6B: An Anthology of Hawaii Films(2011)

Hawaii: A Voice for Sovereignty(en)

The goal of Hawaii, a Voice for Sovereignty is to raise awareness of the issues that threaten the Hawaiians ancient and once-environmentally-sustainable culture. It is an epic documentary about Hawaiian spirituality and the peoples close connection to the land. It focuses on the complicated social, economic and ecological issues that have arisen in Hawaii since the overthrow of Queen Liliuokalani by the United States in 1893. For Hawaiians, sovereignty is the legal, political and moral right to live on and care for the land; build and grow a sustainable economy; protect natural resources; practice spiritual and cultural traditions; honor their ancestral past; and care for family and community. The film is in the voice of native Hawaiian people who address the issues they continue to face in their long struggle to regain sovereignty over their rights and the native lands lost after the U.S. businessmen and military overthrew the Kingdom of Hawaii.

The Art Of Waiting(he)

Liran and Tali, a couple in their thirties who dream of having a child together, are one day told that they will have to undergo fertility treatments. What seems simple at first turns out to be very complex.

Abrek Zaur(ru)

The dashing mountaineer Zaur (B. Bestaev) kills a Russian "imperialist" thereby becoming an abrek, member of a roving band of outlaws.

Solar Flare(en)

Maggie Cook has spent her teenage life alone in her room, but with the world set to end in 24 hours, her classmate Hazel Norcross finally brings her out of her shell.

Golden Horseshoes(ar)

Youssef Soltane, a 45-year-old Tunisian intellectual, is the product of a generation that lived the era of euphoria and great ideologies in the sixties, and their subsequent failure. He was incarcerated and tortured for his political opinions. Furthermore, his relationship with Zineb, a young, beautiful bourgeois, only brings him more trouble. During one long winter night, Youssef wanders in search of an emotional haven, prey to all the questions that flood his memory.

Dharmaveer 2(mr)

Explores Anand Dighe's life, tracing his political journey and capturing the essence of his impactful legacy as a prominent figure.

Growth(en)

'Growth" is an exploration of the universality of growing up through the eyes of those who have experienced it first hand. Captured entirely from above and featuring over 75 unique individuals, this short meditative documentary explores the complexity, subtlety, and beauty of growing up.

Guns of Nevada(es)

Joe Dexter, a famous gunfighter known as Nevada Joe, Golden Hill reaches a mining town. There he will find that the transport of gold from the mines is monopolized by John Randolph, who is opposed only Julia Brooks, owner of a mining concession, with which Dexter intimará and support in its confrontation with Randolph.

Skin of a Mandarin(et)

The film delicately follows 25-year-old Anna, whose mother has died suddenly. She wants to send her Orthodox mother on her last journey according to customs, but she runs into bureaucratic rules that do not allow Anna to dress her departed mother herself. This conflict brings her together with Maria, a 45-year-old funeral home worker, who in this story represents the hidden fears of death and grief on a deep emotional level.

The Flag of Iron(zh)

Loyal gang member Iron Panther takes the heat for his boss after a dustup with their rivals, only to end up betrayed in this vintage kung fu yarn.

One Hundred and One(es)

“If you jerk off a 100 times, you die.” This threat rings through the ears of our main character. One day he has to choose between imminent hell and the impetuousness of adolescence.

BeRLiN(ja)

When a woman whose job is to professionally date men disappears suddenly, a TV crew who wanted to film a documentary about women like her begin searching for her. Coincidentally, a salary-man who saw the disappeared woman and wants to meet her again is found and joins the crew. Together they follow the clues. She has an amulet, which looks like a small bag, which she always hangs from her neck. It contains a piece of the Berlin wall.

Joy(en)

Joy is a journey through the mind of a 65-year-old autistic lesbian who's addicted to sugar and can't stop thinking about her ex-girlfriend from youth. She lives with her partner—a mannequin that she's built to look like her ex. The tragicomic piece delves deep into moments of intimacy, loneliness, sexuality, joy, and the desperate longing to be loved.

Nico & Damián: Quieren plata(es)

The Dachshund(de)

They’re small, clever, and incredibly strong-willed: dachshunds. Their soulful gaze wins hearts and fuels their lasting popularity. Once royal hunting dogs, they now take on unusual jobs—like Strolchi, a miniature dachshund who sniffs out woodworm in historic buildings. The bond between humans and dachshunds goes back to Celtic times. Archaeologists have even found joint burials of people and dachshund-like dogs. Versatile and charming, they thrive as city pets, hunting companions, and even racers—like those at the annual Wiener Race in Kirchheimbolanden. Beloved far beyond Germany, dachshunds have fans in France too, with events like Paris’s “Sausage Walk.”

Das Leben ist ein Bauernhof(de)

6 weeks before her 18th birthday Katharina inherits her mothers farm with all it's problems. At the funeral she meets her two uncles, which she never met before, but turn out to be very helpful.

El Asesino del Zodiaco(es)

Untitled Hawaiian Gangster Project(en)

Based on the untold true story of a man who fought to preserve his homeland through a ruthless quest for absolute power — igniting the last great American mob saga, where the war for cultural survival takes place in the unlikeliest of places: paradise.

Vernos Juntos(es)

Eleven vignettes from the vision of different writers and directors who depict Venezuelan culture very subtly through different genres.

To Each His Own Cinema(fr)

Commissioned to mark the 60th anniversary of the Cannes Film Festival, "To Each His Own Cinema" brought together 33 of the world's pre-eminent filmmakers to produce short pieces exploring the multifarious facets of cinema and their perspective on the state of their chosen artform in the early 21st century.

Ten Years Thailand(th)

A collection of short films by five Thai directors imagining their country ten years into the future.

Hell's Half Acre(en)

A woman travels to Hawaii to find out if a man in prison there is actually her missing husband.

