Given that it was set and shot in Honoka'a, it was only right that the new Japanese film "Honoka'a Boy" should debut in that coastal Big Island town, where it got a standing-room-only premiere earlier this year before its official release in Japan March 14.

The Honoka'a People's Theatre was full on Oscar night for the first public viewing of the touching production. Filmed entirely on Hawai'i's Big Island last year, "Honokaa Boy" follows a young Japanese man and his time spent on the Hamakua Coast, working for the Honoka'a People's Theatre.

The film is loosely based on the life of Leo Yoshida who trained as a projectionist at the Honoka'a People's Theatre in 1999 and returned to Japan to write a book, "Honokaa Boy," which inspired Nippon Cinema's film. The four main actors, Chieko Baisho, Keiko Matsuzaka, Masaki Okada and Hilo actress Jun Hasegawa, attended the premiere and gave thanks to the people of Honoka'a for their cooperation.

Visit honokaa-boy.jp to see a trailer.