LIHU‘E — When the documentary “Cane Fire” rolls, Oct. 9 and 11 starting at 6 p.m., it will be the first time a showing of a film will be held at Kukui Grove Cinema since they shut down in March, 2020, said Nikki Cristobal of Kamawaelualani Corp.
LIHU‘E — When the documentary “Cane Fire” rolls, Oct. 9 and 11 starting at 6 p.m., it will be the first time a showing of a film will be held at Kukui Grove Cinema since they shut down in March, 2020, said Nikki Cristobal of Kamawaelualani Corp.
There are two dates when the film is available for viewing for free, Cristobal said. Admission is by registration at canefire.eventbrite.com to a maximum of 150 people for each of the dates. Early registration is encouraged to ensure a seat at the screening of “Cane Fire” followed by a question-and-answer with the film’s director Anthony Banua-Simon facilitated by Kaua‘i County Council Member Mason Chock.
“Cane Fire” is currently in its theatrical run and not available online, states a release from the Kaua‘i Federal Credit Union. This screening is the Kaua‘i theatrical premiere of the film for a Kaua‘i audience.
In addition to Kamawaelualani Corp, the screening is co-sponsored by the Hawai‘i Alliance for Progressive Action (or HAPA), the Kaua‘i Federal Credit Union, the Rice Street Business Association, and E Ola Kakou Hawai‘i.
A synopsis of “Cane Fire” provided by the Kaua‘i Federal Credit Union shows Kaua‘i being seen as a paradise of leisure and pristine natural beauty, but these escapist fantasies obscure the colonial displacement, hyper-exploitation of workers and destructive environmental extraction that have actually shaped life on the island for the past 250 years.
“Cane Fire” critically examines the island’s history — and the various strategies by which Hollywood has represented it — through four generations of director Anthony Banua-Simon’s family who first immigrated to Kaua‘i from the Philippines to work on the sugar plantations.
Assembled from a diverse array of sources — from Banua-Simon’s observational footage to amateur YouTube travelogues, to epic Hollywood dance sequences — Cane Fire offers a kaleidoscopic portrait of the economic and cultural forces that have cast indigenous and working-class residents as “extras” in their own story.
