When his father was no longer able to work and his family had to relocate to the Ma'ili Land transitional housing project in Wai'anae, T.J. Shirai had no idea what the future had in store.

Shirai, 14, worried that he would be teased or beaten up. He worried most of all that he wouldn't be able to make new friends.

But Shirai was able to overcome his fear and find friends who have helped him stay on track to fulfill a promise to his mother that he would graduate from high school.

"She told me, 'We don't want you to be like us,' " Shirai said. " 'We want you to have something better.' "

Shirai's story is the basis for "A Promise," one of two short films written, directed and produced by Shirai and other kids from Ma'ili Land as part of a joint project by Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu, the University of Hawai'i's Academy of Creative Media, Wai'anae High School's Searider Productions program and Kamehameha Schools.

Both films — "A Promise" and "Pilialoha (Friendship)" — as well as a behind-the-scenes documentary were screened yesterday as part of the Hawaii International Film Festival's Spring Showcase at Regal Stadium 18 Cinemas at Dole Cannery.

Dennis Brown, president and CEO of Big Brothers Big Sisters of Honolulu, said the program was a way to fulfill his organization's long-held goal of reaching children with unstable housing situations.

"We decided early on that the theme would be hope," Brown said. "We wanted them to go through the process and increase their self-esteem so they could move away from hopelessness.

"It was amazing how engaged and how thrilled they were to work on these films," he said. "They were all new at it, so they were intimidated at first. But by the end, they had taken ownership of everything from the script to the acting to the filming."

With primary funding from Kamehameha Schools and an additional $7,000 donation from Rent-a-Center in Wai'anae, kids from Ma'ili Land and their designated Big Brothers and Big Sisters (most from New Hope Diamond Head) set out to tell stories that reflected the children's lives.

Three faculty and seven students from the Academy for Creative Media guided the young auteurs through the filmmaking process, from conception to filming to final edit.

Nanakuli High School's media program loaned the equipment to film, and Searider Productions provided access to its state-of-the-art editing facilities as well as assistance from students and faculty.

The teams for each of the three films met for the first time in October and completed filming in one day in January.

"The kids had never handled a camera or sound equipment, but they were so enthusiastic," said ACM instructor Anne Misawa. "You could see that their learning curve in one day really brought them out of their shell."

At yesterday's screening, beaming parents and grandparents filled the theater as the lei-adorned filmmakers first presented their work, then took the floor for a question-and-answer session.

"I was kind of nervous and I felt kind of embarrassed," Shirai said. "But it was cool that my dad was there to see it."

Shirai said he can't wait to do another film.

Shirai's Big Brother, the like-named TJ Gorum, said he felt as though he gained as much from the experience as the Ma'ili Land kids did.

"These kids have a lot of dreams and a lot of desire," said Gorum, 24. "They may be shy in front of a lot of people, but they carry big stuff inside of them. They're really rooted to family and friends, and it was really cool to see that come out."

Maisha Abbott, 17, directed and edited "A Promise." A student in the Searider Productions program, Abbott saw the project as a way to get experience in filming and editing.

"(The film) kind of reflected on me because I was always the shy little girl and I always had trouble making new friends," she said. "Today, I'm more open. I kind of learned from my film how to reel in friends."

Abbott has already been accepted to the Art Institute of California in San Francisco, where she hopes to study fashion design.

"The biggest thing they get out of this is that their confidence is a lot higher," said Big Brothers Big Sisters program coordinator Austin Oney.

"For a lot of kids in that situation, when you ask them what they want to be or what they want to do, they'll say they want to work at McDonald's or they don't know," Oney said. "I think this experience helped to show them that there are other opportunities out there. Some of them have never been out of Wai'anae. We want to show them that there's more out there for them if they want it."