HIFF Film Festival Diary - Day 2 (pt.1)

Louis Vuitton Hawaii Intl. Film Festival (LVHIFF) Diary

Day Two (Part 1)

Monday, October 13th

8:00am hour
I woke up still trying to pinch myself while looking out at the beautiful view from our balcony. I grab the camera and take a few pics outside. After a while, Don wakes up and starts to get ready. We have to get squared away with our badges and processing at the HIFF hospitality suite at the Sheraton before we catch our shuttle for the NETPAC luncheon around 10:30. But we still have some time to kill, so we go the corner Starbucks near the Sheraton.

9:00am hour
We're outside Starbuck's trying to pace ourselves for our first morning in Waikiki. Oops. I forgot to call Jason! Jason Soeda handles all HIFF filmmaker interviews and I remember that he wanted to do a video interview with me and Don about Shiro's Head. He already featured us on the HIFF site with a Q&A on Shiro's Head, but he wanted to conduct one for video, so I give him a call. He says that he had to return the camera to the news station that he was borrowing it from. BUT - there is a barbecue tonight at some park where we can shoot it mpeg style. He said that the "Metal Samurai" crew was going to be there and he would come pick us up if we wanted to hang out. Cool! Before we even left for the festival, I've been looking at the HIFF programming guide and came across a synopsis about a crazy heavy-metal samurai movie entitled of course, "Metal Samurai". I was sure that if I ever made it to the fest that I'd watch it. But now I get to meet the filmmakers? Too cool. Shiro's Head doesn't play until tomorrow, so Don and I figure it would be a good way to take the edge off before our Hawaii debut. Jason will pick us up in the late afternoon.

Minutes Later
My phone rings. It's Minette Ferrer. Minette is the super cool Assistant Programmer for HIFF. She calls to tell me that there's a review on Shiro's Head in today's Honolulu Star. Whoah! She's excited saying that most of the paper's past reviews were a bit disappointing because the films that get reviews are usually indies from the fest which are not mainstream, so it's not always so favorable. But she was excited that "Shiro's Head" got a good review and suggested that we pick up a copy or two. The movie gods are extremely kind. Don and I go to a nearby newsstand and pick up a couple copies. The review is honest and fair. So far, so great.

10:00am hour
Don and I make our way to the HIFF Hospitality Suite at the Sheraton to get our badges and to get processed. We walk in and there are already a few people in the room. Trying not to interrupt, Don and I say "Hello" and that we're just there to pick up our badges. We introduce ourselves as Don and Kel Muna of Shiro's Head. The older, distinguished gentleman stops and turns to us and asks,"From Guam?" We were surprised to learn that the man was Chuck Boller the Executive Director of HIFF!

He says that he's heard great things about Shiro's Head and that it was an honor to showcase Guam's first movie at this year's festival. He went on to congratulate us and says he is looking forward to seeing the movie. He goes on to say that he hears it's a 'masterpiece', but I don't know about that. He probably says it to all the filmmakers. Nonetheless, we thank him for the very kind words, pick up our badges and gift bags full of cool stuff, movie schedules, Hawaii Chip cookies, shortbread cookies, beverages, etc. and make our way downstairs to the shuttle for the NETPAC luncheon. The day hasn't even started yet and we have a bar-b-q planned, a positive review in the Honolulu Star and met the festival executive director who already knew of "Shiro's Head". Really? Really. Unreal.

10:30am
We're at the shuttle pick-up point but no one is here yet, so Don and I hang out at the podium next to the HIFF posters. I wander off just to make sure we're at the right spot. I come back and Don's talking with a couple of dudes. I introduce myself and they introduce themselves as Aaron and Bob. I ask if they're part of the fest and Aaron says that he's the director of the first ever Marshallese movie, "Morning Comes So Soon". Whoah! First Marshallese movie, first Guam movie? I can already tell that this is going to be the beginning of a cool relationship. They go on to say that they've been looking for us once they got there a few days ago, since they knew there were Guam's first movie makers somewhere in the festival, but they couldn't find us at the opening ceremonies. I told them this was our first official day at the fest and that we almost didn't make it out. It seems that the buzz on Guam's first movie has been making its way around the festival before we even got there.

