiro's Head tomorrow. And, likewise for us and Gone Shopping.

10:45-ish pm.
Jason drops us back to the hotel and we thank him for inviting us as it turned out to be the best and memorable night of the fest so far. We had so much fun that we forgot to do our video interview! Aaron goes on to say that tonight is one of the best nights he's experienced so far at the fest. Bob agrees. The guys want to keep the party going since they have more drinks up in their room, but even though we don't want the good times to end, Don and I had to take a rain check since we're debuting Shiro's Head tomorrow to Hawaii. Plus, I think there's some kind of awards ceremony tomorrow morning (none of us are up for competition, though). We're all planning to attend, regardless. We tell the Marshallese that we'll give 'em a wake-up call tomorrow.

Man, tonight was just unbelievable. Just unreal. It seems as our time at HIFF was meant to be - or something like that. Meeting good people and sharing not only good times, but personable times. I doubt many other film festivals do this type of gathering with their filmmakers - giving them a very real and organic "people oriented" experience and not just an "industry driven" experience.

This is just all too good right now. First, we've been fortunate enough to have the busily successful premiere showings back in Guam, and THEN to just make it to the festival is crazy, not to mention being able to meet all these cool filmmakers from around the world - this has been crazy.

And everybody here has given us a great experience. I wonder if tomorrow will be different. Maybe all the bad mojo is being saved up for our screening tomorrow. That would be jacked up.

Anyway, the butterflies are making their way in. The time for unveling Shiro's Head to the acclaimed Louis Vuitton Hawaii International Film Festival crowd is getting closer and closer. Right now, we're just hoping that our BetaSP transfer plays without any glitches, since we haven't had the time to watch it for quality control. Oh well, I guess we'll worry about that tomorrow. As they said in the movie, "Good night and good luck" - especially to our BetaSP tape.