Mad Fire, Mad Love(cn)

A restless Chinese sea captain makes a stopover in Hawaii. While ashore, the captain befriends a Hawaiian-Chinese family and, at the mother's request, teaches Chinese to her children. He falls in love with the daughter (Siu Fei Fei) although he must soon depart with his ship. Eventually he returns, "rescuing her from the natives," and takes her back to China.

Big Jim McLain(en)

House Un-American Activities Committee investigators Jim McLain and Mal Baxter come to post war Hawaii to track Communist Party activities even though belonging to the party was legal at the time. They are interested in everything from insurance fraud to the sabotage of a U.S. naval vessel.

Kaos(it)

Five stories center on a werewolf, a feudal landlord, peasants, a ghost, and a mother and her sons.

Spirits of the Dead(fr)

Anthology film from three European directors based on stories by Edgar Allan Poe: a cruel countess haunted by a ghostly horse, a sadistic young man haunted by his double, and an alcoholic actor haunted by the Devil.

Panama Canal Stories(es)

Five shorts spanning a century on lives impacted by the Panama Canal. Men, women and children who are influenced by the existence of the "Canal", the event that changed the history of not only a country but the world.

Princess Kaiulani(en)

Ka'iulani, a 19th-century Hawaiian princess, is raised in England but determined to maintain her people's independence from aggressive American businessmen. After being sent to England as a child by her Scottish father, Ka'iulani returns to Hawaii and becomes a political activist who fights to retain her throne, even though she must leave her English paramour.

Eros(en)

A three-part anthology about love and sexuality: a menage-a-trois between a couple and a young woman on the coast of Tuscany; an advertising executive under enormous pressure at work, who, during visits to his psychiatrist, is pulled to delve into the possible reasons why his stress seems to manifest itself in a recurring erotic dream; a story of unrequited love about a beautiful, 1960s high-end call girl in an impossible affair with her young tailor.

Genius Party(ja)

The seven short films making up GENIUS PARTY couldn’t be more diverse, linked only by a high standard of quality and inspiration. Atsuko Fukushima’s intro piece is a fantastic abstraction to soak up with the eyes. Masaaki Yuasa, of MIND GAME and CAT SOUP fame, brings his distinctive and deceptively simple graphic style and dream-state logic to the table with “Happy Machine,” his spin on a child’s earliest year. Shinji Kimura’s spookier “Deathtic 4,” meanwhile, seems to tap into the creepier corners of a child’s imagination and open up a toybox full of dark delights. Hideki Futamura’s “Limit Cycle” conjures up a vision of virtual reality, while Yuji Fukuyama’s "Doorbell" and "Baby Blue" by Shinichiro Watanabe use understated realism for very surreal purposes. And Shoji Kawamori, with “Shanghai Dragon,” takes the tropes and conventions of traditional anime out for very fun joyride.

Rainbow's Tale(fa)

Connects seven stories of children facing different forms of violence, exploring how unresolved childhood trauma can lead to struggles in adulthood, perpetuating a cycle of hurt and harmful behavior.

Boys Life(en)

Each of the three short films in this collection presents a young gay man at the threshold of adulthood. In "Pool Days," Justin is a 17-year old Bethesda lad, hired as the evening life guard at a fitness center. In the course of the summer, he realizes and embraces that he's gay. In "A Friend of Dorothy," Winston arrives from upstate for his freshman year at NYU. He has to figure out, with some help from Anne, a hometown friend, how to build a social life as a young gay man in the city. In "The Disco Years," Tom looks back on 1978, the year in high school that he came out of the closet after one joyful and several painful encounters

667(zh)

Featuring five short stories of the reflections, interpretations and perspectives as our Singaporean filmmakers go on a journey in search of their cultural roots and how they make Singapore home, the omnibus seamlessly weaves the past and present as generations seek to understand, appreciate, preserve and pass on our heritage.

Plaza Suite(en)

Film version of the Neil Simon play has three separate acts set in the same hotel suite in New York's Plaza Hotel with Walter Matthau in a triple role. In the first, Karen Nash tries to get her inattentive husband Sam's attention and help save their failing marriage. In the second, brash film producer Jesse Kiplinger tries to seduce his former one-time flame Muriel. In the third, Roy Hubley and his wife Norma try and persuade their daughter, a bride to-be with cold feet, out of the bathroom before her approaching wedding ceremony.

The Gulf War... What Next?(ar)

The second Gulf War from 1990 to 1991 represents in the collective Arab memory a turning point in regards to the Arab nationalism’s self-perception as well as a moment of deep historical and existential insecurity. Five Arab directors discuss the events from their personal perspective.

Tokyo!(ja)

Three distinct tales unfold in the bustling city of Tokyo. Merde, a bizarre sewer-dweller, emerges from a manhole and begins terrorizing pedestrians. After his arrest, he stands trial and lashes out at a hostile courtroom. A man who has resigned himself to a life of solitude reconsiders after meeting a charming pizza delivery woman. And finally, a happy young couple find themselves undergoing a series of frightening metamorphoses.

Honeysuckle(hu)

Like the twining vines of the honeysuckle, each of the three stories in this film follow a character whose growth is impeded by the clouds of society hanging over their heads. From a Hungarian taxi driver torn between the preservation of his family and the unexpected humane responsibility found in the clandestine activities he does for profit, to the Hungarian teenager of a single mother whose idea of life goals and success seems perpetually defined by the missing figure of a role model, and finally to the young Indian Carnatic singer who amidst personal and national turmoil decides to sacrifice the one thing that defines her - her talent, Honeysuckle aims not to narrate or condescendingly offer a message, as much as it seeks to illustrate the many life directions available, and the way none of them are good, in a world severely lacking a moral center.