Bob was very shy hardly saying a word and Aaron was a pretty chill dude, too. I could already tell they were cool, humble people. As we talk I turn to see other people show up little by little and one of them was a familiar face. I turn to him and said, "Hey, I know you! I mean, I don't know you - but I know your face - you're an actor, right?" He introduces himself as Cliff Curtis (who looks like he can be our older brother and I later find out is in "Whale Rider" which I've yet to see). He had a very charismatic personality. He was very laid back in camo shorts and a t-shirt. He kept giving Aaron, Bob, Don and me a hard time trying to find Guam and the Marshall islands on Google earth using his iPhone.

10:45am
The "shuttle" arrives. I'm expecting a small van, but instead here's this huge tour-bus style coach. Crazy. During the trip to the luncheon, Don and I talk more with Aaron and Bob and find out they've shot their movie the exact way we did ours: low-budget. They made theirs for $10,000 and we did ours for $6,000. Cliff said our budget made them look fat. Ha! We found out we had so much in common: both used non-actors, first feature length movie to come out of their islands, submitted to smaller fests and got rejected, 1st time writers/directors for a feature, making your own equipment, anxious about the way your home will perceive your movie, doing it for the love and not the cash, and the list goes on and on.

11:00am - 1:00pm
We arrive at the Regal Dole Cannery Theaters and head upstairs to the luncheon. The purpose of the NETPAC luncheon is to honor and promote films by Asians and Pacific Islanders. It was Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, the NETPAC/USA President that officially invited us to be part of it. She was also the Founding Director of the Hawaii International Film Festival (1981 to 1996). I already felt honored just to be included in the company we were in.

First thing's first: food. We received our menus for the luncheon, got our food and headed into the ballroom - naturally, all the island boys sat together. After everyone started trickling in, it began looking like a United Nations meeting instead of a filmmakers luncheon.There were filmmakers from China, Japan, New Zealand, Guam, the Marshall Islands, Hawaii, Singapore and more. There were also writers from industry trades that attended - Filmmaker Magazine, Variety, etc. In fact, Jason Sanders a real cool guy from Filmmaker Magazine sat with the island boys (me, Don, Aaron and Bob) and we struck up conversation about his job, how it takes him travelling to different film festivals, we talked about Shiro's Head and also found out that we have the Bay Area in common.

Jeannette got things started and opened up the luncheon by introducing the members of NETPAC/USA Board of Directors: Wimal Disanayake, Mingbao Yue, Chaoying Deng, and Jeanne Wakasuki Houston. She also introduced the writer/director of an indie movie from 2005 from Fiji entitled "The Land Has Eyes". His name was Vilsoni Hereniko - Jeannete's husband. ;) It's funny because in 2007, while Don and I were shooting Shiro's Head on Guam, we heard that there was a filmmaker on island to talk about a movie he made in his homeland in Fiji. We saw an interview on KUAM with Sonya Artero and a guy who later turns out to be Vilsoni. HOW WEIRD IS THAT? Now here we are in the same event. Crazy.

Okay, now this is where it gets interesting. Each filmmaker at each table had to give their names and the name of the film that they had in the festival. Then they are presented with leis. We saw the filmmakers of Cape No.7 from Taiwan. To give you an idea of the popularity of these filmmakers, the top grossing movie ever in Taiwan was Titanic. The second was Cape No.7. Whoa. Another table had some Japanese folks. They got up to introduce themselves in broken english. They turned out to be the filmmakers of "Metal Samurai" - the guys that will be at the barbecue tonight. I applauded them and told them I was a fan. They said "Good! Thank you, thank you".

It was our turn and so both Don and I stand up and introduce ourselves as the filmmakers from Guam that made Shiro's Head. Then there was this "ooooohhh!" sound around the room and the "Metal Samurai" crew was like, "Oh! Shiro's Head!" Then they start to murmur amongst themselves. I was surprised. They were very interested in seeing the movie, but I later learn that they'll be leaving tomorrow before our debut show. Bummer. Aaron and Bob were next and introduced "Morning Comes So Soon". The same "ooohhh, ahhhhh" came from around the room and it was then that all of us island boys knew that even other filmmakers (established even!) were interested in seeing what these DIY, no-budget, first-time feature island boys can do. It was great.

