For Alika Tengan, it’s an honor to bring home a film about the people and culture of these islands to an eager audience that will attend his screenings at this year’s Hawai‘i International Film Festival.
The Centerpiece film MOLOKA‘I BOUND will make its local debut on O‘ahu at the Consolidated Theatres at Ward, then travel to the Neighbor Islands with festival showings at the Palace Theater in Hilo, the Maui Arts and Cultural Center in Kahului, and Hale Keaka in Lāna‘i City.
Tengan’s film is a showcase for actor and friend Holden Mandrial-Santos, who holds command of the screen with his understated yet powerful portrayal of a parolee trying to make pono with his estranged family – particularly his suspicious teenaged son – and his native culture. Tengan expands on his 2019 short of the same title with confidence, buoyed by his cast of committed, non-professional actors, a technical crew led by the excellent work of cinematographer Chapin Hall, and behind-the-scenes assistance by producer Jesy Odio, and Nina Yang Bonjiovi, who co-produced with acclaimed actor Forest Whitaker under their Significant Productions banner.
MOLOKA‘I BOUND is Tengan’s second film after his 2022 debut project EVERY DAY IN KAIMUKI. With that film, he had the distinction of being the first Kanaka Maoli to have a feature film premiere at the Sundance Film Festival. “Putting together MOLOKA‘I BOUND was a very different process than our last film,” Tengan said, “in that from the moment we wrote ‘Kaimuki’ to the time we finished filming was a span of about five months. MOLOKA‘I BOUND, on the other hand, was written in 2019 and then took four years until we started filming, which finished in 2023, so that extra time allowed us to really gather the resources we needed to tell this film on a larger scale.”
While the film meets expectations of addressing a pressing local issue of how Western colonization on the indigenous culture impacts and challenges the lives of natives and locals, it astutely blends it into the personal stories of its characters without being didactic. Credit is due to his actors: besides lead Madrial-Santos, his work is ably supported by fellow main cast members Achilles Holt, Kamalani Kapeliela, ‘Aina Paikai, and Raycie-Lee Kahealani Molale.
“One of the most rewarding parts of putting this film together was assembling the cast, which was a combination of actors I’ve worked with in the past, and new actors I worked with for the first time,” said Tengan, “for many of whom was their first time acting on screen. The roles they were asked to play were not easy, but they brought their characters to life with a depth and heart that really blew me away.”
MOLOKA‘I BOUND looks terrific as well, with a color palette that sets the appropriate tone for any given scene. While its style is grounded in reality, with grace notes that let shine the local lifestyle, Tengan and Hall do break away from it on one occasion during a bravura one-take scene in a notoriously well-known Honolulu strip club that culminates in a parking lot fight. Besides that, this is mainly a quiet and observant film steeped in the ways we communicate with each other and sure to resonate with audiences.
“It means the world to be able to finally be coming home with the film after premiering in (the Seattle International Film Festival) in May,” Tengan said. “I’m grateful to the cast and crew and am excited to finally share this with the people we made this for. Mahalo to HIFF for providing us the platform!”
