Return of indie film festival promotes urban, edgy flicks

• Alice and a kung phoo-ey wonderland
• 'Hooked,' 'Stoked,' 'Bus 174' should attract a bit of buzz
• Cinema Paradise films explore martial arts, cockfighting, surfing, graffiti and a mystical journey

By Wayne Harada
Advertiser Entertainment Writer

Clockwise from upper-left: "What Alice Found," "AfroPunk," "Bomb the System," "Mystic Iran: The Unseen World," "Bus 174," "Cockfighters," "Direct Order," "Return to Kandahar," "Drunken Monkey" (center). Cinema Paradise A weeklong series of independent films Today through Thursday Primarily at The Art House at Restaurant Row; the Movie Museum hosts programs Tuesday and Wednesday nights $7 per screening, $20 all-day pass, $50 festival pass 526-4171, cinemaparadise.org

"The second year is absolutely harder to do than the first," said Goes, an independent filmmaker and photographer. "With the first one, no one has expectations. You have a vision, of course. But for the second, you have to deliver."

Goes expects a decent turnout during the next week, with a vibrant mix of nearly 100 films big and small, some known, mostly not known. The mission is to expose and exhibit the cinematic fare from hither and yonder that doesn't otherwise get a commercial nod. And there's a Hawai'i component of shorts, too, giving local filmmakers a window of opportunity to be acknowledged — with a $5,000 prize up for grabs.

"I think we've identified that there was a niche for these independent films, and we try to reach different crowds — the hip-hop crowd, the kung fu crowd, along with the serious moviegoer," he said.

Because of his Brazilian roots, there's even a Brazilian element to the roster of films. And documentaries about fractured personas, which lend themselves to story-sharing, are on the menu.

There are also experimental and animated films.

"We really try to attract a broad audience," he said of the scope of the fare.

Still, the reality is that the primary audience is young and mixed, kind of a junior-grade version of the Hawai'i International Film Festival, which also attracts a diverse crowd, but skews slightly older and is mostly oriented to foreign films with a Pacific Rim link.

"Our niche is the challenging, edgy, urban film," Goes said. "We are not trying to be HIFF; nor are they trying to be us."

Susan Horowitz, director of Pacific New Media (a Cinema Paradise sponsor), said "it's great to see these films here. He's (Goes) bringing in films that haven't found a place yet; they are new, independent filmmakers all over the world, and he's providing a venue for some of them. I think it's terrific."

Horowitz said Pacific New Media is presenting three festival-related workshops this weekend involving four visiting filmmakers. For information, call 956-8400.

Island Visions, a section of Hawai'i-made titles, embraces the first Hale Ki'i 'Oni 'Oni Award, with the winning filmmaker receiving a $5,000 prize presented by the Movie Museum. The jurors include Donne Dawson, manager of the Hawai'i Film Office, and filmmakers Edgy Lee and Peter Britos.

Reach Wayne Harada at wharada@honoluluadvertiser.com, 525-8067 or fax 525-8055.

Alice and a kung phoo-ey wonderland

The challenge this time is to share a lineup of films that's bigger, possibly better, and dwell on films and stories that matter, said Cinema Paradise organizer Sergio Goes. That's where the pressure lies: to deliver that punch to create momentum to build for the future.

Take the opening night film, "What Alice Found," a U.S. entry by A. Dean Bell, which just won the Grand Prix at the 29th Deauville Festival in France.

"It represents everything we are trying to support with this festival: outstanding and full independent artistic achievement on a limited budget," Goes said.

The film focuses on 18-year-old

Alice, in a chilly New Hampshire town and driving south to Florida, where she joins her friend Julie.

Alice's rust-bucket of a car breaks down and money she had stashed beneath the car seat is gone. Her saviors turn out to be Sandra and Bill, a middle-aged couple, who see a surrogate daughter in Alice. Plot developments, however, create a dilemma for Alice, who finds out what the couple does for a living.

With Asian cinema no longer a fixture on the Honolulu landscape (remember theaters showing nothing but kung fu films or samurai adventures?), Goes decided to bring back martial arts in a big way, with "Drunken Monkey," a feature by Lau Kar Leung, which was produced by the Shaw Brothers, veteran kingpins of the genre.

The film, part of the Black Belt Theatre, has all the ingredients of a classic action picture and reels off like a nine-course meal: Themes tap family truths and brotherhood, consequences of mistrust and loyalties. There's soaring and twirling martial artistry, with knives, swords and other weapons combined with aerial tree-to-tree ballets reminiscent of "Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon," with a bigger dose of blood and carnage.

The director also stars, along with some agile and buff talent including Gordon Liu, Wu Jing and newcomer Shannon Yao.

Darryl Fong's cheerful "Kung Phooey," loaded with parodies and visual puns, is a lot more fun — it is to martial arts films what "Airplane!" was to disaster films, with name-

jerking (a monastery called Shur-Li Temple), a Gloria's Secret catalog in the mailbox and outrageous dialogue such as "I hear water" and "Do you hear Earth, Wind and Fire," with snippets of soul music. The harmless plot involves a peach and its pit — with detours to the "Wizard of Oz" themes of a heart, a brain, and courage — and indulges in kung fu(n) machinations without a yellow brick road.

'Hooked,' 'Stoked,' 'Bus 174' should attract a bit of buzz

Three documentaries should be "talkers."

"Hooked: The Legend of Demetrius 'Hook' Mitchell," is a gritty but poignant look at Hook Mitchell, one of the greatest basketball players never to play in the NBA. His childhood friends — the likes of Jason Kidd, Antonio Davis, Gary Payton, Brian Shaw — made it to hoop fame, but Mitchell is infamous because of bad twists in his life. American directors Michael Skolnik and William O'Neill have mounted incredible, eye-filling footage that suggests Hook would have had a major place in basketball history (he's able to leap over cars and crowds of people to get the ball into the basket), but he chose to write a different chapter in his life.

Another tale of a wasted life, "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator," is an American film by Helen Stickler, who recounts the fate of Mark "Gator" Rogowski, one of the celebrated skateboarding pros of the 1980s, who winds up in prison despite fame, fortune and admiration from fans.

"Bus 174," a Brazilian entry by director Jose Padilha, is another intense and riveting documentary, about a news incident with wider implications. It involves a young man who hijacks a bus in Rio de Janeiro and creates havoc and terror on live TV for 4 1/2 hours. Ultimately, the question arises: Who is the victim here?

Cinema Paradise films explore martial arts, cockfighting, surfing, graffiti and a mystical journey

Highlights from this year's Cinema Paradise festival, all screening at the Art House at Restaurant Row:

• "What Alice Found," 7:30 p.m. today, 5:15 p.m. Thursday. A USA film by A. Dean Bell. Opening-night attraction; a road movie using digital storytelling techniques, on what may or may not be a con game.
• "Drunken Monkey," 6:30 p.m. Saturday, 9 p.m. Monday. A Chinese film, directed by Lau Kar Leung, produced by the well-known Shaw Brothers (noted for their kung fu martial arts films).
• "Bomb the System," 9 p.m. Saturday, 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. A USA film by Adam Bhala Lough, who examines the graffiti culture.
• "The Shape of Things," 6 p.m. Thursday. A USA film by Neil LaBute. Closing-night attraction; about the battle between the sexes.
• "In Search of Grace," 9 p.m. today, 9 p.m. Tuesday. A South African film by Charles Brand, dealing with five ordinary guys who love to surf — and more.
• "Madame Sata," 9 p.m. Wednesday. A Brazilian film by Karim Ainouz. A centerpiece attraction; about a devoted father of seven adopted children and his multi-textured life.
• "Return to Kandahar," 7:30 p.m. Monday, 10 p.m. Thursday. A Canadian film by Paul Jay and Nelofer Pazira. A story set in Afghanistan, about the search for a childhood friend.
• "Bus 174," 9 p.m. Sunday, 6:30 p.m. Tuesday. A Brazilian film by José Padilha, about a bus hijacking in Rio de Janeiro that unfolds to a twisted, unexpected ending.
• "Stoked: The Rise and Fall of Gator," 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. A USA film by Helen Stickler, tracking the life of Mark Gator Rogowski, a skateboarding superstar, and his fall from grace.
• "Mystic Iran: The Unseen World," 5:15 p.m. Monday. An Iranian film by Aryana Farshad, exploring a modern woman's mystical journey deep into the heart of her native Iran.
• "Cockfighters," 5:15 p.m. Sunday. A USA film by Hawai'i's Stephanie Castillo, exploring the controversial but cultural sport of cockfighting.
• "Direct Order," 4:15 p.m. Sunday. A USA film by Scott Miller, about military personnel ordered to receive the anthrax vaccine.
• "AfroPunk," 10 p.m. Wednesday. A USA film by James Spooner, examining racial identity in the punk scene.