We were joined at our table by a latecomer. She is real cool - down to earth. Her name is Li Lin Wee. She tells us that she's the director of the movie "Gone Shopping". We haven't heard of it yet, but I'm very interested in checking it out just because she doesn't fit the mold of your average "filmmaker". She seems too nice. Ha! Afterwards, we were free to mingle amongst ourselves, so Don and I mingled, broke out the camera and took some pics, got autographs and exchanged emails and cards. The irony to that is - we almost didn't bring any cards. Days earlier, even knowing that we might not make it to the festival, a good friend Edgar Flores (from Guam's band D.U.B.) gave us a gift - business cards! And they were complete with the Shiro's Head font, email, phone and in two different styles! Edgar, thank YOU!

We got the chance to talk with all of these interesting filmmakers one on one. On the level. We exchanged stories with Vilsoni and Jeanette, Cliff (who's coming out in a new movie with Harrison Ford), Li Lin, the "Metal Samurai" crew, the Cape No. 7 filmmakers, of course Aaron, Bob and more. It was an all such an amazing experience. The hospitality and care that HIFF is showing its filmmakers is just mindblowing. You get a real sense of appreciation and sincerity.

2:00pm
After the luncheon, we island boys have a seat in the HIFF lounge and order a few beers. Don and I are quickly finding out that Aaron and Bob remind us of guys that we would hang around with back home. They're way too funny and unique characters. But most of all, humble guys. We invite Aaron and Bob to the Metal Samurai bbq later tonight and tell them that Jason will be picking us up around 4pm. At this point, it's safe to say that they're cool people and we like hanging around with them. They remind us of the people back home. Aaron says that he and Bob have tickets for Cape No.7 at 4pm and that he's been waiting to see it. Bob tries to convince him that they should come with us to the BBQ.

2:30pm
We're joined at our lounge table by another writer. He's from Hawaii. I totally forgot his name. Don treats him to a drink. The conversation switches to the Red Camera seminar that'll take place on Saturday. Don and I are bummed because we won't be here (if we can get a flight out, that is). Don talks to Aaron and Bob about the Red Camera, it's price tag and tells them that the HIFF trailer was shot with one. Aaron can't believe it. He swears that it's shot on film.

Coming Up Next: Day 2 (pt.2)

HIFF Film Festival Diary - Day 1

Louis Vuitton Hawaii Intl. Film Festival (LVHIFF) Diary

Day One
Sunday, October 12th

10:12pm
After the last of our sold out shows today, Don and I discuss our cash flow to make the trip out to Hawaii for the int'l. film festival. The flights look open from Guam to Honolulu, but only for tomorrow morning and not any day after - so if we choose to go, it'll have to be tomorrow at 6am. Plus, our return trip doesn't look good. Worst case scenario is that we'd have to fly a full fare back to Guam. On standby status, it costs us about $400 roundtrip. Now, a full fare flight back home? For the BOTH of us?! That's in the friggin' thousands! It's bad enough that $400 is killing us. Although we had a successful opening weekend on Guam, we won't be seeing any immediate moneys - including the encore presentations. I tried calling Continental Airlines earlier this week, but they turned us down FLAT. They said that they already had too much on their plate and that they need at least 90 days in advance to prep sponsorship details, contractual obligations and all that stuff. So we decide not to go.

11:00pm
I keep thinking about HIFF. What if this is it? What if this is the only time that we ever get accepted to a festival at this tier? They've already agreed to accommodate us as delegates with 3 days at the Sheraton in Waikiki and free transportation - all we need to do is get there. What if there's the possibility of meeting someone that wants to distribute Shiro's Head? Shoot, if we don't go, we'll never know. A big question we always get is "Why don't you have a sponsor that'll pay your travel costs?" Good question.

11:10pm
Screw all the thinking, man. I call Don and tell him that there's no way we should miss this opportunity. It could be our only one. He agrees and says to go for it and to "put in on the card". Yep...there's that famous line again. So I double-check the flight load occupancy for standby passengers and it still looks good - except that we'll have to leave in about 6 hours. So I check us in online as standby passengers and print out the receipt and boarding passes. $400. Ouch. I tell the wife that we're going to go for it and she says how proud she is of us and that it's worth a try. She's truly amazing.

11:20pm
I call Don and tell him that the tickets have been paid for (but if we don't make the flight, we're not charged the fee). We agree to pack light, get some rest and leave the house by 4:45am.

