I Was a Simple Man

Late 18th century, Tohoku. An outcast girl, Rin lives in a village suffering from famine. She draws strength from Mt. Hayachine, where the spirits of humans ascend after passing.

Documentary feature about 11-time Jeopardy! champion and Internet iconoclast, Arthur Chu.

A saxophonist who grew up in Hawaii returns to the state and stays at a Buddhist bed and breakfast.

Director's statement: "Another sketch in an ongoing look at transitions on Oahu, this time looking at places from my youth: my childhood home, theaters, malls, skate parks, nighttime beach parties, the state mental hospital, summer bon dances."

Director's statement: "Back home in Hawaii this past summer, the thing that mesmerized me most was the massive amounts of development in the city. This shifting skyline — 22 condos going up in Kakaako alone, I’m told. I’m neither for nor against all this change but I’m not ambivalent either, transitions are always powerful."

Living out his last days in the north shore of Hawaii, an old Japanese man is visited by the ghosts of his past.

A young traveler decides to sneak into a bookstore after hours for an overnight stay.

An audio-visual collage looking at 100 years of Hollywood representation of Hawai'i.

After a night of drinking in Los Angeles, Mark and Natalie, two transplants from Hawaii, retire to a friend's apartment where their drunken discussion touches upon notions of art, loneliness, and the inability to communicate.

A meditation session beginning just before dawn and continuing in real time as the sun rises.

A minimalist, meditative film centering around an aimless young filmmaker in contemporary Honolulu, and the film he subsequently makes about his home.

The filmmaker travels home to Hawaii to confront the death of his father, and finds peace through the simple act of talking.