August 7, 8 & 9: Pacific Film Event

CULTURAL FORUM THROUGH FILM: Films from the Pacific

Dates: August 7–9, 2009
Venue: Doris Duke Theatre Honolulu Academy of Arts, 900 South Beretania Street, Honolulu

The 2009 Cultural Forum Through Film event will feature films from Australia, New Zealand, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea, and Canada. Each film will be followed by discussion.

Vilsoni Hereniko, director of the Center for Pacific Islands Studies at the University of Hawai‘i, says these films represent the state of documentary filmmaking in Oceania today. He describes each film as portraying “fascinating and arresting characters grappling with contemporary issues of social and cultural significance to their communities.” Dru Gladney, president of the Pacific Basin Institute at Pomona College, adds, “This film festival represents PBI’s ongoing commitment to helping to increase exposure to Pacific Basin films and culture.”

The film festival schedule is as follows:

Friday, August 7
7:30 p.m. An Island Calling (Fiji/New Zealand 2008, 75 mins)

Saturday, August 8
1:00 p.m. From Street to Sky (New Zealand 2008, 62 mins)

4:00 p.m. The Oasis (Australia 2008, 75 mins)

7:30 p.m. Killer Whale and Crocodile (Papua New Guinea and Canada 2007, 48 mins)

Sunday, August 9
1:00 p.m. An Island Calling (Fiji/New Zealand 2008, 75 mins)

4:00 p.m. The Poet’s Salary/Le Salaire Du Poete (Vanuatu 2008, 59 mins)

7:30 p.m. River of No Return (Australia 2008, 52 mins)

Free tickets are available 30 minutes before each screening, on a first-come first-served basis. Seating is limited to 280. For information, call 808-532-8768.

For more information about the films, call Vilsoni Hereniko at (808) 956-6077.