12 o'clock hour
Packing my backpack - just clothes, ipod, camera, and a book for the plane ride (if we make the flight).

1:00am hour
Still packing.

2:00am hour
I forgot that I have to draft an email for Naomi to send to the HIFF organizers in case we do make the flight out, only because we won't know if we make the flight or not until the plane has boarded all of its passengers. HIFF won't be expecting us today. I told them weeks ago that if Don and I were lucky enough to make it out, that we'd be arriving on a Monday. And although it's technically Monday morning on Guam, it'll be Sunday morning in Hawaii, so no one will be there to pick us up - not to mention we won't have a place to stay for the night since we'll be arriving a day early.

3:00am hour
Sent the email to Naomi to send to HIFF. Now I have to print out all of the necessary delegate forms, itinerary and transportation stuff.

4:00am hour
Now I don't have any time to sleep. I'll just sleep on the plane. I have to take a shower. We'll be leaving for the airport in half an hour.

5:45pm Sunday, October 12th - Hawaii Time
WHEW! Perfect landing! Needless to say, we made the flight and without any hassle. Thank the Lord. A few customs, TSA agents, passengers and the flight crew would recognize me and Don, congratulate us and stop to talk about Shiro's Head. It was just humbling to know how many people have been following Shiro's Head. One TSA agent even told us how he brought his kids to see the movie and that he was proud his kids were able to experience the Chamorro language preserved onscreen. THAT was just unreal. A comment that one flight attendant shared after learning we were headed for HIFF will stick with me for awhile. As we were deplaning, he turns and says, "Go get 'em boys." That was cool to have so much heartfelt love and support from your people and your home - especially for such a small project like Shiro's. Just fantastic.

6:10pm
We're outside Oahu Int'l. Airport and I'm checking my cell phone to see if HIFF received the email. I found out that not only did they receive the email, they already had a driver on the way and was able to extend our hotel accommodations an extra day since we arrived early! HOW GREAT IS THAT?!?!

6:30pm
Our driver (and co-pilot) happen to be filmmakers with the festival as well. AWESOME! Straight out of the gate and we've already met other filmmakers. Henry is a local boy that does some DP and directing. Dana is an 'all-around' filmmaker who has a short in the festival called 'The Hollow' and is also a production assistant on the ABC TV show "LOST". They were the coolest people. I mean, we could've been stuck with anyone's first impression, but it just so happened that the first people we meet tied to the festival are really cool cats. It's already off to a great start.

7:00pm
We're at the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani. It's fantastic here. The nightlife is crazy packed for a Sunday. Waikiki is a trip! It's like a bigger, badder Tumon. I had no idea that so many tourists would be here in mid October. Henry said he'd be offended if I tipped him, so he refused a tip. Don and I went straight to the front desk to check in. We just told them our names, showed some ID, and they directed us to our (upgraded - YAY!) room in the tower. We went up, changed into our usual quickdries and t-shirts and went strolling Waikiki.

9:00 hour
We got lost looking for the main Sheraton Waikiki hotel where the delegate headquarters is located. We thought we were going to get a leg up by looking for it tonight instead of tomorrow, since we need to pick up our badges first thing in the morning in order to make tomorrow's NETPAC luncheon. But instead we ended up walking an hour down the entire strip when a shopkeeper told us it was the opposite way - the way we came from. So we had to backtrack down the strip and a security guard pointed us in the right direction. We finally found it. It was only about a ten minute walk from our hotel! But no complaints. I'm just glad to be here. It's amazing what Shiro's Head has given us. If we haven't made the movie, who knows if we ever would've experienced Waikiki. It's my first time here! Now we can kick back until tomorrow. We got something to eat at a nearby Denny's and talked about the excitement of it all.

10:00 hour
We've gotten some Guinness at one of the hotel bars and took it outside to reflect on what a wild ride this past week was. Heck, just a few hours ago we were deciding not to go to HIFF due to lack of funds. Now here we are, delegates at one of the most respected international film festivals, staying at a fantastic hotel on the Waikiki strip courtesy of HIFF, coming off sell-out crowds at Hagatna Center Stadium Theaters, sipping Guinness after making our last-minute flight out only hours ago.

