The late Kayo Hatta cared about telling honest stories about Hawai'i, and, as her two most personal projects clearly attest, she cared about making great films.

What she didn't care about, friends say, was the idea of her own legacy.

Still, Hatta's cinematic accomplishments have left as indelible a mark on the Hawai'i film landscape as her generosity of spirit has on friends, students and colleagues. Those legacies will be celebrated tomorrow at a special Sunset on the Beach screening of Hatta's landmark independent film "Picture Bride," along with "Fishbowl," the long-awaited second film she completed shortly before her death this summer.

"She'd be laughing about this," said longtime collaborator Eleanor Nakama-Mitsunaga. "She didn't consider herself that way. She had a passion, she went for it, and she never took 'no' for an answer. That's what her legacy is."

Diane Mark, co-producer of "Picture Bride," said tomorrow's tribute is special because of Hatta's relationship with the festival.

"We screened Picture Bride around the country and throughout the world, and Kayo was thrilled by the response — but the litmus test for her was whether the Hawai'i audience resonated with it," Mark said.

"Capturing the historical roots of Hawai'is multicultural society on film and preserving it for our future generations was her gift to Hawai'i.

Hatta drowned July 20 in Encinitas, Calif. She was 47. Born in Honolulu and raised in New York, Hatta earned a bachelor's degree in English from Stanford University and a master's in film from the University of California-Los Angeles. At UCLA, Hatta began formulating the story that would become "Picture Bride."

Her decade-long fight to bring the story to the big screen has become a creation story of sorts for the local independent film community.

She, Nakama-Mitsunaga, Mark and others involved with the production had to overcame financial and logistical setbacks, as well as the skepticism of an industry then unaccustomed to feature films that focused on Asian-American themes. "We'd send out maybe 50 grant applications," Nakama-Mitsunaga said. "And we'd be lucky if we got one 'yea.' "

HIFF executive director Chuck Boller spent part of his first years in Hawai'i as volunteer legal counsel for the production. He said the making of "Picture Bride" had as much to do with Hatta's financial savvy and personal grit as with her considerable talent as a director.

"When there was bad news, she'd laugh, and then she'd solve it," he said.

"Picture Bride" tells the story of a young woman from Japan who must overcome hardship and struggle as the wife of a laborer in plantation-era Hawai'i.

The first film to be written, produced and directed by an Asian-American woman, "Picture Bride" was an unprecedented success, winning the coveted Audience Award for best dramatic film at the 1995 Sundance Film Festival. The film was also an official selection at the 1994 Cannes International Film Festival.

Hatta struggled to find funding for the host of other Hawai'i-themed projects she pursued over the past decade. Still, she found ways to share her talents as an instructor at UCLA's School of Theater, Film and Television and the Art Institute of Los Angeles, and as co-producer of the Palestinian feature film "The Olive Harvest" and the documentary "Hungry for Your Kisses."

"She had a passion for telling stories that don't normally get told in Hollywood," Nakama-Mitsunaga said.

Her second and final film, "Fishbowl," is drawn from "Wild Meat and the Bully Burgers," by Island author Lois-Ann Yamanaka.

While digital technology has made filmmaking less expensive and more accessible, the cost of producing professional work can still be prohibitive. Nakama-Mitsunaga said "Fishbowl" was completed only with the help of a newly created film grant from the state.

The film has toured film festivals on the West Coast, garnering unanimous strong reviews.

Local filmmaker James Sereno got to know Hatta when his film "Silent Years," a darker take on Yamanaka's work, was paired with "Fishbowl" at the San Francisco International Asian American Festival. Hatta "showed the wit and humor in Lois' work and the audience loved it," Sereno said. "Kayo seemed happy, and I was happy for her."

Sereno credited Hatta with setting the standard for Hawai'i's next generation of filmmakers.

"She's the pioneer for our world," he said. "She did what we are all aspiring to do: She bridged that gap between our world and the rest of the world."

Up-and-coming filmmaker Gerard Elmore agrees.

"We may be from a small, little island, and we may not have the talent and resources that they do in a place like New Zealand, but we have stories," Elmore said. Hatta "paved the path for other filmmakers from Hawai'i to do great things."

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.