AWARDS

WINNER

Best North American Narrative Feature, Grand Jury Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Best Feature Grand Prize, Flickers Rhode Island International Film Festival

Best Narrative Feature, Philadelphia Asian American Film Festival

Jury Award Honorable Mention, Bentonville Film Festival

Indie Vision Breakthrough Performance Award, Twin Cities Film Festival

Best Feature Film, Jury Award, Hawai'i International Film Festival

Best Hawaii Film, Hawaii Film Critics Society

Best Cinematography, Special Jury Award, Los Angeles Asian Pacific Film Festival

Best Cinematography, Jury Award, Hawai'i International Film Festival

Best Music in a Feature Film, BMI Film Festival Awards

NOMINATED

Best Young filmmaker, Asian Pacific Screen Awards

Best Feature Film, BlackStar Film Festival

Best Feature Film, Naples International Film Festival

Best Feature, Asian American International Film Festival, NY

Breakthrough Filmmaker Award, Twin Cities Film Festival

REVIEWS

“a gut-wrenching analogy…

…for contemporary society and the far-reaching impact of exploitation.”

- THE MOVIE AISLE / Read Full

“a Lynchian look at the dark side of paradise.”

-AIPT / Read Full 

“powerful + beautifully achieved.”

-THE BLACK CAPE MAGAZINE /  Read Full 

“A vulnerable and authentic portrait of indigeneity.”

“…Tackles the often-unspeakable generational trauma of postcolonial cultures through a mixing of genre conventions.”

-LAAPF / Read Full 

“Kahunahana creates a fluid sensory experience”

-THE MOVEABLE FEST / Read Full

“A gorgeously surrealistic and visceral allegory…

…for the contemporary issues which continue to plague Hawaii's people, Kahunahana's Waikiki offers a glimmer of hope

- FIRST SHOWING / Read Full

“…plays with time like the French director Alain Resnais”

-THE HOLLYWOOD PROGRESSIVE / Read Full 

“a mesmerizing new film…”

-GEEK TYRANT / Read Full

“...beautiful, ominous...” 

“…takes us beyond the tourist veneer. Zalopany does a fantastic job of delivering a raw and intense performance”

-URBANWORLD / Read Full 

“utterly remarkable for its raw energy.”

“…a combination of beauty, pain, and longing…a star-making performance.”  -

FILMMAKER MAGAZINE

“...ambitious and ambiguous, and that is what makes it so auspicious.”

- SALON MAGAZINE / Read Full

“Kahunahana does an excellent job…

…of slowly and painfully tracing Kea’s downward spiral, drawing from his talented actors feelings of overwhelming pain and loss.

- SPLASH MAGAZINE / Read Full

“Arguably the most important feature film ever by a Native Hawaiian.”

“…seduces viewers into a world few have seen (or want to know about) and he makes the experience convincing, layered, and compelling.” 

-NETPAC  / Vilsoni Hereniko (President NETPAC Network for the Promotion of Pacific Asia Cinema/USA, Professor and filmmaker)