While outside, Don and I see these two guys carrying some great looking Canon XL2's and some video gear. We ask if they were part of the festival. "What festival?" one of them asks. "HIFF." I respond. "Oh, no - we just came from shooting a wedding." the other guy says. Don and I look at each other and realize how far we've come from our days of shooting wedding videos. If tonight was this great, I wonder what tomorrow will be like. Cheers.

Shiro's Head Screenings at UOG This Week!

The Muña Brothers together with the University of Guam College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences are proud to present 8 special showings of Shiro's Head (Guam's First Full Length Feature Film) at the UOG CLASS Lecture Hall.
Showtimes will be at 6:00 pm and 8:00 pm nightly:
Thursday, October 30th
Friday, October 31st
Saturday, November 1st
Sunday, November 2nd

Admission is $5 per person.
Tickets are available at the following locations:

UTTAM’S Plasma City/Auto Sounds (across Linda’s Café) at 314 East Marine Corp. Drive (477-4388) I. P. Coffee Co. University Drive, Mangilao (727-4518).

Additionally, tickets will be sold on all screening dates at the door beginning at 4:00 pm each day. Seating is limited. Get your tickets early!

Proceeds will support the efforts of student presenters in bringing the UOG Student Produced film "Casting Our Net: Rediscovering Community in the 21st Century" to the East-West Center's International Conference “Building an Asia Pacific Community: Unity in Diversity” in Indonesia on November 13-15, 2008.
For further information please contact the CLASS Division office at 735-2870 or Dr. Kirk Johnson at kjohnson@uguam.uog.edu

Shiro's Head Encore Shows This Weekend!

Greetings and Hafa Adai,

First, I would like to thank everybody that made it to the opening weekend of Shiro's Head at the Agana Center Stadium Theaters. Kel and I had a blast. And for those that didn't get a chance to catch the show last weekend... we have great news for you. Our marketing peeps at SMG are helping us to show the movie 5 more times this Saturday and Sunday!

So this Saturday the 11th we have 3 shows... at 12:00PM, 3:00PM and 7:00PM and this Sunday the 12th we have 2 shows at 12:00PM and 3:00PM. All shows will still be held at The Agana Center Stadium Theaters in the Agana Shopping Center and you can get your tickets at these select 76 Circle K locations - Sinajana, Anigua, Barrigada, Ypao across the UIU building and I hear maybe Dededo too. Tickets are still $10.00. Hope you can make it... Kel and I will be at all of the screenings to address any of your questions and/or concerns. Thank you all so much for your support. Hope to see you there.

Guam Showing - Tickets On Sale Now!

Tickets are on sale now at all 76 Circle K Locations island wide.

Theater Location:
Hagatna Center Stadium Theaters at the Hagatna Shopping Center

World Premier/Charity Event & General Admission Times:
6:00 PM Friday, October 3rd Dinner/Cocktail and Red Rug Premier Pre-Party. All VIP guests will receive a free Gift Basket. The show starts at 9:00 PM
8:00 PM Saturday, October 4th General Admission
2:00 PM Sunday, October 5th General Admission

Ticket Price:
Red Rug Premier and Charity Event: $100-
General Admission: $10-

We understand that it may be hard times for some right now, so if you can't afford to get the charity event tickets... no worries... but please do try to get those general admission tickets soon because we hear they're selling pretty fast. Thank you all so much for your support! Take care.

Don & Kel Muna

Shiro's Head - Official Movie Poster

Poster Design By: Kel Muna

This design is currently in print through our promotional items partner and presenter sponsor, Aktiv8 Promotionals for the Shiro's Head Red Rug Premier and charity event on Guam. For all you locals, be sure to check it out Friday, October 3rd 2008.

HIFF Screening Times for Shiro's Head

Shiro's Head is scheduled for two screenings in Hawaii this October. The first showing is on Tuesday, October 14th at 9:00pm and the second screening the day after, Wednesday afternoon, October 15th at 3:30pm. To purchase tickets to the Louis Vuitton, HIFF screenings please click link below:

CLICK HERE TO BUY TICKETS

LOCATION:

Dole Cannery Stadium 18 Theaters
735 Iwilei Road
Honolulu, HI 96817
Phone: (808) 550-8457

SCREENING TIMES:

Tuesday, October 14th 2008 at 9:00pm
Wednesday, October 15th 2008 at 3:30pm

Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Shiro's Head has been officially selected to attend the 1st Annual Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival.