Father Geek here with our Pacific Islands Reporter-Editor, Ms Moon Yun Choi, and her special New Year's column from the land of Surf & Sand... Great stuff, make sure to check it ALL out. Now, here's Moon Yun...
Aloha, and a Happy New Year, Moon Yun signing in from Hawaii...
THE LAND HAS EYES... WORLD PREMIERE SET FOR SUNDANCE:
Aloha, and a Happy New Year, Moon Yun signing in from Hawaii...
THE LAND HAS EYES... WORLD PREMIERE SET FOR SUNDANCE:
Imagine having your film at Sundance but never having heard of the film festival, even Robert Redford, much less seen snow or been inside a movie theater.
That Ãs what it Ãs like for Sapeta Taito, the lovely 17-year-old star of THE LAND HAS EYES, who is from a remote Polynesian island located 300 miles north of Fiji called Rotuma.
"This is going to be a life changing experience for her, as well as for us," said Jeannette Paulson Hereniko, who co-produced the feature. She'll accompany Taito with her husband Vilsoni, who wrote, directed and co-produced the film. It takes place on Rotuma and is in Rotuman and English.
In THE LAND HAS EYES, Taito plays Viki, who was 15 at the time of the filming. She plays a girl who witnesses her father, Hapati (Voi Fesaitu), being charged of a crime he didnÃt commit because of a mistranslation in a colonial court system.
Her father can't speak English, whereas Viki excels in it and wins a scholarship to study in Fiji.
"Her father's statement is translated by a corrupt Rotuman court interpreter who deliberately mistranslates Viki's father's responses to the district commissioner. Viki, who's listening outside the courtroom, hears all this so she knows that her father has been falsely charged with theft," said Vilsoni, a Rotuman who grew up on the island and now lives in Hawaii.
Viki wants to take her father back to the court to tell the district commissioner, a white man, what actually happened. But tension rises when the father feels the case is best handled in the traditional Rotuman way.
Vilsoni, who's written over 14 plays before making his first film, wanted to give it a timeless feel. But, he says, when he was writing the script in Honolulu, he was thinking specifically of the late 60s, early 70s.
However, Jeannette says, when you look at the film, "it has a timeless quality about it."
One of the wonderful things about the film Jeannette says is the Western audience will get to see the island from an insider's point of view rather than just the romanticized, exotic tropical island setting.
That doesn't mean, she says, there aren't some beauty shots. I think it does give those of us who are use to the Visitor's Bureau kind of beauty shots of an island a refreshing and original view of island life.
As for the title, Vilsoni says it comes from a Rotuman proverb, which when translated from Rotuman to English, says: "The Land has Eyes. The Land has Teeth. And knows the Truth."
Once Hapati realizes he's been done for, he invokes the Rotuman proverb and tells the court interpreter that the land is watching them so they better watch out. The land will get them.
Sounds powerful. If youÃre at Sundance, check out the THE LAND HAS EYES. ThatÃs where itÃll have its world premiere.
Here are the screening times in Park City:
Don Brown, my wonderful new guest writer, will be at Sundance and he'll be sending me a review of this film. If you're not going to Sundance but to one of the Europeans' instead, you can catch it at the Rotterdam International Film Festival where THE LAND HAS EYES will be screened in the main program.
For a sneak peak, check out my photos by just CLICKING and their web site at www.thelandhaseyes.com
MAGNUM AND HAWAII FIVE-O MOVIE UPDATES:
For cool MAGNUM and HAWAII FIVE-O news, check out an article by star Hawaii entertainment reporter Tim Ryan in "The Honolulu Star-Bulletin." In his column, Ryan gives an update on who may be playing the leads for the movie versions of the TV series. For MAGNUM, it sounds like it'll be George Clooney, but will there be a guest cameo by Tom Selleck? Or will the studios snub him off? And For FIVE-O will it be Clooney again, or will Mel Gibson take his passion to this project? Sigh, still wish Keanu Reeves could at least have a supporting part. Check it ALL out by clicking here, now! Cool!!!
SINGLEFIN: YELLOW
For Jason Baffa, his surf film, SINGLEFIN: YELLOW, is like THE RED VIOLIN meets THE ENDLESS SUMMER (Bruce Brown's 1964 surf classic) in that the 70-minute documentary adapts the surf genre by using an omnibus story structure.
The film centers around the title character, singlefin: yellow, a 9-foot, yellow surfboard with a single fin, or skeg, built to represent the boards of the 1960's. As it travels around the world, yellow starts to develop a character and soul of its own through its journey and through the hands of the different pro surfers it passes through.
Baffa, who was in Hawaii in December to showcase his film as part of the Op Classic Surf Series, defines an omnibus story structure as one in which one object, element, or theme is followed as it passes through time. "But it is the different people, places, things and events that unfold around the object that truly define the story," says Baffa, an alumnus of the Loyola Marymount University BFA film program.
He adds: "One object ties together differentóand not always relating tó events, creating a larger, overall story." Examples of such films are 20 BUCKS, THE YELLOW ROLLS ROYCE, and THE RED VIOLIN.
And it was the story that really made the film well worth seeing.
In the beginning of the film, we see Tyler Hatzikan, a board builder, create a longboard that he wants to share with other surfers around the world. On it, he writes: "Built by Tyler Hatzikian for friends to share Yellow Singlefin."
From El Segundo, CA, Hatzikan sends the longboard to Beau Young, who surfs yellow in Australia. Young is the son of 8-time world surfing champion and Australian Surf icon, Nat Young. Beau then sends it to David Kinoshita, Japan's rising longboarding star, who surfs yellow off the waters of Japan.
Kinoshita sends the board to Daize Shayne. She receives it in Los Angeles and surfs it in Los Angeles at Malibu Point, a very famous surfing spot for longboarding. This is where Gidget surfed in the ë60's, says Baffa, who was the director, writer and producer of SINGLEFIN: YELLOW.
Shayne is originally from Hawaii. Baffa shot her on the islands for the background story such as when sheÃs hiking but he points out she did not surf the board here. Shayne gives the board to Devon Howard, a professional longboarder and editor of Longboard Magazine, at Malibu. He drives it to his hometown of San Diego, CA, where he surfs it at Trestles Beach in Northern San Diego. He then travels to Cabo San Lucas, Baja Mexico where he is attending the 2002 World Longboard Championship. After the contest, he surfs yellow at a remote beach in Cabo San Lucas.
Devon then flies to Waikiki, HI and meets Bonga Perkins, considered to be the best all around longboarder. Bonga takes the board to the North Shore and surfs Pipeline. Baffa says this is very difficult to do on an older heavier style board like yellow. Bonga sends the board back to Tyler, where its journey has come full circle.
You can check out SINGLEFIN: YELLOW at:
• X-dance, the action sports film festival in Park City, Utah, Jan. 16-19
• Santa Barbara International film festival, Feb. 4
Baffa is planning on screenings in Japan, Australia, New York City, Pasadena, CA and Santa Barbara, CA. For updates on show screenings or to order a copy of the DVD, check film's web site at: www.singlefinyellow.com
For production still photos and a photo of singer White Buffalo, Just Click Right Here
White Buffalo has two songs in the film and he was in Hawaii with Baffa for the filmÃs Hawaii premiere party.
Check out White BuffaloÃs site at www.onewhitebuffalo.com
MARGARET SOUTH, producer of BEACHES and FOR THE BOYS, on tips to make a reader happy:
Before Margaret South was co-Founder with Bette Midler and Bonnie Bruckheimer of All Girl Productions, she got her start as a reader. Now living in Hawaii where she Ãs giving screenwriting classes in addition to working on film/TV developments in Hawaii, South gives her tips...
HOW TO MAKE A SCRIPT READER HAPPY... FIVE TIPS FROM AN INSIDER
First impressions count. The title should tell me what kind of movie this is going to be. I should be able to see the poster. (But don't send me one.)
Keep it short and to the point. If it Ãs a comedy, end at page 110. If it Ãs a drama, end at UNDER 120.
Don't put too many words on a page. Leave lots of white space, especially in the first few pages. When I open your script for the first time, I want to think, Ooh, this will be a nice quick read. Then, before I know what Ãs happening, I'm into the story, hoping it will never end.
I read a lot of scripts that are pretty good, but not quite good enough. Do your homework. Take classes. Hire professionals to help you. Listen to what they say. It shows, believe me. If you tell me a story that I haven"t heard before, if you put me on a journey and take me somewhere I haven"t been before, or even somewhere I have been, but we go in a new way, I'll be forever in your debt. And personally, if you make me laugh, I'll love you forever.
South is starting an online version of her writing class, THE ART OF STORY, starting Jan. 12. ìWeÃre concentrating on Story Structure for Film, but what you learn in my class can be applied to any medium,î South says. ìWhether youÃre writing a play, a short story, novel, prose, film or televisionÖyouÃll get to learn how to get your audienceÃs attention, and keep them on the edge of their seats.î
Check it out at www.theartofstory.com.
FlashTV WEB SITE MAKES ITS TELEVISION DEBUT:
FlashTV made its television debut in San Francisco and the Bay Area in January. The half-hour program showcases the best in flash-generated film shorts and animations produced by independent storytellers from around the world. FlashTV will air every Thursday night at 10:00 pm on Channel 29 (Access SF). FlashTV plans to air 26 episodes, including The Greatest Story Never Told competition, which the siteÃs founder and Flash TV show producer, Nicholas Da Silva, says it Ãs being coined as the biggest Flash digital storytelling competition ever.
To check out the new animations and get information on the storytelling competition, go to www.flashtv.com.
i scream, floats & Sundays on PBS Colorvision SHORT FILM SERIES:
Hawaii filmmaker Leah KiharaÃs award-winning short i scream, floats & Sundays will air on PBS Colorvision short film series. Check your local listing for show times.
i scream won the 2002 Hawaii International Film Festival Hawaii Filmmaker Award. It Ãs a visually beautiful and cleverly crafted short about the Hawaiian female experience told in three vignettes.
